The accounts of Charlton Athletic Football Company Limited (“the club”) for the Year Ended 30^th June 2024 have recently been filed at Companies House. The accounts are for the men’s team only.

Background

On 21 July 2023, the Thomas Sandgaard era ended when his company Clear Ocean Capital Limited sold the club to SE7 Partners Limited whose parent company is Global Football Partners Limited, a company incorporated in the Cayman Islands.

The accounts for the year ended 30 June 2024 are the first to show the financial position under the current ownership and management. This covers the season under Holden, Appleton and Jones which resulted in Charlton’s lowest league finish in almost a century.

Key financial information disclosed in the accounts

• Turnover down to £8.812M from £9.802M.
• Other operating income up to £1.306M from £363k
• Administrative expenses up to £23.943M from £19.877M.
• Staff costs up to £12.132M from £10.279M. Staff costs up to 137.68% of turnover from 104.87%.
• The staff costs include remuneration paid to key management personnel. These costs increased to £1.948M from £1.148M.

(NB. The club have clarified to CAST that key management personnel is defined as those persons having authority and responsibility for planning, controlling and directing the activities of the company. This therefore includes both footballing and non-footballing senior management. The uplift is reflected in payments, including severance, to three first-team managers during the year and a wider definition of senior management than previously. The club has informed CAST that all remuneration at CAFC is benchmarked appropriately, and performance is consistently reviewed by the board and ownership.)

• The average monthly number of staff members classified as being football related increased by 7 to 120
• The loss for the financial year was £13.927M which was worse than the £9.559M recorded in the previous year.
• Clear Ocean Capital Limited (Thomas Sandgaard) waived its loan of £21.331M and it is therefore no longer payable.
• At 30 June 2024, the company owed £11.734M to companies within the new ownership group.
• The shareholders deficit at 30 June 2024 amounted to £22.654M (£30.058M). The improvement is because the debt written off by Clear Ocean Capital Limited was more than the loss!

Other key information disclosed in the accounts

• In August 2024, the club was subject to a cyber-attack which impacted the ability to access the accounting system and some supporting documentation for the four-month period ended 31 October 2023. There is a disclaimer of opinion in the audit report.
• The club had a deficit of £22.654M and net current liabilities of £16.638M at 30 June 2024 and incurred a loss of £13.927M for the year ended 30 June 2024. However, the accounts are prepared on a going concern basis. Full details of the reasoning for this are set out in note 2.3 to the accounts. In summary it is based on renewed letters of support from the major ultimate shareholders.
• The lease of the Valley and Sparrows Lane is 15 years from 25 September 2020.
• The loans from the ex-directors, repayable if the club is promoted to the Premier League, still exist.
• The unquantified contingent consideration payable to Staprix NV (Roland Duchatelet) if the club is promoted to Premier League before 25 September 2030 still exists.

 

Information not yet available or not disclosed

• There is no information on remuneration paid to the company directors J R Rodwell and E M Warrick.
• The accounts state that “The Company has taken advantage of the exemption in FRS 102 Section 33.1A to not disclose transactions with wholly owned group entities.
• The Accounts and the group accounts of SE7 Partners Limited and those for Charlton Athletic Womens Football Club Limited, both for the year ended 30 June 2024, have yet to be filed. When they are filed a fuller picture of the overall financial position and hopefully more information on the funding from the new ownership will be available. The due date for filing these accounts is 30 June 2025.
• There is less information in note 25 “Post statement of financial position events” than in the past. In particular, the previous accounts provided information on cash injections after the accounting date which has not been disclosed this time.

In summary

Turnover fell in the year ended 30^th June 2024.

There is a substantial increase in both wage costs and the ratio of wage costs to turnover.

There is an increase in losses of £4.368M to £13.927M.

The club advised supporters at an online meeting that losses of some £9M were forecast for the current year ended 30 June 2025. This is similar to the position for the year ended 30^th June 2023.

The club’s deficit and ongoing losses are being funded by the ultimate owners.