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Celtic PLC on Monday said profit grew by more than a third during the first half of its current financial year, but expects full-year earnings to come in ‘significantly lower’ as a result of first-half weighting. The Glasgow, Scotland-based football club said pretax profit for the six months that ended December 31 grew 37% to £43.9 million, from £30.3 million a year prior. This was driven primarily by the £21.5 million profit made on Celtic’s disposal of intangible assets, up from a £2.6 million profit the year before. Revenue for the six-month period declined 2.0% to £83.5 million from £85.2 million, while operating expenses increased 6.0% to £56.5 million from £53.2 million. ‘Although reported revenue has fallen by £1.7 million, and the total matches played over the period of 14 was in line with the same period last year, the match composition varied from the prior period and consequently, this impacted the amount recognised per match in the first half of the year,’ Chair Peter Lawwell said. ‘In addition, as the new UEFA format now introduces games in the second half of the financial year, an element of UEFA revenue requires to be deferred and recognised in the second half of the year. Both factors have led to the reduction in reported revenue but will reverse in the second half of financial 2025.’ Lawwell added: ‘Our outturn earnings can also be materially impacted by football success and the year-end assessment of player registration carrying values. Taking all of this into consideration, we would expect our total outturn financial performance for the year ending June 30 to be significantly lower than the result posted for the first six months of the financial year.’ Shares in Celtic closed down 5.9% at 160.00 pence in London on Monday. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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