Liverpool announce record turnover and healthy pre-tax profit despite £223m transfer outlay

Making strides | Liverpool's on-field success - they won a sixth Champions League title in June - is being matched off it
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David Lynch27 February 2020

Liverpool have announced a record turnover of £533million in the club’s latest financial accounts.

The Reds have taken more huge strides forward off the pitch during the reporting period that ended May 31, 2019 - a day before their sixth Champions League triumph was secured in Madrid.

During that time, media revenue increased by £41m to £261m, commercial revenue grew by £34m to £188m, and match revenue also rose £3.5m to £84m.

That growth allowed for a record outlay of £223m on transfers, including the signings of Alisson Becker, Naby Keita, Fabinho and Xherdan Shaqiri.

New contracts were also handed out to stars such as Jordan Henderson, Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold during that period.

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Those extra financial commitments have resulted in pre-tax profit dropping from last year’s record £125m to £42m.

However, despite the Reds’ wage bill swelling from £263m in 2017-18 to £310m in 2018-19, that expenditure has remained consistent at around 58 per cent of turnover.

Andy Hughes, LFC’s chief operating officer, said: “This continued strengthening of the underlying financial sustainability of the club is enabling us to make significant investments both in player recruitment and infrastructure.

“Being able to reinvest over £220m on players during this financial period is a result of a successful business strategy, particularly the significant uplift in commercial revenues.

“The cost of football, however, does continue to rise in transfers and associated fees but what’s critical for us is the consistency of our financial position, enabling us to live within our means and continue to run a sustainable football club.

“What we’re seeing is sustained growth across all areas of the club which is aligned to the recent performance on the pitch.

"Since this reporting period we have continued to reinvest in the club’s infrastructure, and we look forward to the opening of our new training base at Kirkby ahead of the new season which will provide first-class facilities for our players and staff.

“We have also just completed a second phase consultation on a proposed expansion of the Anfield Road Stand which could see an increase in the stadium’s capacity, giving even more supporters the opportunity to see the team.

"There is more work to do and, importantly, we will continue our dialogue with all key stakeholders including local residents, businesses and community groups.

“These financial results and this sustained period of solid growth is testament to our ownership, Fenway Sports Group, who continue to support the club’s ambitions and continue to reinvest revenues both in strengthening the playing squad and the club’s infrastructure to build for the future.”

This year’s figures do not account for the recent signing of a new lucrative kit manufacture deal with American sportswear giant Nike.

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