Beşiktaş doing well in financial field: Audit

ISTANBUL

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A recent report by the KPMG, one of the Big Four global auditors along with Deloitte, EY and PwC, has included Beşiktaş, the Spor Toto Turkish Super League’s defending champion, in its eight-team study of “The European Champions,” underlining the Istanbul side’s efforts toward economic sustainability. 

The report highlighted that the club was able to keep its pre-tax loss within the minus 20 million euros threshold in compliance with the UEFA Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) Settlement Agreement of May 2015. 

Thanks to its first domestic title in seven years, Beşiktaş saw a 31 percent growth in operating revenues to 101.1 million euros. However, both in terms of social media followers and operating revenues, Beşiktaş is still the number three Turkish club, lagging behind the other two Istanbul giants, Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe, which are experiencing a bad season. 

“This positive trend was underlined by a remarkable performance on the stock exchange in the calendar year 2016, with Beşiktaş benefiting from a 58 percent increase in their share price,” KPMG said. 

The report also mentioned that the broadcasting revenues from domestic competition increased by 14 percent as the Turkish Super League entered a new deal with a reported $450 million per year agreement for the 2015-2017 period with BeIN Sports, which has acquired Turkish broadcasting platform Digitürk. 

“Whilst the Süper Lig’s deal is considerably lower than those agreed upon by the ‘big five’ leagues, Turkey’s large population and economic size provide an upside potential for the league in the long-term,” the audit stated.

Matchday revenues saw significant growth of 67 percent from the previous season despite the club playing in two different stadiums before moving to their new, state-of-the-art Vodafone Arena. 

“With a capacity of 41,903, the venue presents new opportunities for the club,” the report said. 





Last year’s average attendance was 18,668, representing a 53 percent utilization ratio, a figure that, while in line with the low Süper Lig crowds of last season, was impacted by the resistance of some fans to the league’s controversial ticketing system known as Passolig. 

Beşiktaş played in three different stadiums during the 2015/16 season, including three matches in the new Vodafone Arena, with a weighted average capacity of 35,475. 

The increase in operating revenues more than compensated for the slight growth in personnel expenses (5 percent) which allowed the staff costs-to-revenues ratio to drop to 60 percent from 75 percent in the previous season. 

“The efforts of the club toward a more sustainable business model, arguably prompted by CFCB monitoring, are reflected by the fact that the pre-tax loss was reduced by 63 percent, from minus 48.7 million euros to minus 18.0 million euros at the end of the 2015/16 season. 

“A sizeable contribution to the year-end result was provided by player trading; indeed, Beşiktaş disposed of a number of players – for example, Demba Ba to China’s Shanghai Shenhua – making significant profits that helped the club to improve their financial results,” it said.

Ba returned to Beşiktaş during the most recent winter transfer window.  

As part of the UEFA agreement, which covers the four sporting seasons from 2015/16 to 2018/19, Beşiktaş committed to pay a fine, achieve defined break-even results, limit both the aggregate cost of employee expenses and the cost of acquiring new players. 

“In order to close the gap with their domestic counterparts, Beşiktaş needs to re-establish itself as a consistent title contender in the Turkish Süper Lig in order to secure regular participation in UEFA competitions,” the KPMG said. 

“In 2016/17, Beşiktaş look to compete for the title once more and, although finishing third in their UEFA Champions League group, can also look forward to a UEFA Europa League campaign in the second half of the season,” the report said.