How long can they last without the football club? They're accounts don't look bad in the short-term:
How reliant is ACL on income from the stadium?
ACL is close to being profitable without a sitting tenant in the Ricoh. The financial reports for the year to May 2012 shows an income of £7.7 million, an increase of £1.1 million on the previous year (2011, £6.6 million). The urban regeneration program that was undertaken by the City Council and the Higgs Trust has also developed a successful conference centre, offices, hotel, retail park, entertainment centre and casino, in addition to the stadium. The company made a profit of over £1 million last year, an increase of around £600,000 (2011 £470,000). If we remove the income received from the club playing in the stadium, ACL would be close to breaking even, as associated costs would also be removed. Cashflow into the company has improved, an increase of £2.6 million, assisted by the sale of the catering facilities to IEC Experience, a joint venture between ACL and Compass Contract Services UK Ltd in April 2012. This injected £4 million into the company, so the short term of future of ACL looks secure, even without the football club. Tim Fisher declared back in February 2013 that SISU
[are] not here to subsidise [ACL] a failing council-owned business
which is rather ironic when comparing the balance sheets of ACL to any of the companies in the structure behind CCFC, all of whom are carrying significant liabilities compared to ACL’s positive position. If an agreement can be negotiated between the club and ACL, would this be a newly negotiated lease effectively allowing SISU to gain access to all of the facilities, or a short-term deal to ensure the club remain in the City for the next few years? It would appear that SISU need the stadium more than ACL need the club.
