Preston North End Finances 2022/23

Quiet Life

Preston North End’s 2022/23 financial results covered a season when they finished 12th in the Championship, one place better than the previous year, under the guidance of manager Ryan Lowe.

In the eight seasons since Preston were promoted to the Championship they have finished between 7th and 14th, so they have become the very definition of a mid-table club. This has to be considered a decent achievement, as they have to compete with far fewer resources than most of their rivals.

Profit/(Loss) 2022/23

Preston’s pre-tax loss reduced by £5.8m from £20.2m to £14.4m, which the club described as “a significant financial stride in the right direction.”

Revenue rose £1.8m (12%) from £13.8m to a club record £15.6m, while profit from player sales was up from £0.3m to £0.8m. In addition, the club cut costs by £3.6m (10%) to £30.7m.

The loss after tax also narrowed from £16.8m to £12.2m, including a £2.2m tax credit

There were substantial improvements in all three revenue streams, but the star of the show was match day, which rose £0.9m (28%) from £3.0m to £3.9m. In addition, broadcasting increased £0.6m (8%) from £8.1m to £8.7m, while commercial was up £0.2m (9%) from £2.8m to £3.0m.

Despite the revenue growth, Preston kept a lid on their expenses, actually reducing both wages, down £3.0m (21%) from £24.6m to £21.6m, and player amortisation, down by a third (£1.3m) from £3.4m to £2.1m. On the other hand, other expenses rose £0.7m (13%) to £6.2m.

Only five Championship clubs have to date published accounts for 2022/23, but Preston’s pre-tax loss is, true to form, around mid-table. Although a £14.4m loss is not great, it is much smaller than other clubs in this incredibly competitive division, e.g. Norwich City lost around twice as much last season.

Promoted clubs often have the largest deficits, as they invest heavily in the squad and then pay hefty promotion bonuses, e.g. Bournemouth £56m and Nottingham Forest £46m in 2021/22.

Note: Stoke City’s massive £102m reported profit is highly misleading, as this would actually have been an £18m loss without the benefit of a £120m exceptional loan waiver.

Many clubs offset their operating losses to some extent via profits from player sales, but Preston only generated £0.8m here, even though this was more than £0.3m in the prior year.