There were a few eyebrows raised when AC Milan confirmed on Friday that the club are set to make a record loss for the 2019-20 financial year.
A statement on the club’s official website revealed that the Milan Board of Directors approved the draft financial statements for the financial year ending 30 June 2020, which will then be submitted to the Shareholder’s meeting on 28 October.
Ultimately, the net loss was €195million which is the highest single-year loss that the club have ever made, but the club cite a number of exceptional circumstances as being a driving force.
Firstly, there is the negative impacts of the Coronavirus which has affected all clubs as it has virtually eradicated matchday revenue and had a big hit on sponsorship. Secondly, they blame the situation inherited from the previous ownership.
Below, the wonderful Twitter account @SwissRamble – dedicated to looking at the finances of football clubs – has analysed the accounts of some top European clubs including Milan.
#RealMadrid managed to still report a small €320k profit, but this was down from prior season’s €38m, while #SSLazio restricted their loss to “only” €16m (from €13m). #Benfica actually improved their profit from €28m to €42m, but only due to €126m profit from player sales. pic.twitter.com/XW3eerhH4p
— Swiss Ramble (@SwissRamble) October 12, 2020
By my calculations, the #ASRoma €204m and #Milan €195m losses are the second and third highest losses ever in Italy, only surpassed by #Inter €207m in 2006/07. Not far behind largest ever loss of €219m by #MCFC in 2010/11.
— Swiss Ramble (@SwissRamble) October 12, 2020
Most of these player sales were made before the pandemic struck, i.e. summer 2019 and January 2020. However, these profits are likely to be lower in the 2020/21 accounts, as the transfer market has been depressed this summer (with the exception of a few Premier League clubs).
— Swiss Ramble (@SwissRamble) October 12, 2020
