Yesterday’s thread explained the differences between a football club’s profit and loss account and its cash flow statement, as it is important to understand where the money is spent. This thread will look at this in a bit more detail for each of the Big Six Premier League clubs.
#AFC £395m revenue (TV £183m, commercial £116m, match day £96m) was not enough to cover £428m expenses (including £232m wages, £91m player amortisation and £85m other expenses), leading to £33m operating loss. Offset by £12m profit on player sales, but had £12m interest payable. 
#AFC cash flow hit by adverse £44m working capital movement. Spent £62m (net) on players (purchases £118m, sales £56m), £19m on Emirates loan (£10m interest + £9m debt) and £13m on capex. Only Big Six club with net cash outflow £64m, partly due to delayed season ticket renewals.
#CFC huge £163m operating loss, as £447m revenue (TV £200m, commercial £180m, match day £67m) did not cover £610m expenses (£286m wages, £168m player amortisation, £118m other expenses, £27m exceptionals). Mitigated by £60m profit on player sales, but still £102m pre-tax loss.
After adding back £179m player amortisation and depreciation, #CFC had £55m negative operating cash flow, but still spent net £162m on players (purchases £282m, sales £120m), £12m capex and £4m tax. This was covered by a Roman Abramovich £238m loan, giving £5m net cash inflow.
#LFC basically broke-even at an operational level, but posted a £46m profit before tax, thanks to £45m profit on player sales. Revenue up 17% to £533m (TV £261m, commercial £188m, match day £84m), which was all spent (£310m wages, £112m player amortisation, £100m other expenses).
Adding back £123m player amortisation and depreciation gave #LFC £131m operating cash flow. Spent £59m on players (purchases £174m, sales £115m) and £23m on infrastructure, as well as repaying £20m of debt (owners £14m, bank £6m), leaving net £27m cash inflow.
#MCFC £535m revenue (TV £253m, commercial £227m, match day £55m) was not enough to cover £557m expenses (£315m wages, £127m player amortisation and £105m other expenses), leading to £22m operating loss. Offset by £39m profit on player sales, but £7m interest/lease payments.
Adding back £140m player amortisation/depreciation & £75m working capital movement gave #MCFC £193m operating cash flow. Spent £77m on players (purchases £164m, sales £87m) and £19m on capex. Highest net cash inflow in Big 6 of £102m. No cash flow statement, so used CFG figures.
#MUFC highest revenue £627m (commercial £275m, TV £241m, match day £111m) drove £24m operating profit after £603m costs (£332m wages, £126m player amortisation, £109m other expenses, £20m exceptionals). Low profit on player sales £26m, high interest £23m gave £27m pre-tax profit.
#MUFC huge £264m operating cash flow boosted by £75m working capital movement. £135m went on players (purchases £178m, sales £43m). Only PL club to pay dividends £23m plus £16m interest and £4m loan repayment, so £43m on Glazers’ financial engineering. Still £56m net cash inflow.
#THFC £96m operating profit by far highest in PL, as revenue was up 21% to £461m (TV £244m, commercial £135m, match day £82m), while wages £179m and player amortisation £48m are very low. Profit on player sales only £11m, but interest high £25m. Profit before tax very good £87m.
#THFC generated an impressive £278m operating cash flow (including £109m positive working capital movement), but needed £195m loans to fund huge amount spent on the new stadium £413m. Also had to pay £26m interest and £8m tax, but still generated £23m net cash inflow.
So, there we have it, an analysis of the cash movements for the Big Six Premier League clubs in 2018/19. Hopefully, this will have explained how the money was earned and where it was spent, giving you a better understanding of your club’s strategy, challenges and actions.
