Porto Finances 2022/23

Out Of Time

Porto’s 2022-23 accounts covered a season when they finished second in the Primeira Liga behind great rivals Benfica, but they did manage to win three domestic trophies: Taca de Portugal, Taca da Liga (the league cup) and Supertaca Candido de Oliveira (Portugal’s community shield equivalent). They also reached the last 16 of the Champions League where they were eliminated by eventual finalists Inter.

Profit/(Loss) 2022/23

Porto swung from a pre-tax €22m profit to a €47m loss, a deterioration of €69m, despite revenue rising €22m (15%) from €144m to €166m, which reflected a return to normality after three years impacted by the global pandemic. On the other hand, operating expenses increased by €20m (11%) to €204m.

However, the main reason for the worsening of the bottom line was a steep reduction in profit from player sales, which slumped €70m (83%) from €84m to €14m.

As president Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa explained, “an effort must always be made to reconcile financial needs and sporting interests in the best possible way”. He added that the result would have been very different if the big money sale of Otavio this summer had been closed a couple of months earlier.

Porto’s revenue growth was driven by more progress in the Champions League which led to broadcasting increasing €15m (17%) from €90m to €105m. Commercial rose €5m (11%) from €43m to €48m, while match day was up €2.5m (23%) from €11.0m to €13.5m, due to the lifting of all COVID restrictions.

However, the revenue growth was offset by higher costs. Porto’s wage bill rose €12m (15%) from €83m to €95m, while other expenses increased €7m (13%) to €64m and depreciation was up €1m (14%) to €7m. Player amortisation including impairment fell slightly by €1m to €38m.

As a technical aside, it should be noted that these figures are based on the club’s consolidated SAD accounts, as opposed to the individual club accounts.

In contrast to Porto’s reported €47m loss before tax, the other leading Portuguese clubs were all profitable in 2022/23, with Sporting leading the way with €26m, followed by Benfica €21m and Braga €2m.