I’m no stranger to tight deadlines.
It can be a stressful business.
Therefore, I’m feeling it today for the chaps in the Sevco High Command.
Unlike the world-class blazers on the 6th floor at Hampden, those UEFA fellows are rather serious about this Financial Fair Play thingy.
Of course, there is a difficult history at Ibrox when it comes to European licences and the like.
However, I’m sure that those massively competent chaps at Campbell Dallas are not in the least bit worried by any of this.
Therefore, I was highly sceptical when an Ibrox source told me today that there was “major panic” about the accounts.
I’m just not buying that.
No doubt it will all be in order and Fair Play to them I say!
I can’t see any mention of a closing date on the share offer. Anyone?
And King has just made his 20p per share offer via Laird, which must be a subsidiary of his NOAL Trust. He must be hoping they don’t hit the 50% trigger point and he gets to keep his money.
Either that or he’s about to win the clumpany and sell off all the assets to get his money back.
Mr King has posted accounts for period ended 31 Dec 2017. Loss of 0.9 million
I would not be in the least bit surprised if Dave King produces an up-to-date set of accounts – fully audited by that well-known firm Abra & Cadabra, and they are signed off by a Mr Ali Kazam, and witnessed by a Mr Charles Am, aka Shazam! SEVCO will be mingling within certain business circles – I reckon the Magic Circle is their No.1 ally on this one!
Cannot shake the feeling that they are going to get away with it again 🙁
On a very satisfying note.
On the day of the Rangers v Celtic match the Sky Sports app claimed that Rangers were demoted in 2012 so I duly contacted sky to complain about this. I got a reply yesterday.
Sky apologised for the factually incorrect information provided.
Made my day that (oh yes I’m keeping that email)
HH
Read between the lines. Sevco are trading in moonbeams once again and the failure of the media to report it is only matched by the reluctance of the board to disclose it. Until the shit hits the fans, we all need to keep a watching brief. The football authorities cannot be allowed to say they knew nothing if this before the next crisis. You all read it here. So what are the SFA doing about it? If they fail to act can Sevci creditors sue? Is Level 5 also culpable? Interesting times.
Can someone actually explain for me what the ruling is because Sevco have already released audited accounts for their past trading year to 28 June 2017 (they brought it forward because the Progres match started this season on 29th) so they have posted their most recent FY audited accounts, therefore, have they not satisfied the criteria?Having said that their £6.3m loss (with exceptionals) may fall foul of FFP unless UEFA take their operating loss of £100k. Clearly the half year results are still outstanding but surely regulatory bodies would want full year fully audited not half year interim results.
Clearly I’m missing something with all the excitement among Celtic fans that they not going to meet the deadline so what exactly is required by 31st March that they can’t meet.
Phil, Dignity Dave has a cunning plan. He is going to fake his own death, ala Jenaro Jimenez Hernandez and the money from his policy will see the Bears through.
Always look on the bright side of life!!!
If you haven’t read Anne Budge’s comments on the Licence situation…you should.
She either has no grasp of the Rules concerning it…or…like the rest of Scottish football apparently…she couldn’t give a flying feck as to what happens.
And that, sadly, also seems to include our Club.
And this…for me…is the real worry.
Phil…and other Bloggers…have continually exposed the murky and unacceptable goings on in Scottish football…but to no avail.
For me, however,we have now reached the final watershed in this long running soap opera…and if Sevco come through this with an approved Licence application…and with Accounts that pass scrutiny…then the game is well and truly over.
And those with a vested interest…will breathe a huge sigh of relief.
Come back Fergus…your Club needs you.
sevco`s stuck with that bloo brief pelican due to the upkeep of IOUbrox?
sevco jumbo fantales FC.
They remember when it was fun and they were happy.
We`re singin` in the breakfast corridors;
There`s only one Jorge Cadete,he`s got hair like spaghetti ,he`s Portuguese .
sevco hand gesture FC.
I am surprised not to see the interim results published yesterday as I had read elsewhere that that was the deadline for getting UEFA approval. But having said that, I cannot see how the interim results would look like the 3 year loss came under 5m euros – and I half wonder whether it could even come in under the absolute max debt of 30m euros.
Last year’s interims showed a small operating profit. But given the nature of football, with most of the ticket sales, advertising revenues, etc. coming in the first six months (July-December), it is easier to show a small operating profit than in the whole year that includes January-June with plenty of expenses but little income.
And as others have pointed out, last year’s interims were not audited, which did not go unremarked. It would be difficult to pull that stunt a second time.
I am guessing that the panic is caused by either a failure to find a way to present the accounts in a way that complies with the FFP requirements, or the failure to find an auditor willing to sign off accounts that would comply with FFP. If things are really bad, they might even struggle to find an auditor willing to sign off accounts on a going concern basis.
I’m intrigued as to how the SFA are going to handle this, knowing full well that the eyes and ears of the internet bampots will be all over them, as well as Peter Lawell.
The compliance officer is already, ahem, pouring over the licensing debacle from 2012 and I doubt he needs any more licensing issues from 2018 to sweep under the carpet as well.
Time will tell…..
And a bigger carpet will be bought…or rented! HH
What auditors basically want before signing off on your accounts is plausible deniability.
Give them a believable undertaking and Bob’s yer uncle.
Problem is, as I recall, the last set of accounts were only signed off on due to an undertaking of funding which was not followed through on. Since then, they have been forced to take out a sizeable loan on onerous default terms from Close Brothers. So their situation is significantly worse than it was this time last season, and they can no longer plausibly claim that King or Park are going to sort it all out – especially with the cold shoulder hanging over DK since he has still not made the share offer he’s legally obliged to make.
I’d imagine the auditors are communicating with increasing urgency – give us some undertaking that will cover our arses if we sign off on this. And Sevco have nothing to give.
This must have been foreseen though – their board may be incompetent, and inovertheirheads, but they are not idiots. I am guessing the ludicrous imaginary bids for Morelos may have been staged for this purpose – establish a player value at X million, and then undertake to sell that asset to cover shortfall. This is mere speculation, but could it be that the auditors have asked for sight of documents to support an asset valuation – documents which do not pass muster?
Silence, timmy. Haven’t you heard The Rangers are on the up and up, have a fantastic reputation in the City, and massive investment is just around the corner?!
On the serious side I see enormous technical problems for Campbell Dallas. I must admit that I have no audit experience although a fair amount on the accountancy front. Unless a miracle occurs the current accounting year must be a huge loss. How will that be funded? Anyone’s guess! Clearly not by the directors based on recent performance! Definitely not by Mr. King based on any performance! Surely Club 1872 cannot provide suitable assurances to satisfy the auditors who must by now be looking to protect their reputation and professional standing. My understanding is that they are mortgaged to the hilt although I stand to be corrected on that. That seems to leave two options. A sugar daddy but if he exists he would have appeared by now. A share issue but only the most gullible will fall for that now. Are they gone? Certainly if I were a creditor I would be more than panic stricken.
And yet…and yet… They have cheated death so many times that even now I wonder.
I would love to see them gone for good but I have enjoyed the fun and pantomime so much that part of me, but only part, wants it to keep running.
Very interesting days and perhaps times ahead.
How about a sugar mummy, a la Anne Budge?
There must be a wealthy Anne Ludge out there somewhere, surely?
Even a cat runs out of lives eventually – then it’s dead cat bounce time
Campbell Dallas won’t be impacted one way or the other from operating losses at Ibrox. Their remit extends only so far as verifying that the accounts reflect a true and accurate picture of the financial affairs of the club. As long as what’s in the annual report is accurate CD will have no problem signing off.
In my post above I omitted a crucial point. Sorry! If current year is to be an unfunded loss then as I indicate death looks inevitable. On that basis my understanding is that the auditors will have extreme difficulty in signing off the accounts on a going concern basis if they can do so at all. As I said, interesting days and times.
I want them pumped into oblivion asap. The biggest skidmarks on the underpants of humanity ever.
From The Rangers website investors centre looks like a share offer. Can’t cut and paste. https://rangers.co.uk/investors-centre/shareholder-centre/circulars-admissions-document
Nothing there now. I saw it last night, wondered what it was about. Looked like a half-hearted attempt at something, no sure what.
Page now removed
Interesting…..
Rules. What the fuck are those?
Last year the UEFA submission was accompanied by a back of a fag packet calculation showing a £300k operating profit for the first 6 months.
If memory serves me right the numbers were unaudited and there was no accompanying balance sheet which is the very least you would expect.
As we know that £300k profit turned into a £6m loss in the 12 months reporting period.
For sure the annual accounts were audited and signed off by Dallas Campbell on the basis of good faith and back up data supplied by the board.
Eg. NOAL would cover the forecast cash shortfalls… As it turned out Close Bros rode to the rescue on that one.
No one, as far as I know claimed to be the author of the 6 months interim accounts which as well as being inadequate were also completely misleading….. by design?
No one has questioned the integrity of the interim numbers when they were clearly spurious at best and painted a picture of a company turning the corner into profitability.
Of course they were completely misleading and since then the wage bill has gone through the roof, no doubt making a bad situation worse.
I must be wrong as I thought that any accounts presented to UEFA must be audited?
Perhaps this is part of the SFA’s role in the licencing process therefore if the national authority wave through the application then they have already accepted the numbers as kosher.
Just wondering about the licencing procedures in other countries.
Do they allow the clubs to self certify and trust the honesty and integrity of the applicants completely or are there checks in place to verify the submission.
Eg. If the no taxes overdue box is ticked do they verify that with the appropriate tax authority?
Just can’t trust those Johnny foreigners, up to all sorts they are, have to be watched, unlike our own bastions of integrity and transparency.
If Mr McGlennan is reading feel free to claim my idea to double check with HMRC as your own, no charge.
The requirements of an auditor and duties in respect of Interim Accs required under Article 48 of UEFA FFP and shown on Annex V of FFP are pasted on SFM at page 17, March 29th 23.44. Whoever reviews the required Interims will need to be careful for their own sake.
The annual accounts must be audited and be compliant with the accounting standards accepted by the relevant regulatory bodies. For Celtic and Rangers, that means IFRS; for other Scottish clubs, that mean U.K. GAAP.
Nobody, not even Celtic, submits fully audited interim accounts, so that is a non-issue. The swing from marginal profitability to losses between the interim period and full year results last year is explained by their Jan spending spree, hiring of Pedro, the payoff to Joey Barton to go away, and the £3M to Sports Direct to terminate the retail deal.
Cheers Joseph.
Ach I suppose whatever happens to Scotland’s newest fitba club will be spun and amended to suit, as the truth never sits well with some.
Today’s wee story on the BBC website would confirm that with this wee gem:
“the gers have not won a major trophy since entering administration in 2012 and re-emerging in the bottom tier of Scottish football.”
“Re-emerging” sounds like corporate aperating – Voldemort for SFA CEO
McCoist even quoted nimself saying that if big IF they managed to win the Scottish cup this year (no sniggering please) it would be this teams first ?
Spot on.
As Benjamin says, there can be no genuine surprises left in the contents of the accounts. The only surprises I can imagine relate to entitlement issues:
1) that the Campbell Dallas chaps have politely informed the Ibrox chaps that the accounts are beyond even rolling in glitter, so that’s why we are out.
2) that the SFA has politely declined the role of amateur auditors, thus indicating that it is for the Ibrox chaps to present a convincing alternative realty to UEFA.
3) that dispatches from their RRM EBT man in Nyon indicate that the knuckle shuffle is a foreign language to the local bureaucrats, so the Ibrox chaps should expect no brotherly myopia concerning FFP compliance.
Any one of these could send a shiver of terror up a superior, entitled spine. How much Evel5 bull will it take to convince The People that Euro football (and money) are not all they are cracked up to be?
Fat Sally has already achieved column metres by telling The People the that they don’t need the Scottish Cup to have a successful season. FTP man, get a grip and have some dignity.
Today, I’ll mostly be head-banging to “Map of the Problematique” by Muse
They’re smart enough to know. The situation is find the millions to qualify for the license and maybe make a small part back in the competition or fail to get the license and save money.
Nothing to worry about here guys the klan will sort it out with a tickly handshake at the lodge and a few begging bowls to sweeting things over .Remember King is king of the chislers. That’s not a bad name that for a band Dave King &The Chislers.
Dave King & the Chislers. Does anyone know if I can book them for next year’s Paddy’s Day? 🙂 HH
Why the need to panic when you have at last set up a large overdraft facility and a chairman with gajillions in the bank.
Is there any wiggle room with the end of March deadline though. Can the SFA ask for some extension for their sevco pals? Might I offer the following. We had the audit doc but ma dug ate it, some big bhoy ran away with it, My ma put it in the washing.
I just feel if it can be done it will be done for the good of the establishment club. I suppose we will find out soon enough. It’s always a joy reading the Chairman’s statement, a narrative of wishful thinking, vagueness, hapless optimism and of course the odd porkie thrown in.
I’m a little concerned when I read that for European acceptance it’s not based solely on the amount of debt you have but more on your ability to pay such debt
Charles, right now the FFP regulations are based solely on net income / net losses not exceeding prescribed thresholds. Without fresh equity injections, the threshold is €5M over a rolling 3 year period. The amount of debt is totally irrelevant at this time, and that has upset the Man City’s and PSG’s of the world who want Cart Blanche to spend whatever they want of their own money. Sadly, both PSG and Man City have seats at the European Club Association, and they have proposed new rules based on debt and not on income (presumably to punish the likes of ManU who has net income but lots of debt).
That new proposal still has to be ratified by UEFA, so it’s not certain that it will be implemented. Also worth noting that credit agencies use similar metrics to grade credit worthiness of companies, so it’s not a totally ridiculous idea despite the obvious self-serving nature of the proposal. One of the metrics they look at is interest expense relative to earnings before interest and taxes and sometimes excluding depreciation and amortization as well (as those last 2 are non-cash expenses) depending on the industry. I imagine that’s exactly what they’ve proposed, but the full text has not yet been released.
I’ve waited patiently for the second implosion at Ibrox but a couple of things bother me today
If the financial report is bad, then why not roll it out during the international week and not on the cusp of a tough game v Motherwell
However if it’s not bad then revealing it on the eve of the Motherwell game would be good press
…'”major panic” about the accounts’…Surely nothing more than they can’t find the tipex!
Tipex, so last century. The joy of spread sheets, is they can be changed very easily. So I have been told……………
That is truly puzzling Phil.
Presumably the reason for panic would be because something surprised them? But surely the occupants of the Blue Room are well versed in the state of the accounts after having to cozy up Close with the provider of their new overdraft facility?
Maybe they’re panicking due to the consequences coming rather than the actual information in the accounts? But rules are rules, and UEFA have consistently applied FFP regulations and even gone so far as to exclude a club from Turkey from competitions for violations. This should only be a surprise to those not paying attention or those living in a detached reality.
Phil, intriguing
I read it twice and get the feeling there is lots between the lines
We are all awaiting the accounts and the share offer or not share offer !
Will they once again wriggle out of it or indeed be held to account ?
Is there a chance that THIS time they will fall short and be found to fall short ?
Do you have a steer one way or
other ?
Right Phil, I’ve tried not to be critical of you in recent times, due to the work you put in – which is feckin’ brilliant.
To me, this just reads as ‘clickbailt’ for being unsure as to what is going to happen.
Apologies, if I’m wrong!
No one forces you to read this free-to-view site.
You’re very wrong and would be better not coming back if that is your view.
All I’m doing is giving my viewpoint, in as constructive a manner as possible. I enjoy the site and your work. Just don’t understand ‘cloak & dagger’ nature of this piece. If you wish to deny me an opinion, don’t post it!
Kieran, there really isn’t much cloak & dagger here at all. A little reading between the lines is all that’s required.
It’s not click-bait (which is normally an attention grabbing headline which bears no relation to the story). The Rangers / Sevco story is long and drawn out but this is not Phil’s fault! This blog seems to be the best place to keep track of events, some patience is required though.
Sweet, the SFA are hiding something .
You waiting on the ones that were filed on the 13th December?
No, the 6 month interim accounts that have to be posted before April. They’re crucial for FFP compliance, although they did get away with releasing unaudited, misleading figures last year