Why hasn't Barça released its numbers yet?

BarcelonaThe summer calm has yet to arrive at the Camp Nou offices. This July, the rush is on. to prepare the stadium for the return to play the Joan Gamper Trophy on August 10 with visits from the heads of the auditing company, Crowe, to continue with the talks in order to finalize the figures for the 2024-2025 financial year. "Always!" exclaims a source from Barça's top brass when asked by ARA whether the auditors have been wandering around the halls of Barça a lot lately. Although Barça's financial year closed on June 30, there is still no official data regarding the figures.

The only information provided by the club was communicated by Joan Laporta in mid-May, when he said there would be around 950 million euros in revenue. However, there is no clear clue as to the volume of expenses or whether there will be a profit or loss. The reason is the various financial files that Barça must get the auditor and La Liga to interpret in the most positive way for the club. In fact, Crowe is still preparing his audit report, which, according to Barça's forecasts, will not be ready until early August.

In any case, this doesn't guarantee that the final figures will be made public at that time. The shareholders' assembly will be held in October, and official Barça sources already inform this newspaper that the club has until then to release the information. "We don't have a specific date for presenting accounts beyond the date established in the bylaws, in order to provide information to members before the assembly," they explain. The bylaws state that, "for a period of no less than ten business days prior to the assembly, the club must provide all members who request it with a copy of the documents that comprise the information."

In fact, during Laporta's second term the numbers They have always communicated between the end of September and the beginning of October. Previously, it was common to do so between mid- and late July, even if they hadn't yet received the auditor's approval. "In a normal company, a preliminary report on the main figures (turnover, growth, provisional results) is usually prepared, and once it's closed and audited, it's presented to the board. In the case of Barça, there aren't many reasons not to do so, even if it's a preliminary report." preview", considers a financier consulted by ARA.

The 'VIP' seats

There are several files that could substantially change the closing of the 2024-25 financial year. However, the key will be for the auditor to allow Barça to include the 100 million euros from the sale of part of the seats. VIP from Camp Nou, who should be available to Gamper to certify that they are now an operational asset. According to the club's forecasts, if the move goes well, it would allow Deco, the sporting director of the men's first team, could work with the 1:1 rule of fair play financial since the beginning of August. That is, he could spend every euro he earns on signings. This milestone, coupled with the sale of a big name in the squad, would allow him to seriously consider signings like Luis Díaz and Marcus Rashford, both candidates to strengthen the Barça attack after Nico Williams's refusal.

The assessment of the other levers

Last summer, Barça's former auditor, Grant Thornton, requested a €208 million write-down of the book value of 51% of Barça Studios. Laporta's board refused, and the auditor added an exception to the 2023-2024 accounts due to this issue. The reason was non-payments by Barça Studios investors. But over the last year, Barça has attempted to give this asset greater value with the takeover of Bridgeburg Invest (Barça Vision) by Barça Produccions (known as Barça Studios). Thus, Barça's digital content (Barça Vision: NFT, metaverse, web3, fan tokens) have come to share an umbrella with audiovisual content (Barça Media: Barça One, series, e-sports). It remains to be seen whether this move will be enough to convince Crowe.

The leverage from the sale of 25% of La Liga's television rights to Sixth Street for the next 25 years is also at risk of devaluation. This transaction allowed Barça to record a book profit of 667.5 million in 2022, but the club only earned 510 million. The remaining 157.5 million is the capital that Barça invested in the company Locksley Invest. But, right now, this item has lost its value, according to the experts in Barça's economy consulted, because it will not have any additional income until 2047, when the transfer of television rights to Sixth Street will end.

UEFA's fine

Precisely, the levers have led to UEFA has fined Barça 15 million euros for violating the rules of the fair play European governing body's financial system. UEFA believes Barça has had a negative differential of 200 million euros in the 2023 and 2024 seasons because it does not accept that the leverage be fully counted as revenue (La Liga, on the other hand, did allow it). Furthermore, the fine will increase to 60 million euros if the Catalan club violates UEFA regulations again in the next two years. Although the fine became effective on July 4, it remains to be seen whether Barça will be charged the fine in the 2024-25 or 2025-26 financial year. In any case, it will have to provide the remaining 45 million euros in its accounts in case it ultimately needs to use them.