Newcastle United Finances 2023/24

Hypersonic Missiles

Newcastle United’s 2023/24 accounts cover a season when the club slipped from the previous season’s 4th place to 7th in the Premier League. However, they did play in the Champions League for the first time in 20 years, though they did not manage to get out of a “very challenging” group.

They also reached the quarter-finals of both domestic cups, losing to Manchester City in the FA Cup and Chelsea in the Carabao Cup.

There was significant investment in Newcastle United Women, who turned full-time professional in the summer of 2023., securing their second consecutive promotion by winning the Northern Premier League to reach the Women’s Championship.

Ownership

This was Newcastle’s second full set of accounts under the ownership of the consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) after Mike Ashley’s long reign came to an end.

In the period since that acquisition in October 2021, there has been much progress both on and off the pitch, as the club has benefited from significant investment from the new owners.

After these accounts closed, Amanda Staveley stepped down from the board, which led to PIF increasing its stake to 85%, while the Reuben family now has 15%. PIF said that this was “part of the long-term plan to develop the club and make it a consistently credible competitor in domestic and European competitions”.

Profit/(Loss) 2023/24

Newcastle’s made an £11m pre-tax loss, which the club described as a “strong financial performance”, noting the “substantial reduction in the loss from the last two years”, including the (restated) £72m in 2022/23.

Participation in the Champions League helped drive significant growth in revenue, which shot up £70m (28%) from £250m to a new club record £320m, while profit from player sales greatly increased from just £3m to £70m.

However, investment led to hefty £71m (22%) growth in operating expenses to £389m, while net interest payable was also up £5m from £7m to £12m, including notional discount on transfer payables.

All three revenue streams set new club records, led by commercial, which rose £39m (84%) from £47m to £86m. However, there was also very good growth in broadcasting, up £19m (11%) from £165m to £184m, and match day, up £12m (32%) from £38m to £50m.

However, the cost base continued to grow, as the new owners invested in the squad and infrastructure to compensate for the many years of austerity under Ashley.

Wages increased by £34m (18%) from (restated) £185m to £219m, while player amortisation rose £10m (11%) from £87m to £97m. In addition, other expenses climbed £28m (69%) from £40m to £68m.

Although Newcastle still posted an £11m loss, this is still one of the better results to date in the Premier League, where nearly half of the clubs lost more than £50m, led by Manchester United’s awful £131m.