morty
Moderator
Staff member
This is exactly why we can't hang about in this league, with lack of external investment.
morty
Moderator
Staff member
And this isn't just a cheap chance to laugh at Ipswich. No Siree..
Yellow Fever
New Member
A cautionary tale indeed, Monty. Is Ipswich really putting football first though. Even if they gained promotion, how many years would it take for them to become debt free?
morty
Moderator
Staff member
Indeed a cautionary tale, I believe their mystery benefactor would expect repayment of the loans should they be promoted. Some people should take a look at those figures above and realise just how lucky we are.
GazzaTCC
Active Member
Wow, any business that's paying more in wages than its total income is operating on an unsustainable basis.
lappinitup
New Member
The headline in the EADT reads........
"New figures show Ipswich Town Football Club’s financial situation has improved since last year"
And the article ends with......
"The club’s debt has risen from £82.4million to £86million".
How on earth can the finances have improved when they are in more debt?
http://www.eadt.co.uk/sport/ipswich-town/new_figures_show_ipswich_town_football_club_s_financial_situation_has_improved_since_last_year_1_3878745
"New figures show Ipswich Town Football Club’s financial situation has improved since last year"
And the article ends with......
"The club’s debt has risen from £82.4million to £86million".
How on earth can the finances have improved when they are in more debt?
http://www.eadt.co.uk/sport/ipswich-town/new_figures_show_ipswich_town_football_club_s_financial_situation_has_improved_since_last_year_1_3878745
M
Moosheep
New Member
Investment = debt.
Are there any Championship clubs who are operating at a financially sustainable level?
Moo
GazzaTCC
Active Member
It's comedy gold Lappinitup, because their loss is less than last year, their finances are improved? They're in denial that they're up a effluent filled creak with a missing paddle!
Canaryboy
Well-Known Member
£86m is an incredible figure considering that they went into administration owing £35m in 2003 and came out with a CVA to pay 5p in the pound to most creditors.
Makes you wonder how it will all end this time, perhaps with Marcus Evans building flats on Portman Road?
Makes you wonder how it will all end this time, perhaps with Marcus Evans building flats on Portman Road?
morty
Moderator
Staff member
I don't think they even own their stadium?
Boyerboy
New Member
A curious aside is what Marcus Evans gets for his £86m expenditure. That is an enormous sum by anyone's standards. He does not appear to have any particular link or affinity to Ipswich. He rarely attends games and is certainly not in it for the glory or publicity.
There must be tax advantages to his other businesses in having this loss in his group though I can't see it.
There must be tax advantages to his other businesses in having this loss in his group though I can't see it.
morty
Moderator
Staff member
He is basically a loan shark, from what I can gather. He bought their debt, and charges them interest on it. And I believe, if they are ever promoted, he would want the money back.
Its like a vicious circle of payday loans lol.
Yellow Fever
New Member
Unsustainable is certainly the word for it then!
Jimmy smith
Active Member
£2m for Cresswell? That's daylight robbery!
Canaryboy
Well-Known Member
The club owing £86m doesn't have to mean that Marcus Evans has expended £86m. The first £32m of that debt was purchased from Norwich Union / Aviva for £6.4m!
So Marcus Evans paid Aviva £6.4m not to settle the debt, but to have his own company as the creditor. Then he loaned £12.5m to the club as 'investment'. The club pays him 5.4% annual interest on the debt (according to TWTD).
If Aviva were prepared to sell the debt for £6.4m they would have been prepared to settle the debt for £6.4m. Evans could quite easily have paid that £6.4m and said that Ipswich owed him £6.4m rather than £32m. His intentions have never been good, and it makes me laugh now remembering how Ipswich fans were singing about how rich they were at Carrow Road one year :lol:
I wonder how much of the debt is actually interest accrued on that £32m + £12.5m over the past 7 or 8 years. It really does look like a complex tax saving initiative, and his company is based offshore too.
Thee comparison with Wonga may be along the right lines, Ipswich is in a spiral of debt to Marcus Evans.
And why would a man with good intentions be so secretive with his identify? There is one photo of him in the public domain. I find it truly bizarre that he would be prepared to put his full name to his massive company and on the front of Ipswich Town's shirts, but isn't prepared to show his face or have an interview!
See, we could do a lot worse than Delia & co!
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crabbycanary
New Member
The Binners Board must be wetting their pants at their League position at the moment, but within 5 months, they could be carping their pants when MM fails to get the backing to push the team to higher things, and the debt 'improves' by having a smaller loss than this season!
They escaped a FFP punishment by the seat of their grubby little pants
They escaped a FFP punishment by the seat of their grubby little pants
morty
Moderator
Staff member
Is this the photo? I assume the fella in the white shirt and jacket, middle of picture.
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Dubai Mark
Active Member
Many thanks for posting, I am genuinely shocked by the scale of the problem....almost beyond belief that so much debt has been taken on, stunning....
Canaryboy
Well-Known Member
Yes there is that one, which is said to be Marcus Evans. Then there is this one, which is definitely Marcus Evans (from a charity golf tournament)....Is this the photo? I assume the fella in the white shirt and jacket, middle of picture.
Few years in between, could definitely pass as the same person?
GazzaTCC
Active Member
I would take anything that TWTD states with a huge pinch of salt, as some of those comments seem at odds with my understanding of what actually happened.
Aviva basically sold on the £32m loan to Evans for the reported £6.4m. As far as Aviva are concerned, they wrote off the balance as a bad debt.
That doesn't mean that the loan disappears altogether. Those f**kwits down the A140 may think it does, but they still owe Evans, or one of his many companies the debt.
Now you can take one of two views about investors who purchase distressed debt.
Either, it's some sort of philanthropic act towards a football club, whom he's never previously supported, and rarely attends games.
Or, alternatively, he's a hard nosed businessman who expects a handsome return on his initial £6.4m investment which will come when Ipswich repay some, or all of the £32m loan in the future.
I personally think it's the latter and there's going to be some severe pain when, either he gets bored and wants out, or, when he comes to collect.
Aviva basically sold on the £32m loan to Evans for the reported £6.4m. As far as Aviva are concerned, they wrote off the balance as a bad debt.
That doesn't mean that the loan disappears altogether. Those f**kwits down the A140 may think it does, but they still owe Evans, or one of his many companies the debt.
Now you can take one of two views about investors who purchase distressed debt.
Either, it's some sort of philanthropic act towards a football club, whom he's never previously supported, and rarely attends games.
Or, alternatively, he's a hard nosed businessman who expects a handsome return on his initial £6.4m investment which will come when Ipswich repay some, or all of the £32m loan in the future.
I personally think it's the latter and there's going to be some severe pain when, either he gets bored and wants out, or, when he comes to collect.
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