Juventus Board Admit to Predicting Significant Loss

Italian Serie A soccer giant Juventus has posted a loss of US$54.6m in the first half of the 2010/11 season, in stark comparison with a $19.6m profit from the previous year.

This was largely down to the fact that revenue for the period was $122.8m, down 29 per cent on the $172.8m figure in the same period 12 months before due to a the financial hit of only qualifying for the Europa League as opposed to the Champions League.

It has also been affected by changes to the way Italian clubs share money from television rights.

The Turin-based club’s board admitted to predicting “a significant loss” between now and the end of the season.

The club released a statement, reading: “Economic trends in the 2010/11 financial year were negatively influenced by the club’s failure to qualify for the UEFA Champions League, implying lower revenues from European competitions and lower commercial revenue, as well as the effects stemming from the regulations of the centralised sale of [Italian] television rights coming into force.

“Accordingly, on the basis of the information currently available and in the absence of any extraordinary events, the 2010/11 financial year is expected to close with a significant loss.

“Nonetheless, the company is confident it has the resources necessary to tackle the negative trend of the current financial year.”