Celtic have made a huge profit of £33.9million before tax that’s revealed in a stunning set of figures in their interim report.
The Scottish Premiership champions made their way back into the Champions League group stage and even though they didn't qualify for the knockout phases, their financial gains at this stage have been reflected in their annual accounts. A huge profit of £33.9m before tax for the first half of this campaign has been declared, which is a significant improvement on the £27.6m that was made at this stage of Ange Postecoglou's first campaign in charge.
Revenue at Celtic has also risen by a hugely-significant degree of 44.8 per cent to £76.5m, which is a big improvement on the £52.9m that was gained in the first half of the 2021/22 campaign. Trading profit was £28.1m opposed to 2021's £7m. Cash net of bank borrowings comes in at £59.2m next to 2021's £25.6m, which are all laid out in the interim six-month report to the year ending December 31. Fourteen home fixtures have been played on top of their European outings and being nine points clear at the top of the league.
In a positive statement – his first as chairman – former CEO Peter Lawwell said: "I am honoured to present my first chairman’s statement on behalf of Celtic Football Club. Being back to chair the club that I have always supported and served for almost 18 years as CEO, is a privilege. I look forward to fulfilling the role, and playing my part in our club going forward.
"The key factors driving the improvement in the underlying trading performance in the six months to 31 December 2022 compared to the same period last year, was the direct qualification to the UEFA Champions League group stage. This was the key driver in our revenue increase over the same period last year which reflected UEFA Europa League Group stage participation. Gains from player trading this year of £1.8m (2021: £25.8m) were notably lower, reflecting our strategy of assembling a new football playing squad under our football manager, Ange Postecoglou. Period end net cash at bank was £59.2m (2021: £25.6m). After adjusting for a net trading balance on prior inbound and outbound transfers, this sum reduces to £50.2m at December 2022 (2021: £39.7m). The introductory page to these interim results summarises the key events in the period.
"This year is the second season under Ange and the success delivered in season 2021/22 in securing the SPFL title ensured we qualified directly for the UEFA Champions League group stage for season 2022/23. This allowed us to plan and execute our transfer business early. Following from the permanent signings of Daizen Maeda, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Joao Pedro Neves Filipe (Jota), we went on to sign Alexandro Bernabei, Sead Haksabanovic, Aaron Mooy, Benjamin Siegrist and brought in loan signings Oliver Abildgaard and Moritz Jenz.
"As the season got underway in August, we were presented with a tough Champions League Group stage draw, alongside 14 times Champions League winners Real Madrid, RB Leipzig and Shakhtar Donetsk. Despite a number of strong footballing performances we all shared Ange’s disappointment in not progressing further, but took heart from the competitive performances and experience gained by our young team which will serve them well in future European competition.
"On domestic footballing matters, we currently sit 9 points ahead at the top of the SPFL Premiership, have reached the Viaplay Cup Final and have reached the fifth round of the Scottish Cup. We sit in a satisfactory position domestically, but strive to keep improving as a club and during the January transfer window we further added to the squad by signing Alistair Johnston, Yuki Kobayashi, Tomoki Iwata (loan with obligation to buy) and Hyeongyu Oh. Josip Juranovic, Oliver Abildgaard, Moritz Jenz, Scott Robertson and Giorgos Giakoumakis moved on to continue their careers elsewhere and we wish them all the best for the future."
