Arsenal Post Small Loss for 6 Months Through November

English Premier League soccer giant Arsenal has posted a loss of over US$4m for the six months through to November 30 after reporting a decline in property income and player sales.

Having failed to end a six-year streak without a trophy after losing to Birmingham City in Sunday’s League Cup final, The North London club, revealed that turnover had fallen year-on-year from $320.2m to $195.2m for the six-month period.

The half-year figures indicated that property sales had decreased by $120.5m after the sale of 50 apartments on the site of the club’s former Highbury stadium in comparison to 261 sales the previous year.

Additionally, the club reported a substantially reduced profit from player sales of $6.5m, with no big names having departed, compared to over $55m the previous year when after the big-money departures of Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure to Manchester City.

The latest figures show that the club has $178.9m in cash reserves, while net debt at November 30 was $239.75m. The loss of around $4m was a sizeable drop from a profit of $47.5m a year earlier.

Arsenal CEO Ivan Gazidis spoke of the report: “Last year we had some tremendous numbers pushed by property sales and also the sale of a couple of big players. This year we don’t have those one-offs. Rather than seeing players leave we’ve actually invested in the squad.”

Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood said the club’s financial situation was “robust”.