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(Alliance News) - Scottish football club Celtic PLC on Friday reported a decreased annual profit as the club failed to qualify for Europe's most prestigious football competition, which was partly offset by an increase in player sales.
In the year ended June 30, Celtic recorded a pretax profit of GBP11.3 million, 35% lower than the GBP17.3 million reported the year before.
The football club's revenue declined 18% year on year to GBP83.4 million from GBP101.6 million.
The slip in revenue reflects a "satisfactory" performance following the football club not qualifying for the UEFA Champions League, a lucrative football tournament, as it had done the year prior.
The company noted it won an eight consecutive Scottish Premiership title and an "unprecedented" third consecutive Scottish domestic treble, marking the club's ninth consecutive domestic trophy.
"The financial results for the year demonstrate the robustness of the group's strategy of investment in football operations, whilst maintaining a self-sustaining financial model. This continues to provide a stable platform for football success and shareholder value," said Chair Ian Bankier.
The company made a GBP17.7 million gain on player sales, 7.3% higher than the year before.
"The gains on sales of player registrations, primarily reflected by the gains achieved on the sales of Moussa Dembele to Olympique Lyonnais and Erik Sviatchenko to FC Midtjylland, as well as contingent fees crystallising on previous player transfers, were key to the performance of the group," added Bankier.
He continued: "As we look ahead, the future of UEFA competitions beyond 2024 remains uncertain. While recognising the risks, the club considers that the developments being discussed by UEFA, the European Club Association and other stakeholders, present an opportunity to clubs such as Celtic."
Celtic noted Chief Executive Peter Lawell's position on the board of the European Club Association as reason for optimism.
Celtic ended the period with GBP38.9 million in net cash, net of debt.
Shares in Celtic closed 0.9% higher in London on Friday at 164.00 pence each.
By Paul McGowan; paulmcgowan@alliancenews.com
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