Chelsea owners ‘suffer loss of £1BILLION in two years’, with 22 Holdco’s astronomical interest payments on loans revealed – days after UEFA rejected Blues’ women’s team loophole
- Chelsea’s ownership group has posted losses of over £1BILLION over two years
- But the club itself reported a profit of £129.6million over the 2023-24 season
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Chelsea’s ownership group has reportedly posted losses exceeding £1billion over the past two years, casting fresh scrutiny over the club’s controversial transfer spending spree and wider financial model.
According to figures revealed by The Times, 22 Holdco Ltd, the parent company of Chelsea FC, has plunged deep into the red, with losses of £445.5million last season following a £653m shortfall the year prior.
The losses are largely attributed to ‘investments in the playing squads’, the accounts say.
Since the Todd Boehly-led consortium took over in 2022, Chelsea have spent over £1billion on players, signing the likes of Enzo Fernandez (£106.7m), Moises Caicedo (£115m), Mykhailo Mudryk (£88m) and Wesley Fofana (£75m).
Yet despite the club itself recently reporting a profit of £129.6million over the 2023-24 season, the group’s finances tell a much bleaker story.
The disparity between Chelsea FC’s profits and 22 Holdco’s losses is explained by transactions that the Premier League recognises for Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) compliance, but which cannot be logged as income in the parent company’s books.
Chelsea’s ownership group has posted staggering losses of over £1billion over two years
Since Todd Boehly took over in 2022, Chelsea have spent over £1billion in the transfer market
A group of Chelsea fans staged a protest against Boehly’s BlueCo consortium earlier this year
Among these is the £200m sale of Chelsea Women to a sister company and the £76.5m sale of two Stamford Bridge hotels, both of which count as profit for PSR purposes but not under standard accounting practice.
The sale of the women’s team has caused some controversy, and Chelsea were dealt a blow last week when it was revealed that UEFA had rejected their bid to use the apparent loophole in the rules.
According to football finance expert Kieran Maguire, the ownership structure effectively shields Chelsea FC Holdings from the group’s expensive debt.
Instead of loans, Chelsea Holdings issued £315million of shares, thus sidestepping interest obligations.
‘These loans were not passed through to Chelsea FC Holdings Ltd, which instead issued £315million of shares, which do not bear interest,’ Maguire told The Times.
‘Combined with the exclusion of the profit on the sale of the women’s team in the group accounts and the losses incurred at Strasbourg, this helps explain the huge difference between the profit at Chelsea and the losses at Holdco.’
One of the most damning figures in the 22 Holdco accounts relates to their £1.16billion in borrowings, attracting interest rates of up to 11.96 per cent.
The group paid over £94million in interest alone in the year ending June 2024.
This level of debt has been amassed while also purchasing French Ligue 1 club Strasbourg, who were acquired for £43.8million and are now valued by the group at £68million.
Based on those figures, Chelsea value their women’s team, sold internally for £200m, as being worth the equivalent of three top-flight French clubs.
