Celtic have an eye-watering £77.2m in the bank, the club's latest set of financial results has revealed.
Peter Lawwell has released a statement reflecting on the annual report to the London Stock Exchange today.
Group revenue has increased from £119.9m to £124.6m, while a pre-tax profit of £17.8m has been posted, but this is way down from £40.7m last year.
Lawwell's statement reads: "I should start by congratulating Brendan Rodgers, in his first season back at Celtic Park and the men’s team for securing the Scottish Premiership and Scottish Cup.
"I also extend my congratulations to Elena and our women’s team for securing the Club’s first ever SWPL Championship. Elena joined Celtic in February 2024, and led a competitive and exciting title run, which went to the final few minutes of the season.
"Success is something we can never take for granted. It is important to celebrate and appreciate these wins, but also to recognise that we should always strive continuously to improve.
"The results for the year ended 30 June 2024 show an increase in revenue to £124.6m (2023: £119.9m) with a corresponding profit before tax of £17.8m (2023: £40.7m).
"The £4.7m increase in revenue reflects several factors including higher participation fees in the UEFA Champions League in season 2023/24, when compared to the previous season, alongside stronger retail performance in the year.
"The £22.9m decrease in profit before tax, although significant, was in line with expectations due to a number of known and anticipated factors. In relation to football activities, our gain on sale achieved in the year was £7.8m lower than in the prior year.
"We also invested higher sums into the men’s team compared to the prior year in the form of salaries. In addition, we have experienced a rise in overhead costs driven by the high inflationary environment in which the business has operated over the last year. There was also the absence of £13.5m of non-recurring other income which was specific to the prior year.
Read more:
"Our year end cash was £77.2m (2023: £72.3m). Despite Champions League qualification, the increase in cash was more modest than it may have been owing to the investment into the team in terms of transfer expenditure and wage costs in the year under review.
"This was coupled with the commencement of significant capital expenditure projects, including the Barrowfield re-development and a number of stadium maintenance projects.
"Further to the investment in player registrations of £13.0m in the previous financial year ended 30 June 2023, the Club made a significant investment by committing an additional £16.6m in the year under review.
"This took our total spend to £68.0m over the three financial years to 30 June 2024. Since the year end, and up to the closure of the transfer window on 30 August 2024, we have invested a further £31.2m into player registrations (including transaction costs).
"Over the summer transfer window, we twice broke the Club’s previous record transfer. As a result of this period of sustained investment, our current squad carries the highest value and resulting amortisation charge in the Club’s history, by a considerable margin."
Lawwell went on to speak about Celtic's participation in the Champions League, with the start of the new league-phase campaign just 48 hours away against Slovan Bratislava.
Addressing some of the challenges in generating revenue with TV rights restrictions in Scotland, he added: "As well as delivering domestic success, we are determined to progress as far as possible in European competition and improve upon our recent record. We cannot and must not be complacent and we must strive for progression as a club as the football industry evolves at a remarkable pace.
"Notwithstanding the domestic success we have enjoyed and the establishment of Celtic as a regular European football participant, it is important that we do not deviate from our strategy, which has been successful over many years, based on maintaining a self-sustaining financial model.
"This involves targeting Champions League qualification each year along with introducing young players into our team, either from our academy or through recruitment, with a view to developing them and helping them to progress their careers.
"This is not without its challenges as domestic media rights have been unable to keep pace with the media rights environment of our competitor markets and football industry inflation in general over recent years. This means that securing the best players is more challenging and we must work harder than ever to bring success.
"Our strategy has been crucial to the domestic success of recent years, and it is one your Board intends to maintain. In line with all other clubs who compete in European competition, we must also be cognisant of the UEFA Financial Sustainability rules and look to balance the short term and long-term objectives of our Club. This is a difficult balance, but a vital one."
