The five keys to understand Barça's accounts

BarcelonaBarça's delegate members are called this Saturday to the club's Ordinary General Assembly. This year, very relevant points for the blue and garnet future will be discussed: from the expansion of financing to finish the Espai Barça to the ratification of the members of the new board of directors. Also, the projects to create a luxury real estate complex in Dubai in partnership with an Emirati company (Ohana Real Estate Development and Construction LLC) and the idea of creating an indoor amusement park at the new Camp Nou will have to be put to a vote. This last proposal has been surrounded by controversy due to the links of Babylon Park Spain SL –partner of the project– with Israel.

However, since Barça has been dragging a complicated situation from an economic point of view, the point on the agenda that has gained the most importance has been the accounts. This Saturday, the club will present record figures for the entity to the delegate members, after achieving a turnover of over 1,000 million euros. However, the net result of the financial year has once again been negative (-18 million) and has remained 22 million below the projections made by the club. Let's review some of the keys to understanding what the current situation of the entity is.

A record turnover

Barça is bringing in revenue, and a lot of it. For the first time in the club's history, turnover surpassed the 1 billion mark in ordinary income. In total, the entity sold goods and services worth 1.06 billion euros, a giant figure, which represents 7% more than what was raised the previous year. The last fiscal year before the pandemic, the 18/19 season, revenues were 990 million; back then, however, the Camp Nou was at full capacity and the team still had the asset Messi.

Until now, the club had only exceeded the 1 billion turnover threshold in two fiscal years: the 21/22 season, with 1.017 billion, and the 22/23 season, when revenues were 1.259 billion. It is worth remembering that these figures were achieved thanks to the famous levers and, therefore, thanks to extraordinary income—those that do not come from habitual economic activity. The 1.06 billion of the last fiscal year is explained, broadly speaking, by the good performance of the merchandising business and the progressive return to Camp Nou.

Losses continue

However, despite this growth in turnover, Barça continues to lose money. During the last year, the club has increased its spending on sports salaries (+7%), non-sports salaries (+9%), and management expenses (+9%). Furthermore, the 'blaugranes' have had to face 37 million euros in financial costs, which, among others, have this year begun to pay the interest on the Espai Barça financial structure. Extraordinary items have also had a negative impact on the balance sheet, pushed downwards by a new devaluation of the club's audiovisual business.

This year's red figures have caused the club's consolidated net equity to continue worsening, standing at negative 168 million compared to the negative 153 million of the previous fiscal year. Additionally, it is also worth noting that the club's working capital is -376 million. Barça, however, considers that this figure does not cast doubt on the entity for several reasons. The most notable: that 227 million correspond to accruals that do not imply cash outflows—that is to say, money that the Club has collected in advance and will be accounted for as income as the season progresses, such as stadium season tickets—and that regulations value intangible sporting assets based on acquisition costs. In other words, players like Lamine Yamal, Pau Cubarsí, or Marc Bernal, since they have not cost the club money, do not appear on the club's balance sheet.

BLM, a rising business

One of the main explanations behind the good performance of the club's sales is the company Barça Licensing & Merchandising (BLM). This Barça subsidiary created in 2018 is in charge of the entire 'retail' business, of mass commercialization, and during the last few years it has catapulted its turnover thanks to the sale of club merchandise. This year, BLM has brought in 208 million euros, 40 million euros more than the previous year. According to the entity's forecasts for the 26/27 financial year, the company is expected to break turnover records again next year.

Also in the commercial section, sponsors have left the club 5 million more than the previous financial year, with revenues of 265 million.

The weight of the Espai Barça

Another key point to understand the great evolution of revenue has been the progressive return to the Camp Nou. During the 25/26 season, Barça collected 225 million linked to the stadium compared to the 175 million it had generated the previous year. These figures have been obtained with a half-finished stadium and an incomplete season at Travessera de les Corts. It is worth remembering that the 25/26 season began with some matches at the Johan Cruyff Stadium and also went through Montjuïc. The accounts also report that, once the Camp Nou is finished, it will be able to generate 250 million "in additional revenue to that which the previous facilities generated".

However, the Espai Barça will also be a topic of interest at the club's Ordinary General Assembly regarding financing. Barça will ask to increase the credit by 300 million to finish the works.

The other side of the coin

From Barça's annual accounts, it can also be inferred that the valuation of the club's audiovisual business continues to bleed out. After the club sold almost half of Barça Studios in 2022, valuing it at more than 400 million euros, the business has currently devalued to 116 million euros. The auditor Crowe, however, continues to consider this valuation a "risk aspect" due to "the high degree of estimation and professional judgment by the management".

During this time, a series of non-payments and acquisitions have marked the club's audiovisual business. According to Barça, they continue to "trust in the viability and future capacity of the company".