Oxygen for Barça to face the refinancing of the new Camp Nou

BarcelonaThe renovation of the Camp Nou and the interest generation from the financing that is allowing the works to be carried out are progressing in parallel. This is one of the ways in which the twenty investment funds that have provided credit so Barça can undertake its most important project of the 21st century do business. According to the 2024 report of the Espai Barça securitization fund, published by the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) this spring, the Blaugrana club has accumulated €134.5 million in accrued interest (i.e., not yet paid) without any of it having been amortized. The first €46.9 million were generated in 2023, and the remaining €85.5 million, in 2024.

However, the total financial cost for Barça is somewhat higher due to several associated expenses entailed by the securitization fund, such as its opening transaction. Thus, the total cash flows that have left the fund's coffers since its creation in the spring of 2023 are 145.4 million (73.7 in 2023 and 71.7 in 2024). Financial experts consulted by ARA believe that Laporta's board made a smart move in 2023, through the securitization fund, buying government bonds and Treasury bills in Spain, among other financial products, which are allowing the interest burden to be assumed, in part, thanks to the profits they are generating.

The problem is that, in any case, Barça is already very close to reaching the figure of the 1.45 billion euros of financing for Espai Barça that it planned to allocate to the financial cost and issuances: 179 million euros (200 million were also set aside for contingencies). A budget that, when former Vice President of the Economy Eduard Romeu presented the financing to the media, he assured would contribute to paying for the new Palau Blaugrana because it wouldn't need to be used to assume the original burden assigned to it. Therefore, solutions must be found to address the construction of the pavilion. Some, as ARA recently explained, are to issue a new bond or find a private investor willing to put up the money. The experts consulted explain that there is also the option of accumulating the cost of the new Palau in the refinancing of the Espai Barça, which is already underway.

Better refinancing conditions

As this newspaper explained, Barça and Goldman Sachs – the investment fund that provides financing for Espai Barça – They are already moving to refinance the operation due to the club's inability to meet the loan repayments. over the next few years (around 800 million by 2028). With this in mind, Barça has received excellent news in recent days, when it was learned that the entity's credit rating has been reduced from "stable" to "positive," according to the rating agency Morningstar DBRS, which has assessed Barça's ability to meet its obligations to creditors.

"This fact has an influence on the price to be paid for the debt. In other words, the refinancing will still be obtained, but with a somewhat more favorable rating. In addition, it will be obtained at a slightly lower price and with a broader catalog of buyers," a financier close to Barça explained to ARA about the Espai Barça that is being negotiated. But the financier himself points out that Morningstar does something unusual in its report: "It takes Espai Barça's debt out of the equation and says that without it, Barça's finances will be fine. And not only that. It says they will be fine precisely thanks to Espai Barça's revenue."

Reaching 1.1 billion in revenue

Indeed, Morningstar states in its report that "the change in trend from positive to stable is supported by the improvement in Barça's financial performance over the last two seasons, together with the expectation of further improvement thanks to the increase in revenue resulting from the club's return to Camp Nou." However, it goes on to explain that it "has deconsolidated Espai Barça from the club's financial statements." Furthermore, it forecasts that Barça will reach revenues of "€1.1 billion in 2027, driven by the club's return to the renovated stadium." The rating agency also believes that between 2025 and 2029, Barça's workforce cost ratio will be 55%.