West Ham United plc is pleased to announce its results for the year ended 31 May 2004.
Highlights include the following
• Turnover of £35.1m (2002/03 -
£51.1m)
• Pre-tax profit of £11.8m (2002/03 -
£5.3m loss)
• Net assets of £39.7m (2002/03 -
£13.4m)
• Net bank borrowings of £33.8m
(2002/03 - £44.1m)
In his Chairman's Statement, Terence Brown comments:-
The year saw us finish in 4th place in the Nationwide League
division one and thereby qualify for the divisional play-offs where
we took part in two highly charged matches against Ipswich
Town. The tremendous atmosphere for the second leg of the
semi-final play off at the Boleyn Ground will be remembered by
everyone who watched the game and the winning result qualified us
for the divisional play-off final on Saturday 29th May at the
Millennium Stadium where, unfortunately, a lacklustre performance
saw us lose 1-0 to Crystal Palace. As always on such
occasions our support was tremendous and I would like to thank all
those supporters who travelled to Cardiff for their marvellous
backing on the day and say how sorry we were that the day ended in
such disappointment. May I also offer my sympathy to the
thousands of supporters who were unable to obtain tickets for the
match.
We had three managers during the season, transferred 10 players for £24.8m, released 10 players, signed 14 players for £5.1m and took 7 players on loan. In all 40 players appeared in the first team squad during the season and, under the circumstances, perhaps 4th place was a creditable performance, although I accept that nothing takes away the disappointment of our defeat in Cardiff.
Following the devastating financial effects of relegation the group's financial results are little short of extraordinary. The group generated a pre-tax profit of £11.8m and our net asset value grew from £13.4m to £39.7m. Overall liabilities fell by £17.6m and our net bank borrowings fell by approximately £10m to £33.8m. A remarkable achievement under the circumstances and I would like to thank all our staff who have made this financial progress possible.
We continue to contend with the consequences of relegation or, should I say, with the financial consequence of relegation. If it were not a fact of football life no one would believe that twenty businesses would sign up to a round of Russian roulette that consigns three of their number each year to penury at best or administration at worst. It really is short sighted to impose such drastic commercial penalties on those who are relegated and I have no doubt that chickens will come home to roost for many clubs in the future. Having said that, we did sign up to the process and we are now faced with the challenge of achieving success on the pitch whilst ensuring sustainability of the business off the pitch. This is no easy task but one your board has tackled with vigour and dedication and I do believe we have acted correctly in ensuring the future survival of the club.
I believe we should be proud of all we have achieved during the last decade whilst, of course, recognising the mistakes that were made striving for those achievements. We all share the disappointment and frustration of relegation and our subsequent failure in Cardiff but we need to channel that frustration towards ensuring we maintain our unique football club for future generations and return to the Premier League.
I understand, of course, that in footballing terms the club has fallen a long way in a short time and I realise how disappointing this is for supporters but our situation can change quickly. When that happens and we return to the Premier League we will be in better financial shape than when we left, with greatly reduced debts.
The company's annual report, including the full version of the Chairman's Statement, will be distributed to shareholders tomorrow and a full copy of the report will be available on the club website early next week.