Celtic have launched their Interim Report for the six months to December 31, 2024.
Key Operational Objects
14 house fixtures (2023: 14).
Participation within the UEFA Champions League group levels for each the Males’s and Girls’s first groups.
Submit interval finish qualification for the play-off spherical of the Males’s UEFA Champions League.
Winners of the Premier Sports activities Cup 2024.
Key Monetary Objects
Income lowered by 2.1% to £83.5m (2023: £85.2m).
Revenue from buying and selling earlier than intangible asset transactions was £26.9m (2023: £32.0m).
Revenue from switch of participant registrations (proven as revenue on disposal of intangible belongings) £21.5m (2023: £2.6m).
Revenue earlier than taxation of £43.9m (2023: £30.3m).
Acquisition of participant registrations of £28.1m (2023: £12.9m).
Interval finish money of £65.4m (2023: £67.3m).
CHAIRMAN’S STATEMENT
The outcomes for the six months ended 31 December 2024 present revenues of £83.5m (2023: £85.2m) and a revenue from buying and selling, representing the revenue excluding different revenue and participant associated good points and costs, totalling £26.9m (2023: revenue of £32.0m). The revenue earlier than finance revenue & expense and taxation (“PBIT”) amounted to £43.9m (2023: £30.3m).
Though reported income has fallen by £1.7m (or 2.1%), and the full matches performed over the interval of 14 was in step with the identical interval final yr, the match composition diverse from the prior interval and consequently, this impacted the quantity recognised per match within the first half of the yr. As well as, as the brand new UEFA format now introduces video games within the second half of the monetary yr, a component of UEFA income requires to be deferred and recognised within the second half of the yr. Each elements have led to the discount in reported income however will reverse in FY25 H2.
Revenue from buying and selling has lowered £5.1m between the six months ended 31 December 2024 in comparison with the identical interval final yr as a result of a variety of elements together with, greater labour prices, the total yr impact of upper utility contracts entered into within the prior yr and important stadium preventative upkeep spending. The rise within the PBIT of £13.6m to £43.9m was primarily pushed by the exit of seven gamers ensuing within the internet acquire on participant buying and selling of £21.5m (2023: £2.6m) which included Matt O’Riley, Bosun Lawal, Tomoki Iwata, Michael Johnston, Yuki Kobayashi, Daniel Kelly and Hyeongyu Oh.
You will need to word with respect to money and money equivalents, that during the last six months, regardless of important profitability from participant buying and selling and a profitable Champions League marketing campaign, we noticed a £11.8m discount in money reserves from £77.2m at 30 June 2024 to £65.4m at 31 December 2024 (31 December 2023: £67.3m). The important thing drivers of this have been the numerous switch spend incurred within the interval, the place we exceeded our document switch spend twice, and the funding into the primary workforce taking part in squad wage prices, and our continued funding into infrastructure together with our Barrowfield improvement, Lennoxtown and Celtic Park.
Throughout the January 2025 switch window, we acquired the everlasting registration of Jota and the non permanent registration of Jeffrey Schlupp. As well as, we prolonged the contract of Kasper Schmeichel and entered right into a pre-contract settlement that may see Keiran Tierney return to Celtic in July 2025. We disposed of the registrations of Kyogo Furuhashi, Alexander Bernabei and positioned Luis Palma, Odin Holm and Stephen Welsh on Mortgage.
Our dedication as all the time is to put money into steady enchancment in all areas of the membership and, most significantly, within the first workforce squad. The success of our mannequin has ensured that funding is on the market to accumulate gamers who will contribute to ongoing success. We invested considerably in the summertime switch window and whereas we aimed to do extra within the current window, we go into the rest of the season from a powerful place and with confidence.
On the time of writing, we sit in first place and 13 factors forward within the SPFL and in December 2024 secured a victory over Rangers to win the Premier Sports activities Cup. We have now additionally progressed to the quarter finals of the Scottish Cup as we goal to retain this trophy for the third consecutive yr. Following ending twenty first of 36 within the Champions League group part, we entered the knock-out spherical of the competitors, which sees us drawn towards German Bundesliga league leaders and 6 occasions European Champions Bayern Munich, in what will probably be each a difficult and thrilling tie.
Our Girls’s workforce reached its first ever Champions League Group Stage competitors the place we have been drawn towards Chelsea, Actual Madrid and Twente. This was a difficult group and while we have been unable to safe a victory in our first enterprise within the Girls’s Champions League, we have been happy with the performances, and Elena and the workforce took a lot expertise from it. On the time of writing, our Celtic Girls’s workforce sits joint high with Glasgow Metropolis within the SWPL in what’s an thrilling and extremely aggressive league. 4 groups sit inside two factors of one another and with 12 video games remaining our Girls’s workforce are competing to retain the SWPL title received final season for the primary time.
The Membership’s earnings profile and money technology from buying and selling is biased towards the primary half of our monetary yr and we naturally anticipate a seasonal downturn in earnings within the second half of the yr. This displays the truth that receipts from European competitors are largely recognised within the first half of the yr, whereas the second half doesn’t profit from this. As well as, sturdy participant buying and selling good points in August 2024 weren’t replicated in January 2025. This seasonal profiling is fully inside expectations and our planning assumptions. Our outturn earnings will also be materially impacted by soccer success and the year-end evaluation of participant registration carrying values. Taking all of this into consideration, we might anticipate our whole outturn monetary efficiency for the yr ending 30 June 2025 to be considerably decrease than the outcome posted for the primary six months of the monetary yr.
I want to prolong our gratitude and appreciation to our supporters for the backing of our Membership on behalf of the Board. Thanks additionally should go to our workers, shareholders and industrial companions for his or her continued help.
Peter Lawwell
Chairman
10 February 2025