'Excellent recovery' at Saints as club announces its financial results

Despite a challenging economic climate, Saints were able to reveal a revenue of £20.8m, the highest in the club's history.

There was a £0.3m pre-tax profit, with a £0.1m post-tax loss. That was slightly flattered by a £0.5m insurance payment.

But overall, the results were extremely positive.

And White said: “The 2021/22 financial year was the club’s first full season since the devastating impact of the pandemic, and I am pleased to report that Saints emerged strongly, making an excellent recovery in the aftermath of two very challenging financial years.

“The return of crowds to cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens saw more than 220,000 people pass through our gates, with Saints one of only four clubs in the Premiership to have increased attendances compared to pre-pandemic crowds.

"But, despite a strong commercial bounce back, in reality the after-effects of the pandemic have put Saints’ financial plan back by approximately three years.

“Our turnover of £20.8m was up £2.4m from the 2018/19 season – the last full season which was unimpacted by Covid-19 – representing the club’s highest-ever revenue, and a profit before tax of £0.3m. However, this figure is flattered by a one-off business interruption insurance payment of £0.5m. Without this, the underlying result was a loss before tax of £0.2m.

“As of June 30, our cash balance was £8.5m. It should be noted though that during the year we issued £3m of preference shares to fund the construction of our new High Performance Centre, which was included in this figure at year end and will be spent by early 2023.

“We are operating in a challenging environment, both within the rugby Premiership and in the wider economic context. However, we are in a resilient position and have a clear plan for the future.

"Saints has a track record of responsible financial management and was profitable for 16 consecutive years, bucking the trend across the league and enabling us to maintain a strong balance sheet.”