Dunfermline’s latest set of accounts – for the year to May 2023 – have been signed off by shareholders at the club’s AGM.
The low-key get-together took place at East End Park on Thursday night and was attended by the UK-based members of the Pars board only.
Chairman and chief executive David Cook and his fellow directors present took care of the formal business of the meeting.
That included reappointing the club’s auditors and approving the accounts before taking questions from the floor, including queries surrounding the club’s new Rosyth training ground.
Neither manager James McPake nor members of his coaching staff or playing squad were in attendance ahead of the final fixture of the team’s first season back in the Championship.
It is hoped promotion back to the second tier will help improve the club’s finances, which took a major hit following a year in League One.
The most recent financial figures are those for the 12 months ending May 31 2023, and were made public in February.
They showed a ‘disappointing’ loss of £1,039,907.
The club have sought to qualify the numbers, citing the impact of relegation from the Championship in 2022 and the decision to retain a ‘very competitive playing budget’, which ultimately led to the League One title at the first time of asking.
‘A lot of work to do’ for DAFC
They also pointed to the ongoing investment in the relaunched youth academy and the new training ground at Rosyth, the first phase of which opened last month.
It is anticipated the accounts for the year to the end of this month will see a significant improvement.
However, club officials have admitted they ‘still have a lot of work to do’ to reach a balanced budget.
A statement released with the accounts read: “Supporters will see that following the League One-winning campaign the club has posted losses in excess of £1 million.
“Whilst these numbers are obviously disappointing, we want to reassure our fans and explain these numbers further.”
Dunfermline say relegation had a ‘profound impact’ on revenue and on away ticket sales, whilst costs associated with development of the new training ground and the relaunched youth academy were justified.
The statement continued: “We firmly believe that both of these projects will generate long-term benefits for the club.
“We do expect to see improvements in the following year’s accounts, albeit we still have a lot of work to do to reduce costs and increase revenues further to achieve a break-even position and bring about long-term sustainability.
“The backing, and long-term commitment, from (German owners) DAFC Fussball GMBH continues and we are hugely grateful for their support.
“Similarly, we recognise the outstanding backing our supporters continue to give week in, week out.”
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