Serie A debts - «The financial situation, in aggregate terms, of Serie A clubs continues to worsen». This is what we read in the 2020 Football Report , which photographs the accounts of the 2018-2019 season.
According to the findings of the PwC experts, who together with the FIGC Study Center and Arel oversaw the report, the overall debt of the Serie A clubs has broken through the wall of 4 billion euros, up 11% compared to 2017-2018 season.
The largest component of the indebtedness of Serie A clubs is represented by financial payables (to banks, leasing and factoring companies, bonds) which, according to the report, amounted to € 1.35 billion at 30 June 2019. (1.18 billion as of 30 June 2018) with an incidence on the total debt of 31%.
Series A payables Source: Football Report 2020
The calculation of the overall debt of the clubs also includes payables to suppliers, whose incidence on the total is 13%, to the tax authorities (7%), and those to related parties (parent companies, subsidiaries or associates), whose incidence is 6%.
The other item that has an important weight on the total debt is that relating to payables to other football clubs (payables to specific sector entities), equal to 1.07 billion at 30 June 2019 with an incidence of 25% on total.
serious debts Source: Football Report 2020
Series A payables and shareholders' equity
"At the same time", continues the Football Report, "the aggregate value of the shareholders' equity of the companies is growing significantly (+ 28.5%), reaching the threshold of 551 million euros".
"In 2018-2019", it is pointed out, "the owners of Italian professional clubs carried out recapitalization interventions amounting to a total of 485.5 million euros, of which 30% contributed by clubs with Italian owners and 70% by companies with foreign shareholders (mainly from the United States and China). The aggregate figure relating to the last 8 years analyzed amounts to around 2.8 billion euros of recapitalisations ».
Serie A debts broken down by club
The 2020 Soccer Report offers an overall picture of Serie A debt, without dwelling on the data of individual clubs. Thanks to the work of the Football and Finance Studies office, we are however able to offer detailed data relating to the clubs that participated in the Serie A 2018-2019 and 2017-2018 championships.
The aggregate data differ slightly from those indicated in the Football Report, also in light of the fact that some of the financial statements used by PwC refer to the year ended December 31, 2018. In the analysis conducted by the Football and Finance Studies office, instead The financial statements as at 31 December 2019 were used for almost all clubs with the financial year referring to the calendar year.
In the analysis of the Football and Finance Studies office, only financial payables, net of payables to shareholders and related parties, and cash on hand were taken into consideration. The net financial position of each club at the balance sheet date was calculated in this way. The survey also concerned the net worth at the closing date of each club's financial statements.
Serie A debts - The situation in 2018/2019
The following table shows the 20 clubs that took part in the 2018/2019 Serie A, ordered on the basis of their net financial position (balance between financial debt and liquidity) at the balance sheet date (the latest available at the moment).
Club NFP Gross financial debt Liquid assets Net assets Balance
Source: Football and Finance processing - Data in millions of euros
Serie A debts - The situation after 30 June 2019
Having available Juventus' half-yearly report as of 31 December 2019, published after the execution of the capital increase of 300 million euros, we are able to provide more updated data on the Juventus club.
At 31 December 2019, Juventus' gross financial debt was 463.4 million euros, slightly down from the 473 million at 30 June 2019. Thanks to the resources raised with the capital increase, liquidity at 31 December 2019 was instead of 136.9 million (9.7 million at 30 June 2019).
The net financial position of Juventus at 31 December 2019 (as calculated by the Football and Finance Studies Office) is therefore equal to -327 million, an improvement compared to the -463 million of 30 June 2019.
Again thanks to the capital increase, Juventus 'shareholders' equity went from 32.2 million at 30 June 2019 to 275.6 million at 31 December 2019 (a figure which also incorporates the negative net result recorded in the first half of 2019/2020).
As for Inter, it should be noted that the gross debt figure as at 30 June 2019 does not include the loans made by the controlling shareholder Suning . Payables which were partially converted into capital during the second half of the 2019/2020 financial year and which amounted to 200.2 million euros at 30 June 2019 (230.6 at 30 June 2018).
The figure at 31 December 2019 is also available for Lazio which at the end of the first half had a negative net financial position of 55.5 million euros, in line with the figure at 30 June 2019.
Finally, with reference to the situation in Rome, the company announced on June 6 that: " The AS Roma Group has an adjusted consolidated net financial debt of € 278.5 million at March 31, 2020 ".
Serie A debts - The situation in 2017/2018
The following table shows the 20 clubs that took part in the 2017/2018 Serie A, ordered on the basis of their net financial position (balance between financial debt and liquidity) at the balance sheet date (the latest available at the moment).
Club NFP Gross financial debt Liquid assets Net assets Balance
Juventus -309.8 -329.2 19.4 72.0 06/30/18
Inter -250.4 -295.5 45.1 3.9 06/30/18
Rome -209.4 -240.3 30.9 -104.9 06/30/18
Milan -139.5 -164.2 24.7 -36.0 06/30/18
Genoa -58.0 -58.9 0.9 -15.7 12/31/18
Lazio -46.3 -50.4 4.1 56.1 06/30/18
Sassuolo -38.1 -38.4 0.4 27.2 12/31/18
Chievo -27.7 -28.0 0.4 4.8 06/30/18
Udinese -25.1 -26.9 1.8 3.4 06/30/18
Sampdoria -22.0 -25.8 3.9 45.0 12/31/18
Bologna -16.4 -16.9 0.5 30.5 06/30/18
Atalanta -7.1 -16.4 9.3 51.4 12/31/18
Fiorentina -5.9 -12.5 6.7 89.9 12/31/18
Benevento -3.5 -4.9 1.4 -5.3 06/30/19
Verona -1.8 -4.2 2.4 10.5 06/30/18
Spal -1.4 -4.0 2.6 0.8 12/31/17
Cagliari 1.2 0.0 1.2 24.7 06/30/18
Crotone 4.5 0.0 4.5 3.1 12/31/17
turin 6.0 0.0 6.0 48.2 12/31/18
Naples 118.7 0.0 118.7 116.2 06/30/18
TOTAL -1,031.8 -1,316.5 284.8 425.7
Source: Football and Finance processing - Data in millions of euros