OL GROUPE : 1ST QUARTER 2014/15 REVENUE

information fournie par Actusnews •17/11/2014 à 13:40

Revenue excluding player trading (€18.6m, down €6.5m from Q1 2013/14),
held back by absence from European cup play

Player trading (€4.2m, down €11.8m from Q1 2013/14) buffeted by player transfer postponements in summer 2014

The new stadium, where construction is continuing, and capitalisation on the OL Academy are OL Groupe's medium- and long-term growth engines

Lyon, 14 November 2014

Revenue in the first quarter of 2014/15 was hard hit by the club's absence from the pool stage of European cup play for the first time since 1997. In addition, the club was in 10 ^th place in the French Ligue 1, which is not commensurate with OL Groupe's potential performance.

Since early October, Olympique Lyonnais has made a substantial comeback in Ligue 1 and is now in third place, one point behind second-place PSG and two points behind the leader, Olympique de Marseille.

New stadium construction is progressing as planned. OL Groupe is stepping up the pace of new product marketing related to the "Olympique Lyonnais Park", which should generate new, long-term growth in Group revenue.

*figures are preliminary, estimated and unaudited

(1) of which Ligue 1: €1.6 million in Q1 2014/15 (€1.9 million in Q1 2013/14), down €0.3 million

1) Revenue excluding player trading

• Receipts from ticketing totalled €1.9 million, down €1.2 million from Q1 2013/14. In contrast to last year, they did not include revenue from participation in the Champions League playoff round. Moreover, there were no major Ligue 1 fixtures in the first quarter. The second quarter should be significantly more favourable, as it will include, in particular, revenue from the match against Olympique de Marseille, which was sold out on 26 October. As of 31 October 2014, total attendance at Ligue 1 matches (with one additional match) was 228,818, vs. 191,494 as of 31 October 2013, representing an increase of 19.5%.

• Revenue from sponsoring and advertising was stable at €4.4 million, demonstrating the trust OL's sponsors place in the club.

• Media and marketing rights (LFP, FFF, UEFA) totalled €9.1 million, down €4.7 million, principally because the club did not take part in the Champions League playoff round, in contrast to the previous year, and also because it did not participate in the Europa League after the summer 2014 qualifying rounds. Based on current performance on the pitch, specifically third place in third place in Ligue 1, LFP media and marketing rights would appreciate by €1.6 million.

• Brand-related revenue, still held back by an unfavourable economic environment, totalled €3.2 million, vs. €3.8 million in Q1 2013/14. It was also impacted by the club's absence from European cup play. The team's good performance and the high number of players selected for national teams augurs well for this category of revenue over the next few months.

2) Revenue from the sale of player registrations

Following postponement of transfers during the summer of 2014, revenue from the sale of player registrations totalled €4.2 million, vs. €16.0 million in the previous year. This revenue derived from the transfer of two uncapitalised young players trained at the OL Academy (Sarr and Pléa) and from incentives on previous transfers, whereas three transfers with a net book value of €11.3 million, or 71% of the transfer price, had taken place in the year-earlier period (Monzon, Bastos and Lisandro).

The OL Academy remains central to the Group's strategy. The club is increasingly capitalising on the training academy, which is the first team's official supplier of players and a source of potentially high capital gains, i.e. equivalent to the transfer price.

As of 30 September 2014, 22 of the 33 players on the men's professional team came from the OL Academy, and the squad's market value exceeded €100 million (source: Transfermarkt).

The Group also confirms that the plan to reduce operating costs remains in effect. In Q1 2014/15 payroll and amortisation of player registrations are estimated to have declined by €5 million compared with the previous year.

3) Sporting results

The season got off to a difficult start with numerous injuries on the men's professional team, but the club has since gained momentum and is now in third place in the French Ligue 1.

OL Groupe aims to return the club to the Champions League as quickly as possible, so as to build momentum in the related revenue for the benefit of the club's economic vigour and football performance.

The women's team is in first place in Division 1, with a match in hand, and lost the Women's Champions League round-of-16 return match to PSG on 12 November.

4) Progress on the new stadium

Concurrently with construction on the new stadium, which is progressing according to plan, active marketing of it continues, which should ultimately heighten OL Groupe's economic and sporting competitiveness at the European level.

Separately, on 20 October, OL Groupe and UEFA together launched the sale of hospitality packages for Euro 2016 matches. Olympique Lyonnais was granted the non-exclusive right to sell hospitality packages at Lyon's new stadium and the tournament's nine other stadiums.
Lyon's new stadium will host six Euro 2016 matches, including a round-of-16 match and one of the two semi-final matches.

The Annual Shareholders Meeting will be held on 15 December 2014 at 11.30 am.

Next press release: First-half 2014/15 earnings on 24 February 2015 after the market close.