Football finance expert Kieran Maguire has recently discussed the financial losses that Birmingham City registered over the 2019/20 season.
Financial concerns surrounding Blues have been well-documented in recent years after the club was handed a nine-point deduction in March 2019 (per BBC).
The points deduction came after Birmingham breached profitability and sustainability rules having incurred losses of nearly £48.8m between 2015 and 2018.
The Blues then avoided a further points deduction in March of this year after breaching the business plan that had been set out for them following the initial points deduction (per TalkSPORT).
In the most recent episode of The Price of Football podcast, Maguire spent some time talking about Birmingham and discussed the latest on their finances.
He said: “So, they lost around about £38m in 2019/20. Now, they did recoup some of that from player sales. This Birmingham Sports Holdings, it also owns some property in Cambodia, which it’s made some money from.
“Those are sizeable losses, but [it] could have been worse. What concerned me most of all was the amount of borrowings; they shot up hugely to around about £48m and this was pre-[pandemic].
“They’re borrowing at around about 8%, so that’s not great. The parent [company] of the parent [company], which is called the Trillion Trophy company, it said it is confident that it can see out [the pandemic].
“So, whilst the losses aren’t great, if it’s got the cash to let Birmingham survive – and it should do, because remember they sold Jude Bellingham since those accounts were announced – so the club should be in an okay position.”
TIF Thoughts…
As can be seen in what the finance expert had to say, while there were some things regarding the club’s latest accounts which “concerned” him, he admits that the club should be in an “okay position”.
Are you concerned by the size of Birmingham's losses during the 2019/20 season?
No, seems under control
Yes, I think it's a worry
So, hopefully, for supporters of the club, there will be fewer financial concerns ahead than what they have become accustomed to in recent years.