Chinese Super League team Guangzhou Evergrand Taobao FC published its 2017 audited financial statement on the NEEQ (National Equities Exchange and Quotations) website on April 27. According to the report, the club’s financial performance in 2017 witnessed a decrease in many aspects. 

Its total assets for 2017 was CNY1.12bn (USD17.61m), a 11.99% decrease from the 2016 figure of CNY1.27bn (USD19.97m)). The main business operations income was CNY527.77m (USD19.97m), a 5.91% decrease from the 2016 figure of CNY560.94m (USD88.22m). Net profit to stakeholders was negative CNY986.87m (-USD155.21m), which was a 21.56% drop from 2016 (-CNY811.83m (-USD127.68m)). 

Meanwhile, Evergrande FC’s auditing agency, PwC, released their report on April 27 showing that the club had an accumulated deficit of CNY2.5b (USD393.19m). 

Some online reports suggest that the main cause for the financial deficit was due to high transfer fees and salaries of players and coaches. According to the financial report, the number of staff members (337 people) at the end of 2017 increased by over one third compared with the beginning of 2017 (243 people). Among staff, the number of coaches and players increased by 45% and 43% respectively. 

Currently, the largest stakeholder of Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao is Evergrande Real Estate Group Limited which holds 56.71% of the shares. Alibaba is the second largest stakeholder with 37.81% shares in the reigning Chinese Super League champions. 

However, the financial newspaper, China Securities Journal, believes that the deficit did not seem to  have made a huge impact on the shareholder’s side, reporting that the Evergrande Real Estate Group had released a statement saying that it would continue to offer financial support to the club when necessary and in accordance with financial arrangements. 

Source: Tencent, NEEQ

Proofread by Raymond Fitzpatrick