LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Premier League club Everton announced losses of more than 100 million pounds ($130 million) for the third straight year on Tuesday.
Figures released by the club showed a deficit of 120.9 million pounds ($158 million) for the year ending June 2021 after another season affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
That followed losses of 111.8 million pounds ($146 million) and 139.8 million pounds ($183 million) for the previous two seasons.
Premier League rules state a club is in breach of profit and sustainability regulations if it makes an adjusted loss of more than 105 million pounds ($137 million) over a three-year period.
Everton’s overall loss amounts to more than 3½ times that figure — at 371.8 million pounds ($486 million) — but the club said 170 million pounds ($222 million) of it can be attributed to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, 103 million pounds ($135 million) of which came in the most recent financial year.
“The club has experienced a unique set of financial circumstances in recent years, including committing significant amounts of expenditure to a complex new stadium project and dealing with the continuing and widespread impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Everton said.
The club said it “remains in a secure financial position thanks to the continued unwavering support and commitment of Farhad Moshiri,” Everton’s majority shareholder, and was working with the Premier League to comply with its financial rules.
In the last seven years, Everton has made a profit just once — in 2016-17 — and is fighting to avoid relegation this season, with the team currently one place and three points above the bottom three.
In early March, Everton halted its major sponsorship with companies belonging to Alisher Usmanov, the Russian metals tycoon who has been sanctioned by the European Union. The move came in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Usmanov is a longtime business partner of Moshiri and paid Everton 30 million pounds ($39 million) in January 2020 to secure an exclusive option on naming rights for its proposed new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock, which is scheduled to be completed by 2023.
Moshiri injected another 100 million pounds ($135 million) into the club in January, saying it demonstrated his commitment at a turbulent time for Everton. The cash injection turned a loan into equity and saw Moshiri take his shareholding in Everton to 94%.
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