Barcelona have announced remarkable progress in reducing their staggering debt, as the club revealed an impressive net profit of €304 million for the financial year 2022/23.
The announcement will undoubtedly come as a welcome relief for the Spanish champions, who have been grappling with financial challenges in recent years.
One of the driving factors behind this financial turnaround has been the remarkable growth in commercial revenue, which surged by an outstanding 43% compared to the previous year.
Fueled partly by new sponsorship agreements and record-breaking sales at Barca Stores, the surge saw Barca generate a mouth-watering €351m in commercial revenue.
Barca secured approximately €200m from sponsorship deals, while their club stores contributed around €100m, setting a new record for the Spanish heavyweights.
The club’s innovative strategy for leveraging its assets has also been instrumental in enhancing their financial situation after employing various financial levers to boost revenue.
One of those levers saw the club sell a 49.9% stake in Barca Licensing & Merchandising (BLM), a move that proved highly profitable with a 54% increase in sales at physical stores compared to the previous year.
This impressive financial performance exceeded expectations outlined in last year’s budget and marks a second consecutive year of debt reduction for Barca, which now stands at €552m.
“Barcelona achieved, on a consolidated level, operating income of €1.259 billion with operating expenses of €1.165b,” the club said in an official statement.
“These results have been achieved in a season that will go down in history for the record operational figures in the commercial and venue operation sections.
“The club is convinced that it is doing things right, for it has ended the year with an overall profit despite the reduction in ordinary income from the season and ordinary tickets as a result of the move to the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys.”
Barcelona has also hinted at a substantial reduction in wage expenditure as part of their efforts to adhere to the feasibility plan approved by the Board of Directors.
The club aims to achieve a revenue of €859m for the 2023/24 campaign, with a targeted pre-tax profit of approximately €11m by the end of the season.
They will also hope to shrug off their brewing bribery scandal as Spanish authorities intensify their investigation into the club’s financial irregularities.
