Indebtedness of A.S. Roma is no joke: Euro204 million black hole (est.)

The balance sheet of Rome which records (as an estimate) a liability of Euro204 million at June 30 is not fun for A.S. Roma supporters. This is the second highest loss after that one of the Inter Milan, equal to Euro207 million, dated 2006-07.

It was already clear that the accounts had to record a strong liability on 31 March, when the club had closed with a red of Euro126.4 million (relative to the first nine months of the 2019-20 financial year, almost Euro100 million more than in the same period of the previous year). The pandemic did the rest, aggravating an already very critical situation.

Yesterday, the club – at the request of Italian Stock Exchange Commission (CONSOB) – issued a statement indicating an estimated “statutory loss of EURO188 million, with a worsening in the separate shareholders’ equity of As Roma spa estimated to be negative EURO88.1 million at the end of the year.

At a consolidated level – it should be noted – the loss for the year is estimated at EURO204 million and consolidated shareholders’ equity at 30 June is estimated to be negative for EURO242.5 million [down by EURO115 million compared to a year ago] and has led to a further worsening of the separate shareholders’ equity of A.S. Roma S.p.A., which at the end of the year is estimated to be negative for EURO88.1 million, compared to a positive value of EURO10.5 million at 30 June 2019, with a decrease of EURO98.6 million”.

The negative effects of the loss – continued the company – “are partially offset by payments on account of future capital increase for EURO89.1 million made by the old owner through the vehicle Neep Roma Holding spa”. The Board of Directors for the approval of the financial statements is scheduled for the end of the month but it is already possible to calculate how “the total financial requirements for the 2020-2021 financial year are estimated at EURO140 million, taking into account the operating events already carried out to date”. The reference is to the closing of the market session which brought just EURO13 million in capital gains through the sale of Defrel, Gonalons, Kolarov and Schick.

A situation that confirms how real was the risk of bankruptcy without the Friedkin’s intervention. The Texas tycoon has already disbursed EURO77.6 million (in three tranches: 10+53+14.6) to support the club’s activities (in particular EURO63 million as member financing and EURO14.6 million to pay a commission of the same amount to the bondholders of the loan of the subsidiary Asr Media and Sponsorship), but given the current economic situation, already yesterday he hinted that the current capital increase of EURO150 million, already approved and to be implemented by the end of the year, is not excluded in order to allow the recovery of the heavy capital deficit.

But it does not end there. Because Roma must also worry about what will happen with the Financial Fair Play, suspended due to the pandemic. Suspended, however, does not mean cancelled.

In this perspective, the evaluation of the year 2020 has been postponed by one year, making the average deficit of the two years under review (2020 and 2021), so that the losses of this season can be recovered in the next. The situation remains critical. In Trigoria, A.S. Roma headquarter, they hope that the players now on loan can convince their clubs to redeem them, thus approaching the threshold of EURO100 million capital gains. Otherwise it will inevitably be necessary to involve other players of the roster.