West Brom owner confirms losses were expected and club finances stabilised

Club accounts for the year to June 30 2024 are imminent and headline figures have seen the Baggies post a loss of £33.9million in the first set of accounts without the boost of Premier League parachute payments.

Turnover was halved to £28.2m as it was revealed the Bilkul owner - who on Friday marks his first year at the club - has ploughed in excess of £30m to pay for overheads and keep Albion competitive in the Championship.

Patel's takeover from Guochuan Lai was understood to be packaged around £60m including debt repayments, though the figure the club itself cost was significantly less. These accounts are from four months or so into the Bilkul regime and paint a picture of the club the Florida investor rescued.

Despite heavy losses the owner and chairman said the club are on track with projections and stable, without the day-to-day and week-to-week worries that came before his takeover.

"Well, ultimately, just by the sake of us being involved, the outlook is stabilised," Patel said. "The club is now no longer worried about the things that it was worried about a year ago, in terms of how are we going to make it to the next season or the next month.

"We understood, and I understood, that there were massive losses projected and the cost of acquiring the club was just one of the costs of getting the club back to steady footing. So, in that regard, the losses are within the range that was projected and anticipated.

"We are probably doing better in some categories, but ultimately we’re within our plan and thankfully the club is on a stable long-term footing."

Patel also moved to allay fears that Albion could come within sanction of financial fair play regulations in the next set of accounts, to June 2025. Clubs in the EFL are only permitted to lose a total of £39m across a three-year cycle due to profit and sustainability laws. Albion accounts have posted losses of £11m (June 2023) and £34m to June 2024.

But, as the owner outlines, not all of the losses included within that £33.9m figure are relatable to profit and sustainability (P&S). For example Bilkul have put money into club facilities, as well as women's team and academy cash injection, which do not factor into P&S.

Patel confirmed Albion's year of accounts including this season - to be released at a similar time next year - will bring further losses. He said the Baggies must continue to be savvy with trading and their revenue generation.

Patel said: "Firstly, it’s important to recognise the time period these accounts cover, which is through June of 2024. So, from the time of my takeover of the club, subsequent to the January window, there was not a lot of opportunity for us to make substantial changes to the trajectory the club was on.

"Additionally, I think that the losses don’t exactly equate to P&S losses, so there are some differences, there are add backs, there are other elements that don’t factor into P&S and we’ve been working very hard to make sure that we identify every possible add back in order to be able to maximise our P&S position.

"In the coming year of accounts, we’re also going to be facing some heavy losses, but again, these are losses that we have had the opportunity to mitigate through player trading, through revenue generation and through better management of accounts.

"We are, unfortunately, going to be looking at another year of losses in the 2024/25 season, but all of this is within the projected range and all of this is within an attainable gap in terms of addressing P&S.

"We’ll need to continue to be savvy about player trading, revenue generation and a lot of other aspects in order to be able to navigate the coming year. However, with a little bit more clarity around the system under which we’re going to be running the 2025/26 season, we can begin to plan more effectively what our strategies are going to be around P&S."

Albion's player trading over the last half a year, including transfer fees totalling in excess of £8m on Mikey Johnston, Isaac Price, Tammer Bany and more, show further evidence Bilkul have the finances under control as they set in their football model for the years to come.