SilverWolfe Posted October 30, 2016 Share Posted October 30, 2016 So it’s that time of year where we, “the obsessed”, present our findings on RIFC PLC from the previous season, in this case season 15/16, which saw Rangers win promotion to the SPFL Premiership. Highlights for the season The Club enjoyed a successful season by winning the Ladbrokes Championship and the Petrofac Training Cup, and reaching the final of the William Hill Scottish Cup. Repayment of a £5m loan to the SportsDirect.com Retail Limited which was secured by a floating charge over the Club’s assets, fixed charge over Auchenhowie, Edmiston House, Albion car park and the Club’s registered trademarks and charge over the shares under call option. “Issues caused by neglect while the Club was in the control of those who were ousted are being addressed” “The Board has invested heavily in staff and infrastructure and will continue to do so” “Relationships which were all but destroyed with national and local politicians and the football authorities are being reinstated and reinforced” “Commercial and marketing departments are now functioning better and the Club expects to benefit from improvements on these fronts” “The Rangers Charity Foundation has grown significantly with all charitable and community initiatives now delivered under one umbrella. The new-look Foundation continues to make a positive and lasting difference to the wider community, in the Govan area, Scotland and beyond” “More than 37,000 season tickets were sold in 2015/16”with “the average home league attendance up from 34k to 44k”, “numbers very few clubs in the UK can match” The Club “are developing long-term plans to increase advertising and revenue potential and the opening of new Hospitality Suites plus engaging marketing campaigns gives the Club a solid base from which to grow.” “Rangers TV subscriber numbers increased by around 20% during season 2015/16. Pay-per-view sales also showed considerable increases, more than trebling on the previous campaign” Key financial results for the year Revenue - £22.2m (2015: £16.3m) Total staff costs - £13.0m (2015: £13.3m) First team player budget - £6.4m (2015: £6.2m) Loss for the year - £3.3m (2015: £7.7m loss) Net Current Liabilities - £7.3m (2015: £7.1m) Investor loans - £10.0m (2015: £3.75m) Sports Direct Loan - £0.0m (2015: £5.0m) “Revenue for the year was £22.2m, an overall increase of £5.9m from the previous year. An increase in the average home league attendance from 34k to 44k drove an increase in gate receipts and hospitality. Season ticket income rose by £3.2m, hospitality receipts rose by £0.8m, and match ticket sales rose by £0.5m” “Player costs are RIFC’s most significant expenditure, including £6.4 million (2015: £6.2 million) in respect of the first team playing squad” RIFC are currently in a net current liability position of £7.3m which casts “serious doubts over the Groups ability to realise its assets and discharge its liabilities in the normal course of business. The Board of Directors has received undertakings from certain investors that they will provide financial support to the Group and have satisfied themselves as to the validity of these undertakings and that the individuals have the means and authority to provide such funding as and when it is required.” “The RIFC Group maintains cash to fund the daily cash requirements of its business. The Group does not have access to any further banking facilities.” In addition, “the situation with Sports Direct, which has been well documented, continues to impact on commercial revenue streams”. In order to meet the annual cash flow cycle and ensure that its liabilities are paid as they fall due, “the Group would require up to £4.0m by way of debt or equity funding by the end of season 2016/2017. Following the progression of the team to the Semi Finals of the Scottish League Cup, the funding requirement is now anticipated to be £3.75m. The first tranche of funding amounting to £2.9m has been received from investors in October 2016, with further funds forecast to be required in March 2017. Further funding may be required during the 2017/18 season, the quantum of which is dependent on future football performance and European football participation” The total interest-free, unsecured loans with investors amount to £10.0m as at 30 June 2016, and can be broken down as follows: New Oasis Asset Limited (Dave King) - £3.75m Douglas Park, John Bennett, Paul Murray – £2.45m George Taylor, George Letham, Andrew Ross, Barry Scott, Scott Murdoch - £3.8m SPFL Fine “In 2012, the SPL raised proceedings against The Rangers Football Club plc (Oldco) in relation to the use of EBTs and following a hearing in February 2013 a fine of £250,000 and costs of £150,000 were levied against Oldco. As part of the agreement to allow Rangers to participate in Scottish Football, there was a clause inserted where it was agreed that Rangers would become liable and responsible for the imposition of any sanctions by the SPL for any breach of SPL Rules and or articles by Oldco/Rangers FC (i.e. the £250,000 fine)” “Within the current SPFL rules there is a provision (known as the offset rule) whereby if any amounts are due to the SPFL, the Board of the SPFL are entitled to withhold amounts due to the Club up to the value of the amount outstanding. The Board of the SPFL determined that it would impose the offset rule to recover the £250,000 fine from the Club.” “As a result of this decision, the Club invoked Article 99 of the SFA Articles seeking a determination by an Arbitral Tribunal appointed by the SFA that the sum was not due to the SPFL. The tribunal was held in October 2015 and found in favour of the SPFL and as such the Club was liable to pay the fine plus associated costs. The Club duly paid the SPFL and the total paid during the year amounted to £286,000 and has been disclosed as a non-recurring cost in the financial statements.” Craig Whyte Investigation “Based on the assessment of the available evidence, the Company considers that the Investigation found no evidence that Craig Whyte had any involvement with Sevco Scotland Limited (now called The Rangers Football Club Limited), the company that ultimately acquired the business and assets of Rangers Football Club plc from its administrators; nor which would suggest that Craig Whyte invested in The Rangers Football Club Limited or Rangers International Football Club plc, either directly or indirectly through any third party companies or vehicles” SPFL Premiership 16/17 Confidence was high amongst the Rangers fans as the club completed the purchase of eleven players, at a total cost of £3,032,000, during the pre-season. The Rangers fans firmly believed that they would be lifting title number 55 come May, highlighted by a display at Ibrox on the opening day of the season. This is in contrast to the RIFC Board of Directors, who believed that the Clubs expectation was to “qualify for Europa League qualifiers, either through top-3 SPFL finish or cup qualification”. Many of the Chairman’s notes within the Annual Accounts refer to this belief, for example; “The Group’s forecast assumes the Club will challenge for the European places in the Ladbrokes SPFL Premiership in 2016/17 and participate in European competition in the season thereafter” Summary To summarise the above with my own opinions. The Rangers Board do seem to be working very hard to reduce costs and maximise profits (or minimise losses). They have now cleared their football debts with the SPFL and have clarified that Craig Whyte is in no way connected to the current Company. They want to compete for that European place and have spent £3m and have increased the first team playing budget by 60% to £10.3m. However, with no credit facilities available and no revenues from merchandise while they fight Sports Direct (which will be costing a fortune and taking up a lot of their time), they clearly depend on match day revenues and investor loans to maintain cash flows. As of now they owe £12.9m to these investors and I have not seen anywhere that these guys are willing to turn the debt into equity. For now we need to assume that Rangers will need to pay the loans back. Their auditors also resigned due to threatening and intimidating messages (reputational risk?). With all of this in mind, I find it difficult to see any external investors being willing to stump up the large amounts of cash that it would take for them to compete against Celtic and in Europe. I think if Rangers do not make it into Europe next season they could be in serious trouble. Furthermore, I think the Rangers fans were too arrogant in their expectations for this season, they under-estimated the level of football in the Premiership and how far ahead Celtic are both on and off the field. They also vastly over-estimated their own squad and their clubs expectations, albeit the Chairman could have come out during pre-season and explained those expectations to the fans. The Rangers fans need to seriously start being patient with their board and their Manager and give them the time it will take to correct all the wrongs that have occurred over the past 4 years. I think a top 3 finish this season is acceptable considering all of the above. Chasing people out of the club or not turning up to back the team (or booing them off the park every week) will only make the process take longer. During the 90s when Celtic were struggling and Fergus McCann came in, it took us 4 years to win the League and the first of those seasons we finished 4th. Don’t make the same mistakes we made by chasing out a man who is now considered a legend and the saviour of our Club. These things take time. That was a bit longer than I expected so apologies for that. What are Rangers fans thoughts on the current situation? Are you happy to finish top 3 while the Board go about their business? Are you happy enough with the current Manager given that he is sitting second? Do you think you will be able to stop 10 in a row? Let’s try and keep it clean and to the point of the thread. Probably an idea not to quote the full thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bennett Posted October 30, 2016 Share Posted October 30, 2016 "To summarise the above with my own opinions" your own work Tony? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverWolfe Posted October 30, 2016 Author Share Posted October 30, 2016 2 minutes ago, bennett said: "To summarise the above with my own opinions" your own work Tony? Did I write it? Yeah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bennett Posted October 30, 2016 Share Posted October 30, 2016 Rather you than me mate, reads like war and peace. Anyhow, a top four finish would do me, boards doing no too bad, Warbs will get there if given time, skidmarks is a dick, I reckon we'll stop 10 in a row. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henrik's tongue Posted October 30, 2016 Share Posted October 30, 2016 5 minutes ago, bennett said: I reckon we'll stop 10 in a row. Aye but you're a fanny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bennett Posted October 30, 2016 Share Posted October 30, 2016 I know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverWolfe Posted October 30, 2016 Author Share Posted October 30, 2016 7 minutes ago, bennett said: Rather you than me mate, reads like war and peace. Anyhow, a top four finish would do me, boards doing no too bad, Warbs will get there if given time, skidmarks is a dick, I reckon we'll stop 10 in a row. Too long? That was me trimming it right back haha Oh well at least it saves folk having to read 60 pages of the actual accounts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICTChris Posted October 31, 2016 Share Posted October 31, 2016 "Obsessed" is an overused insult on these boards but Tony, mate. Go out for a walk or have a beer or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stag Nation Posted October 31, 2016 Share Posted October 31, 2016 There's a good analysis of the accounts here http://www.philmacgiollabhain.ie/rifc-accounts-2016/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bennett Posted October 31, 2016 Share Posted October 31, 2016 1 hour ago, Stag Nation said: There's a good analysis of the accounts here http://www.philmacgiollabhain.ie/rifc-accounts-2016/ Author, blogger, journalist, playwright, accountant, investigator, social work assistant, man of many names........ Is there no end to this man's talents? Please donate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henrik's tongue Posted October 31, 2016 Share Posted October 31, 2016 11 hours ago, bennett said: Please donate. ^^^^ Brain donor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Asap Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 We'll make from from just playing in the CL than your full club made in a year. Frightening Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The DA Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 6 hours ago, Asap said: We'll make from from just playing in the CL than your full club made in a year. Frightening As was your sentence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forever_blueco Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 8 hours ago, Asap said: We'll make from from just playing in the CL than your full club made in a year. Frightening Are you just getting to grips with modern football or something ? This Hardly earth shattering news heres an an even more astonishing fact , Aston villa made roughly triple/quadruple the money for finishing miserably bottom of the table last year than what you made for going through three qualifying rounds to qualify for the champions league http://www.totalsportek.com/football/premier-league-prize-money-table-2015/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.