The administrator explains Porto’s losses by the postponement of the sale of Otavio

The postponement of the sale of Portuguese international Otavio until the final stretch of the summer transfer window has resulted in a negative consolidated net result of €47.627 million (ME) for FC Porto SAD for the 2022/23 season.

“Otavio had an unusual termination clause, as before July 15th his cost was 40 ME, and since then another 60 ME. In other words, if we sold it by June 30th, we would receive 40 ME. After this date we will get 60 IU. There was a risk that the administration and, above all, our president [Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa]“, it has gone,” explained the administrator with financial responsibility, Fernando Gomez, at the meeting dedicated to the presentation of the latest report and reports of SAD, which took place at the Dragão Arena in Porto.

In a statement published on the official website of the Securities Commission (CMVM) on the Internet, FC Porto explained the reversal of the apparent profit trajectory in 2020/21 – 19.3 ME – and in 2021/22 – 20.765 ME – with “no capital gains from the sale of the sports rights of the relevant players in the analyzed period.”

“To achieve increased added value, we deliberately take on a negative outcome, knowing that there will be no consequences in terms of financial fair play. [da UEFA]. From an economic and financial perspective, the shortfall reported on June 30 will be offset by revenues by the end of the year. [da saída] Otavio and the Champions League. Of course, I wouldn’t want it to be like that. I would like to show a positive result here and also sell Otavio for 60 IU, but there is no such possibility,” he noted.

The midfielder signed for Saudi Arabian club Al Nasr in August and became the Dragons’ most expensive sale in history, leaving him with 60IU associated with the relevant termination clause.

“[O negócio] For the president, it was a game of poker. The rope could break. It was risk management that brought positive results. Despite the doubts, towards the end of the market there was very strong persistence in acquiring Otavio. After missing two months, Porto managed to add 20 IU to the pass,” emphasized Fernando Gomes.

While acknowledging some “concern” that financial management “may jeopardize the good delivery of SAD’s sporting objectives”, the administrator expects the balance sheet for the first term, December 31, to improve to offset losses for 2022/23.

“I’m doing a practical exercise: 60 IU from Otavio plus 43 IU from qualifying for the Champions League, only here it’s already 103 IU. The second semester began with positively strong results, which was not achieved in other years. This leads me to believe that if everything goes according to plan, we will have a great result. Until December, there is still something that victories and reaching “eighth place” can lead to,” he recalled, pointing to the continuity of the “dragons” in the main club tournament of Europe.

Faced with the need to sell FC Porto’s assets once the market opens in January 2023, Fernando Gomes admitted that SAD “will only have balanced accounts in the current economic and financial conditions of Portuguese football” with passing transactions even if this is planned in the 2023 budget year. 24 achieving “capital gains of 40 to 50 ME”.

“We hope we don’t have to make sales in January. Now the market operates in January, and we have players with release conditions that may be violated by competitors. We can never guarantee that we won’t sell in January,” he assessed.