He apologised to shareholders for the accounts having been published so late. He said this was unacceptable and confirmed that the club had as a consequence incurred fines of some £2000-£3000.
Chaired with aplomb
The
accounts for 2002/2003 show large losses, and the
accounts for 2003/2004 will show similar losses. The
directors aim to send out the 2003/2004 accounts to
shareholders within the next four months.
Mark Devlin, the new Chief Executive, is undertaking a full review of the club and its operating costs, but new investment is still needed.
The most notable potential investors are a group of Monaco-based businessmen who have been having exclusive talks with the club about buying 29.9% of the plc. The "lock-out" period ended yesterday with no investment having being finalised.
However, members of the group still want to buy 10% of the shares and be granted options to buy a further 19.9%. This would bring a total cash injection of around £1.6m. These investors no longer have exclusivity so they will have to compete with anyone else who is interested in investing.
As far as the club's general financial health is concerned, we owe £2m to the taxman, the stadium is worth about £18m, and we have a £10m mortgage on the ground. The directors have a business plan where they aim to break even, but this will require a capital injection of £2m. The club will then be truly solvent.
The business plan for this year includes a very respectable playing budget for Ian Holloway - who went £500,000 over budget last season and was allowed to do so by the old board. McGrath said that Ian Holloway has enough to stabilise and consolidate in the Championship this season. Hopefully there will be more money available for the manager in 2005/2006 and, that being the case, the board will expect better results from him as well.
Kevin McGrath then introduced the other directors and staff on the stage.
Azeem Malik is a director who represents Moorbound Ltd which in turn represents Gianni Paladini's business interest in QPR. Paladini has "boundless enthusiasm" for QPR and, having put some £650k into the club, is the largest single investor for several years. McGrath said Paladini has a fantastic knowledge of the game, and that it is a privilege to have him on the team at QPR.
Mark Devlin has returned to QPR as Chief Executive after helping reduce Swindon FC's losses from £3m to £300,000. He is "a QPR man" with inside knowledge both of QPR and of running a club in very difficult circumstances.
Bill Power, the chairman of the football club, joined the board after buying some 3m shares and bought a further 1m shares last week. McGrath said: "Bill has the potential to be the best chairman here since Jim Gregory, and I hope he's still chairman when he's 65."
David Anderson is a chartered accountant and the company secretary of QPR Holdings plc. He has put a huge amount of time and effort into the accounts, all on a voluntary basis.
Chris Pennington is not a director but has stepped in to work on the finances following the departure of Paul English, the old Finance Director.
Kevin McGrath made a short personal statement himself, explaining that he feels very proud and privileged to be on the board. He announced that at the end of the meeting he would be remaining a director but standing down as Acting Chairman of the plc and would be replaced by Bill Power. The club only needs one chairman, especially now that it is becoming a private company rather than a plc.