Inter’s 2024/25 accounts cover a season that was very much a case of “close, but no cigar”, as they finished as runners-up in Serie A, just one point behind Napoli, while they reached the Champions League final before losing to Paris Saint-Germain.
They also lost to their great rivals Milan in the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia and the final of the Supercoppa Italiana. In addition, they participated in the shiny new FIFA Club World Cup, where they made the last 16 before losing to Brazilian club Fluminense.
President Beppe Moratta said that last season’s achievements “demonstrated the strength of our sporting project”, but the club “could not hide its disappointment at not having lifted a trophy”.
At the end of the season head coach Simone Inzaghi left by mutual consent, joining Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal, being replaced by former Inter player, Cristian Chivu. The Romanian international had briefly been in charge at Parma, but probably more importantly had also spent many years leading Inter’s youth academy.
Ownership
This was Inter’s first full season under the control of Oaktree Capital Management, who became the new majority shareholder in May 2024, after the previous owners, the Chinese conglomerate Suning Group, had failed to repay a loan from Oaktree by the agreed deadline.
In May 2021 Oaktree had provided what it described as “rescue capital” to stabilise Inter’s financial situation, enabling the club to pay its players and staff, as it was confronted by huge losses, exacerbated the onset of the COVID pandemic.
However, this lifeline came at a price in the form of a €275m 3-year loan at 12% interest, which had grown to a hefty €395m at maturity. In the event of default, Oaktree would get their hands on the club.
Suning had acquired their majority share (68.6%) in June 2021 for around €270m at a time of much Chinese investment into European football clubs, but since then the Chinese government has imposed restrictions on overseas spending, leading to problems for a few club owners.
In Inter’s case, this resulted in the exit of Suning and arrival of Oaktree, which was not a great look for the Nerazzurri, but has seemingly worked out to be a decent solution.
Indeed, Marotta specifically thanked Oaktree for “supporting and guiding the club with professionalism and strategic vision along a path of global development”.
Profit/(Loss) 2024/25
Even if they narrowly missed out in terms of silverware, Inter hit the bullseye off the pitch, as they swung from a €27m pre-tax loss to a €50m profit, a hefty year-on-year improvement of €77m.
As Marotta said, this represented “a historic milestone: for the first time in the club’s modern history, we recorded a net profit”.
This was driven by revenue, which shot up €144m (35%) from €407m to a huge new club record €551m, though profit from player sales fell from €65m to €14m. Growth in operating expenses was restricted to 4% (€18m), as these rose from €462m to €480m.
Net interest payable was unchanged at €35m, though this was still a huge burden. Indeed, Inter made an incredible €85m profit before interest.
After charging €15m tax, Inter’s profit after tax was €35m, compared to the previous season’s €36m loss.
The club said that the “positive impact of sporting results” was behind the significant revenue growth, as Inter reached the Champions League final and participated in the revamped FIFA Club World Cup.
As a result, all three main revenue streams set new club records, led by broadcasting, which surged €88m (50%) from €176m to €264m. Match day rose €29m (39%) from €75m to €104m, while commercial increased €28m (19%) from €147m to €175m.
Player loans and other income from player management slightly decreased from €8m to €7m.
As a technical aside, this international definition of Inter’s €551m revenue is different to the one used in the club accounts, which also includes the €14m gain on player sales plus €2m capitalisation of youth programmes.
That gives a total revenue of €567m, which was €94m (20%) higher than the prior year’s €473m, mainly due to the sharp increase in recurring revenue.
