Arsenal - Financial results

Arsenal Holdings Plc, the owners of Arsenal Football Club released their results today. A detailed press release can be found here.

Highlights are:

• Turnover increased to £200.8m - the highest of any English football club.
• Operating profits (before player trading and depreciation) was £51.2m - up from £13.7m.
• Arsenal generating over £3m revenue per game at the Emirates - double that of Highbury.
  
• Arsenal sitting on £73.9m in cash.

The following passage in the release addresses the recent stakes acquired by Kronke and Usmanov and I wholeheartedly support the board's view and their leadership of the club over the last few years:

"Such is the appeal of the Arsenal brand that we now have two new major shareholders.
Their arrival has, unfortunately, brought some degree of speculation about the future of the
Club.

I think it worthwhile, therefore, to once again lay out our philosophy as a Board as to the
guiding principles which underpin our management of the Club. Firstly, I would like to
emphasise our dual role both as fans and custodians of the Club, but to note that we never
allow our support of the Club as fans to put at risk the long term health of Arsenal Football
Club. We believe in being bold in the development of the Club and in taking managed risks;
this is best evidenced by the development of Emirates Stadium. At the same time we
remain committed to the principle of developing the long-term stability of the Club through
maintaining a business that pays its own way. This financial prudence has been a hallmark
of the way in which the Club has been run over many years and has sown the seeds of the
success we enjoy today. We believe it is important to continue this philosophy so that future
generations of Arsenal shareholders and supporters can continue to enjoy the success of
the Club long into the future.

The year saw the departure of vice chairman, David Dein and, once again, I would like to
express our thanks to him for his many years of service."