Derby County Reports £14.2 Million Operating Loss in Promotion Season

Derby County has announced an operating loss of £14.2 million for the season in which they secured automatic promotion from League One, finishing second in the table. The club’s losses for the 12-month period ending June 2024 represent an increase of £3.6 million compared to the figures reported in the previous year. This total incorporates £1.2 million distributed as bonuses to players and coaching staff after the team’s advancement to the Championship. Furthermore, debts owed to club owner David Clowes, who is actively seeking new investors, have increased to £47.9 million, rising from £36 million in the preceding year. The club’s financial report also states: “It is the intention that some of the amount owed to the parent company will be capitalised into equity.” According to the club’s financial report, the rise in Derby’s net liabilities, which stand at £33.6 million compared to £19.5 million previously, “predominantly” stems from “owner funding injections for the day-to-day running of the club.” Wages for Derby’s second consecutive season in League One climbed to £22 million, marking an increase of £4.8 million. However, the club indicated that player salaries constituted less than half of this overall amount, with a wage bill of £10.2 million covering the 68 players, encompassing both first-team and academy members, on their roster last season. The expenditure on non-playing staff is attributed to the appointment of 20 new personnel as the Rams reorganized their academy and recruitment departments subsequent to Clowes’ takeover. Out of the £19.4 million generated in turnover by the club, 53% was allocated to player wages. Ticket sales, totaling £7.6 million, represented the largest segment of the East Midlands club’s revenues, while the club also generated £4.6 million from transfers. This figure encompasses the transfers of Jason Knight and Max Bird to Bristol City, Krystian Bielik’s permanent transfer to Birmingham City, and sell-on fees derived from Omari Kellyman’s move from Aston Villa to Chelsea and Morgan Whittaker’s transfer from Swansea City to Plymouth Argyle. An additional £3.4 million is anticipated to be received by the club in future years from these sales. Derby has also disclosed that £2.9 million was expended on players, including midfielders Kenzo Goudmijn and Ebou Adams, and goalkeeper Jacob Widell Zetterstrom, in preparation for their return to the Championship this season, subsequent to the accounting period covered by this report. An independent valuation of Derby’s training facility at Moor Farm, which had not been conducted when David Clowes proceeded with his takeover in the summer of 2022, has resulted in an adjustment of the headline financial figures previously reported. Clowes’ takeover, which involved a cost of £55 million for the local property developer, initially led to reported pre-tax losses of £30 million during his inaugural season of ownership. This loss, however, also encompassed a £19.7 million “impairment of purchased goodwill,” which is defined as “the difference a company pays for an asset and its book value, external.” This figure has subsequently been revised to £9.3 million due to an increase in the training ground’s value as an asset. Consequently, the pre-tax profit for the 12 months ending June 2023 has been restated as £20 million. This revised figure will serve as the basis for assessing the club’s adherence to the English Football League’s spending regulations in forthcoming years.