FC Barcelona’s economic vice-president Javier Faus maintained the club must take a prudent approach in the face of Spain’s economic crisis, despite signing off on record profits of Eur48.8 million for the 2011-12 season.
Friday’s figures mark a significant achievement for the Primera Division giant, which had targeted a return to profit following losses of Eur9.3 million and Eur83 million in the previous two seasons. Speaking during his end-of-year financial report, Faus revealed Barcelona increased its revenues by Eur21.5 million to Eur494.9 million and cut its expenditure by Eur31.5 million to Eur441.1 million. In terms of costs, the club reduced its spending by 6.6% from the previous year. Faus stated that this change is mainly due to Barcelona failing to win the league title and therefore avoiding having to pay Eur12 million in bonuses to its players. However, he noted: “If we had won the Liga the overall surplus would have been Eur36 million and it still would have been the best end-of-year figure in the history of the club. It’s not true that Barça saved itself Eur50 million for not winning the Liga.”
Faus said that revenues increased by 11%, noting in particular “spectacular” ticket sales that allowed the club to post record ticketing income of Eur50 million. However, the vice-president admitted that media revenue, specifically television rights, “has topped out and we don’t expect an increase in the next five years.” Barcelona’s total debt, which once stood at Eur420 million two years ago, has been reduced to Eur335 million with Faus stating that the club “needs to be cautious” if it wants to take on “ambitious future projects”.
Speaking at his end-of-year address last month, Barcelona president Sandro Rosell announced that planned renovations at the Nou Camp stadium had been put on hold despite the then projected record financial results. Rosell insisted that a revamp of the world-famous Nou Camp would not be able to happen until the club’s debt is further reduced. Last September, Barcelona announced plans to add 10,000 seats and install new VIP boxes at the Nou Camp, which currently has a capacity of 90,000, and also remodel the area surrounding the stadium (Espai Barca) and build a new arena (Palau Blaugrana) for the club’s basketball team. Amid Spain’s economic crisis, Faus on Friday maintained that Barcelona “reduce the debt to sustainable levels” and, above all, “not take on more debt.” He added: “We have to prepare for what could happen in the near future and have stronger assets. For ambitious real-estate projects we need a healthy balance sheet.”