FC St. Pauli

The consolidated financial statements showed a pre-tax operating profit of €2.61m, compared with €1.41m in the previous year, against a record turnover of €55.1m (previous year: €49.41m), resulting in a consolidated profit for the period of €1.56m, compared with €0.41m in the previous year). 

The club was also able to reduce its financial liabilities by €11.4m, thus improving its equity ratio. The redemption of the bond was a particular factor in this. Amounts owed to banks and other lenders were also reduced.

Positive effects were also observed in the exploitation of media rights, where the club not only benefited from a general increase in the revenue distributed but also secured a significant share from a good placing in the "youth pillar". 

In contrast, expenditure increases resulted from the strengthening of the senior squad, in particular, the creation of an in-house marketing team and administrative investments (e.g. in IT).

"We are very satisfied with financial development of the club. We have posted a consolidated profit for the eighth time in a row. We've also been able to use the reserves built up in previous years for a significant reduction of our financial liabilities to the tune of €11.4m. The overall result shows we have been prudent in our planning and are on a solid footing," said Carsten Höltkemeyer, vice-president with responsibility for financial operations.