The parent firm of Middlesbrough FC has a financial “plan B” if the club fails to secure promotion to the Premier League, it emerged today.
Accounts posted by Boro supremo Steve Gibson’s Gibson O’Neill said plans are in place if Aitor Karanka’s men fail to secure a return to the top flight.
A move into the Premier League could be worth more than £100m and provide a massive boost to the club’s coffers.
But the club are also prepared if the promotion push falters.
A statement in Gibson ONeill’s annual results said: “MFC are hoping to mount a serious challenge for promotion to the Premier League with all the attendant benefits but with a clear cost management plan in place in the event of the club continuing to perform in the Championship.”
Boro have been forced to slash their wage bill and curb transfer spending in the years since relegation.
The Gibson O’Neill results show the combined performance for Boro, chemical transport firm Bulkhaul and luxury hotel and spa Rockliffe, near Darlington.
They indicate how pressure on the club’s finances continues to offset strong performances at the group’s other businesses.
Accounts filed at Companies House revealed that the group made a pre-tax profit of £5.91m in the 12 months to June 30 last year.
The surplus was down from £12m a year earlier and came as income slipped from £202m to £193m.
The accounts said: “Bulkhaul has continued to perform strongly in the year covered by these accounts.
“MFC has suffered the challenge of continued Championship football.
“Rockliffe has continued to perform well in difficult economic conditions.”
The accounts do not break down the performance of the individual businesses, which publish separate financial figures.
In December The Gazette reported that Middlesbrough-based Bulkhaul posted annual profits of £31.5m for the year to June 30.
No figures for the performance of the football club have yet been released for the period covered in the latest Gibson O’Neill results.
The club’s most recent figures, published last March and covering the year to June 2013, revealed losses of £14m.
Gibson O’Neill said Rockliffe is expected to deliver an operating profit in the coming financial year.
The results added that the business completed a “significant restructuring of its borrowings”, which cut the number of its lenders and provided better lending terms.
The firm said the move freed both Middlesbrough FC and Rockliffe from “external debt” while allowing Bulkhaul to continue to make long-term investments.
The highest paid Gibson O’Neill director, who was not named, received £1.9m.
The firm’s combined workforce increased from 856 to 839, while total staff costs, including player wages, fell from £41m a year to £36.8m.
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