In a hugely successful season on the field, Celtic won the SPL
Under 20 League by eight points, losing only one game in the
process, and winning the Scottish FA Youth Cup in May, but more
importantly a number of young players have graduated to participate
in the first team pool.
The partnership between Celtic and St Ninian's High School in
Kirkintilloch has now completed its 4(th) year. This partnership
has gone from strength to strength with our young players combining
football and education. The first intake has now seen the emergence
of academy players who have developed and played in first team
matches, including Paul George, Marcus Fraser, Joe Chalmers and
John Herron. In addition, Calum McGregor also made his debut in our
friendly fixture against Real Madrid.
For season 2013/14, 15 players will join the Club on full time
professional contracts from the U16 squad (Intermediate
Academy).
FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE
The impact of uncertainties in the world economy over the last
three years has been significant and trading conditions generally
have been extremely difficult. However, football success can have a
major impact on reversing this trend as evidenced by our financial
performance.
In the year to 30 June 2013, turnover was GBP75.82m, which is
significantly up on the GBP51.34m reported the previous year. Much
of this improvement is due to increased match ticket and TV
revenues in connection with our participation in the UEFA Champions
League group stages, and qualification for the last 16 of that
competition, with 30 home matches in the season in comparison to 24
in 2011/12.
During the period, total operating expenses before exceptional
costs increased in comparison to the previous year, by GBP8.27m
(15.2%) to GBP62.71m. This uplift is largely because of an increase
in labour costs, mainly football salaries and bonuses.
We invested GBP9.66m in strengthening the first team squad
during the year, which has contributed to an amortisation charge of
GBP5.93m in comparison to GBP6.37m the previous year. In addition,
we achieved a gain on sale of GBP5.19m following the sale of
players in comparison to GBP3.54m the previous year. Exceptional
costs of GBP1.83m compare to GBP0.54m last year. These relate
solely to providing for onerous leases in certain loss-making
retail stores in accordance with IAS 37.
Overall, the Company's retained profit for the year to 30 June
2013 was GBP9.74m, compared with the previous year's loss of
GBP7.37m. Further information is contained within the Financial
Review.
TICKET SALES
2012/13 was a successful season for Ticket sales with almost
40,000 season tickets sold with a value of more than
GBP13.3million.
A successful UEFA Champions League campaign contributed to home
match ticket sales of over 470,000 for a value of over
GBP10million.
In April, the Club recognised the phenomenal support and
contribution of our fans during the year with a one off GBP100
reward on the cost of all full priced adult Season Tickets for
season 2013/2014. The Club also reintroduced the GBP50 kids (under
13's) Season Ticket, as well as making Season Tickets available for
13-16 year olds at GBP105 and 17-18 year olds for GBP186 for next
season. This has been well received by supporters and season ticket
sales for the season 2013/14 are encouraging.
CELTIC DEVELOPMENT
Celtic Development Pools remains the top football club lottery
organisation in Britain and one of the most successful in the
society/charity lotteries sector. Nearly 2 million lottery chances
were sold during the 12 month period to June 2013. Around
GBP700,000 was donated to Celtic Football Club's Development
Division for the purposes of youth development and supporters from
all over the country shared almost GBP900,000 in prize money.
The weekly "Celtic Pool" continues to perform better than most
football club and charitable lottery products in a challenging
environment. Sales and marketing initiatives are continually
updated in an effort to attract new members.
The match day Paradise Windfall lottery operated at Celtic Park
remains very popular. Prize money of over GBP3 million has been
paid out to Celtic supporters at Celtic Park since the Windfall
began in 1995, including GBP375,000 paid out last season.
MERCHANDISING
Merchandising revenue for the year reached GBP14.98m, 12.6% up
on the previous year, mainly driven by Champions League success and
125(th) Anniversary products. There were two kit launches in the
period, as in 2011/12. Like for like retail sales were 29% up on
the previous year with the relocated Glasgow Airport store in
particular performing well ahead of expectations.
Other highlights included the release of an end of season DVD,
"125 Years in The Making", charting the 2012/13 season.
Personalised granite paving stones were introduced this year,
complementing our engraved bricks product, and they too have been a
huge success. In addition, the "Young Hoops" Fan Club continued to
grow with several events organised for members throughout the
year.
MULTI MEDIA
Celtic TV has made good progress in the past year and is
developing its route to market by offering the service on all iOS
(Apple) devices such as iPads and iPhones. In addition to that, its
main web portal, Celticfc.TV, and that of the Club, Celticfc.net,
are under development.
The Club continues to invest in and develop its strategy for
growth and improvement in interaction and revenue creation across
all media and social media platforms, including You Tube, Facebook
and Twitter. The Club's season ticket renewal campaign for season
2013/14 was concentrated around a social media initiative, which
was very successful.
Over the year, Multi Media supported many events for the
company, including the 125(th) Anniversary event at St Mary's
Church attended by 1,400 people, produced three retail DVD products
and released several "Apps", with more planned for the next
financial year.
PUBLIC RELATIONS
Once again, the Club experienced a high level of media interest
and activity throughout the year across domestic and International
football.
The Club's PR Department continued to achieve and manage a
substantial level of high profile media coverage for a range of
Club activities at a national level in 2012/13, including
commercial, charitable and community events.
The PR Department also acts as an important liaison with
supporters' organisations, assisting with supporter enquiries, and
deals with a range of initiatives ensuring that the Club upholds
its important social dimension.
BRAND PROTECTION
As the Celtic brand continues to grow, so too does the number of
rogue companies and individuals looking to divert revenue and
traffic from official club channels. By protecting the brand on a
worldwide basis, we continue to prevent unauthorised use by third
parties. This ensures that the brand remains a valuable Club asset
and helps to combat the loss of revenue and reputation.
Over the course of last season, counterfeit goods to the value
of approximately GBP11 million were removed or disrupted, along
with a number of websites and unauthorised social media
profiles.
The Club continues to work closely with key partners, including
NIKE, to protect the value and global profile of the Celtic brand,
along with protecting the interests of our supporters.
PARTNER PROGRAMME
The Club's new shirt sponsor Magners Irish Cider, which was
concluded during the year, has been well received by the supporter
base following a successful launch of the partnership, which will
see the development of some new and exciting fan engagement
activities, leveraging the Celtic brand in International
markets.
Further, the return of Phoenix Honda as Celtic's car supplier
and sponsor highlights the power of the Celtic brand in delivering
media value and sponsorship platforms leading to direct sales for
our partners.
During the year, the Club's long standing relationship with
Sports Revolution continued to grow with the launch of Stadium
Live, which will see Celtic Park become one of the first fully
Wi-Fi enabled stadiums in the UK. This progressive use of
technology, combined with an innovative mobile application, will
deliver an enriched match day experience for Celtic fans at Celtic
Park.
Overall, the sponsorship landscape remains extremely tough as
the ongoing economic difficulties continue to impact upon
companies' advertising and marketing budgets. Despite this, the
Club benefits from the ongoing support of existing partners and we
thank them for that commitment. We continue to innovate and to
pursue new business opportunities, both domestically and
internationally, to enhance revenues.
STADIUM
During the course of the year, the Club continued to enhance the
close liaison through partnership working with the Glasgow City
Council Safety Advisory Group for Sports Grounds, placing spectator
safety as our highest priority. Spectator safety is of paramount
importance and the Club recognises and values the expert advice and
support provided.
The training of colleagues responsible for public safety duties
continued to be developed. The Club's Matchday Safety Officers
responsible for the management of spectator safety are fully
qualified and accredited in compliance with Edition 5 of the Guide
to Safety at Sports Grounds. In addition, matchday safety stewards
are also qualified in compliance with the 'Green Guide'.
Protectevent stewards participate in an accredited training
programme leading to an SVQ Level 2 in Event Stewarding.
To enhance safety and provide assistance to our travelling
support, the Club has maintained its commitment to providing Celtic
Travel Stewards at away fixtures both at home and abroad. The
season produced a number of spectator safety issues at away
stadiums as our fans travelled to Europe in support of the team.
The Club will continue its efforts to influence the safety of our
fans travelling in Europe with away clubs, the local authorities
responsible for public safety and UEFA.
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