FC Bayern are enjoying a glorious run of success out on the field of play and are currently setting one sporting record after another. And in commercial terms, fans and members can be assured that their club is at a “top level,” FC Bayern deputy chairman and finance director Jan-Christian Dreesen informed Friday evening’s Annual General Meeting at the AUDI Dome. The club announced yet another excellent set of financial results for the 2014/15 fiscal year.
The turnover figure for FC Bayern München AG group (consolidated accounts for FC Bayern München AG, Allianz Arena München Stadion GmbH and all other subsidiaries) was €523.7 million, very close to the previous year’s new record of €528.7 million despite the absence of revenues from the UEFA Supercup and FIFA Club World Cup. At €111.3 million, the operating profit (Ebitda, previous year €98.7 million) passed the €100 million mark for the first time.
Record before and after-tax profit
“FC Bayern München is in outstanding shape both in sporting and financial terms. Our increasing financial power will be used primarily to make the regular investments required in our first-team squad in order to ensure we remain competitive among the elite teams in Europe,” Dreesen explained. Profit before tax rose to €31.4 million (2013/14: €25.9 million) and profit after tax stood at €23.8 million (2013/14: €16.5 million), “record profits” according to Dreesen and unprecedented in the 115-year history of the club. FC Bayern is thus in the black for the 23rd year in a row.
“As before, FC Bayern boasts solid and sound commercial foundations,” said chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge in his speech. “We remain true to our principle that every Euro we spend has previously already been earned.” Income from match operations in 2014/15 was a remarkable €137.6 million, including €47.8 million from participation and bonus payments in the UEFA Champions League, where FCB reached at least the semi-finals for the fourth time in a row. “Our maxim reads: maximum sporting success alongside financial prudence,” Dreesen stated.
Rise in equity capital
FC Bayern München AG, the joint stock company responsible for the club’s professional football operations, also achieved very good results. Turnover rose year-on-year from last year’s record €480.0 million to €485.6 million. FC Bayern München AG’s equity capital also rose to €411.5 million (2013/14: 405.0 million). The new best-ever figures were driven by income from sponsorship and marketing (€113.9 million), merchandising (€101.7 million) and a transfer surplus (€49.7 million). Income from TV rights marketing was €58.3 million, a relatively low figure in international terms.
FC Bayern München AG’s expenditures included personnel costs of €227.3 million. The company remitted taxes totalling €162.5 million: FC Bayern has paid some €1.1 billion in taxation over the last ten years alone.
Apart from the German revenue service, FC Bayern München AG shareholders can also be pleased with what Dreesen called the “outstanding results” from the last fiscal year. “The AG is distributing a dividend of €7.5 million (25 cents per share). Following a resolution passed at the annual stockholders’ meeting of the AG on 9 November 2015 this will result in a dividend payment to [members’ club] FC Bayern München eV amounting to €5.6 million.”
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