Derbyshire County Cricket Club has released its 2021 Annual Report which contains the Financial Results for the Covid-hit year ending 31 December 2021.
The Club are able to announce a pre-tax surplus of £1.15m in 2021, which follows two years of positive financial results, including the 2020 surplus of £0.668m.
Chairman, Ian Morgan OBE, said: “The Club exceeded the targets it had set financially in 2021, this was despite losing £1.5m in traditional revenue streams due to the continued effect of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“This positive result has ensured the Club is in a strong position, despite the challenges of the last few years. It is great credit to the tireless work of our executive team, off-field staff and the continued support of a number of key stakeholders, including our commercial partners and Members, for which we owe our gratitude.”
The Club originally budgeted for a surplus of £0.65m and, as with 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic continued to hit revenue streams and forced the Club to take a number of proactive actions to protect its finances and diversify its revenue streams.
Chief Executive, Ryan Duckett, said: “As in 2020, we had to change our business plan due to the impact of Covid-19 and government restrictions. Ticket income, commercial sponsorship and conference and events revenues were severely affected, but thankfully we managed to replace these traditional revenue streams and effectively manage costs across the business. This result has been achieved alongside our plan of investing an additional £0.5m in cricket.
“Another year of positive financial results has allowed us to get ahead of schedule in our key strategic objective of becoming debt free by 2024, while further investing in facilities at The Incora County Ground, maintaining investment in our playing squad and attracting a world-renowned international coach in Mickey Arthur.”
In-line with government guidance, the Club is hoping for a more normal year in 2022 with a return of capacity crowds and as such has set a positive, but challenging 2022 budget.
Chief Financial Officer, Tim Baker, added: “The last three years have improved the Club’s Balance Sheet position and allowed us to show positive net assets and reduce the level of debt while the cash position remains healthy. We will continue to reduce the debt and will now look at investing some of the reserves in facilities and maintaining a healthy investment in the playing squad.
“The Club has budgeted for another year of a small surplus in 2022 with a focus on trying to return revenue streams to pre-Covid levels, but with cost increases and a challenging economic climate we are mindful that 2022 will be a lot more challenging financially than 2021.”
The Club’s Annual General Meeting, exclusive for those who were Members in 2021, will be held in person at The Incora County Ground and also via Zoom on Wednesday 30 March 2022.
