The Long Awaited Accounts....

[ROBBO]

Why is Lerner waiting? Fox should go now along with the other idiots. You can see Lerner is still trying to do the right thing and writing off debt but when as an owner you keep repeating the same mistakes over a six year period then you should just admit to yourself that you are no good at running a business.

[kippaxvilla2]

We will have to right size the business as they say for the Championship. 

Means all the high earners will need to go this summer otherwise the parachute money will quickly get drained. 

And I'd say we will go for low earners but up and coming stars to try and get us out of it. The need to come back up within two seasons is of critical importance I would suggest.

[Walmley_Villa]

Explains Robin Russell leaving...

[Risso]

So what's the short to mid term prognosis?

You would have to think that it's not very healthy.  Looking at the possible financial result for this season, obviously we lost the wages of Benteke and Snaketwat, but then added the likes of Ayew, Veretout and Gana etc, who even though they came from abroad, you would think they'd still be on a decent salary.  We might make a paper profit this season with some hefty profits on disposal on the registrations of Benteke and the other one, but obviously all of the cash from that was pumped into the purchases of this summer.  I would think that the wages would be higher again, with so many new faces coming in, and the likes of Richards and Lescott will be on a pretty penny.

Obviously the car crash coming our way is the impending relegation.  Just about the one positive is the parachute payments will be higher as a result of the new TV deal, and if we've been sensible with contracts, hopefully the wage bill will be reduced as well.  But basically we'll be reliant on Lerner propping up the club for the foreseeable future until he can find a buyer.

[ASHTONVILLA]

Why is Lerner waiting? Fox should go now along with the other idiots. You can see Lerner is still trying to do the right thing and writing off debt but when as an owner you keep repeating the same mistakes over a six year period then you should just admit to yourself that you are no good at running a business.

I think that is exactly what he did do when he appointed Hollis. Lerner is clearly inept, but he certainly isn't milking the club, he has had his fingers badly burned financially.

[sid1964]

If you are a normal employee of the football club  (ticket office etc...)these results mean you must be waiting for the tap on the shoulder by HR, to take you into a meeting about your redundancy

If you are a supposed footballer at Aston Villa, you probably could not careless

It is a shambles

[ASHTONVILLA]

Why is Lerner waiting? Fox should go now along with the other idiots. You can see Lerner is still trying to do the right thing and writing off debt but when as an owner you keep repeating the same mistakes over a six year period then you should just admit to yourself that you are no good at running a business.

If Risso is correct and Fox earned over £1m for a part year of employment, then that might well explain it. Would you want to write a cheque for £2m+ to the moron for him to leave? Maybe he will be sidelined and kept on for negotiating shirt deals etc (which by all accounts he is pretty good at) and that way we lose the money on the drip then don't offer him a new contract.

Hope he is booted out though.

[Risso]

Why is Lerner waiting? Fox should go now along with the other idiots. You can see Lerner is still trying to do the right thing and writing off debt but when as an owner you keep repeating the same mistakes over a six year period then you should just admit to yourself that you are no good at running a business.

If Risso is correct and Fox earned over £1m for a part year of employment, then that might well explain it. Would you want to write a cheque for £2m+ to the moron for him to leave? Maybe he will be sidelined and kept on for negotiating shirt deals etc (which by all accounts he is pretty good at) and that way we lose the money on the drip then don't offer him a new contract.

Hope he is booted out though.

As a director, rather than a player or manager I would assume he's not on a fixed term contract, and could therefore be got rid of within the first two years without the possibility of a wrongful dismissal claim.

[dave.woodhall]

If you are a normal employee of the football club  (ticket office etc...)these results mean you must be waiting for the tap on the shoulder by HR, to take you into a meeting about your redundancy

If you are a supposed footballer at Aston Villa, you probably could not careless

It is a shambles

For those people it's more than a shambles. It's that over-used and in football usually inappropriate word 'tragedy'.

[lovejoy]

This is bad news. How could the wages go up? Directors pay is £1m higher. We also paid £3.3m severance - Lambert?
We also have a hut every year as transfer fees are written off £19m last year, probably less this year but £30m in total to go.
Randy has had to convert £85m debt to shares to maintain the balance sheet.
In short I doubt he could give Villa away at the moment so we are likely stuck with him or, dare I say it he pulls the plug and its administration. If that is even on the cards do it now rather than taking the 10 points next year.
The problem with a fire sale for next season is that the better p,avers will go and we will be stuck with the expensive under achievers (Gabby I'm looking at you).
I fear the new finance guys brought in are there to prepare us for a tough few years not to bring us straight back.

[SteveD]

Can someone explain the £27m loss for Reform Acquisitions compared to the £57m loss for Aston Villa FC?

[Risso]

Can someone explain the £27m loss for Reform Acquisitions compared to the £57m loss for Aston Villa FC?

Reform is the topco, ie holding company. All of the subsidiary companies have various bits of the income and expenses between them, which when consolidated produce the Reform accounts.

Edit. Just checked the Aston Villa Football Club Limited accounts, and there's been an accounting cock up regarding intercompany loans of £38m. This has been corrected, hence the loss. It wouldn't affect the consolidated position.  Not very impressive though! 

[PaulWinch again]

As others have said, turnover all round is down slightly at £115m compared to £116m last year.  Gate receipts and sponsorship were slightly up, TV and commercial down, with the commercial bit showing the biggest drop by £3m.

Operating expenses were up by £21m, and when you add in a decrease in the profit on sale of players and interest, the loss for the year increased from £3.8m to £27.3m.

Wages went up by £14m, with £3.3m of exceptional costs, which would be Lambert's pay off, with possibly a small amount for Faulkner.

The highest paid director last year was Faulkner I assume, on £265K.  This year it'll be Fox, and he got, wait for it, £1.3m.  Worth every penny, I'm sure you'll agree.

Other points of interest is that Lerner has written of most of the remaining debt that's owed to the trust/him, with another £84m written off (ie converted to equity).  In addition, he put another £7m in cash in, in return for shares.  Whatever he has done, you can't argue that he's taken money out.  We now only the trus about £10m, and we have a overdraft of £20m.  The issued share capital of the company is therefore £315m, which to get to where we are now, you would have to say is a pretty dismal return.

Other than that, we spent £57.1m on new players in the summer, and recouped £40.5m.

Assuming the majority of the £3.3 million for 'exceptional costs' is for Lamberts pay off, then Fox should be sacked for that. Lambert signed a new deal and was sacked within a few months, that was a hugely unneccessary expense. It also suggests that there's no chance Garde will be sacked, which to be honest I'm happy enough with.

[kippaxvilla2]

Can someone explain the £27m loss for Reform Acquisitions compared to the £57m loss for Aston Villa FC?

Reform is the topco, ie holding company. All of the subsidiary companies have various bits of the income and expenses between them, which when consolidated produce the Reform accounts.

Which is already being misinterpreted by the media as a bigger overall loss than it is.

[nick harper]

Would I be right in saying this conversion of debt to equity is simply not allowed in the Football League? I know QPR have bent the rules and are fighting sanctions but essentially you can't simply hide debts behind a benefactor.

I fear we are in for a massive shock this Summer. The club seems to be in a desperate state all round.