“Despite the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and the fact the majority of the new stadium deal benefits will flow into the 2010 financial year, the club was still able to post a profit, albeit a small one,” said chief executive Eugene Arocca.
The net profit of the company was $5,785,112 and the club is pleased to have been able to record a small operating profit for the 2009 financial year.
Whilst not at the record levels of 2008 ($1,088,941), the ability to post a profit in a year in which the construction of a new $15M state-of-the-art facility was finalised is a substantial achievement.
“We also increased our Football Department spend for the second year in a row from $11.9M to $13.7M. The improved revenue and profits of the business have primarily been focused on improving our Football Department, which is now going to be complimented by our new state-of-the-art facility”.
Membership was also maintained at more than 30,000 and sponsorship significantly increased. These were considered key financial outcomes in a turbulent financial year.
“Membership has become increasingly vital to all clubs and it is imperative that all North Melbourne supporters sign up for 2010 as soon as possible.”
The most important developments for the club will occur in 2010 in relation to the resolution of improved stadium deals. North Melbourne will receive an extra $100,000 for games played at the MCG and Etihad Stadium in 2010. This improvement is significant and although the club had budgeted for this outcome in 2009, it was only able to recognise $400,000 of the amount for this financial year.
“The GFC impact was felt most in corporate sales, match-day returns ($77,000 for 11 home games as opposed to $1.7M in 2008) and Grand Final Breakfast ticket sales, all significantly down on 2008 but were forecast to improve in 2009”.
“Our net asset position continues to grow strongly through our ability to fund more than 90 per cent of the new facility through external sources such as the Federal and State Governments, AFL, City of Melbourne and the Scanlon Foundation, plus fundraising initiatives driven through the Australian Sports Foundation.”
“I want to personally acknowledge the wonderful efforts made by all our staff and in particular, our Chief Financial Officer Cameron Vale, for overseeing a period of sustained financial stability.”
“Moving forward, the club’s major financial issue is to start repaying debt and grow the profits to be consistently over $1M per annum”.
