Cover Stories
RFU’s Good Performance in Difficult Year
By Peter Thomas, Corporate Communications & Public Affairs Director
Nick Eastwood: “We remain cautious”
The Rugby Football Union recently announced its annual results for the year ended 30 June 2009.
Highlights for the year included:
- Turnover increased by 20% from £99.1m to £119.2m;
- Operating Profit increased by 66% from £18.9m to £31.3m;
- Profit before tax increased from a loss of £0.5m to a profit of £9.0m;
- Net Worth increased by 6% from £141.8m to £150.7m;
- Maintained investment and funding in Elite and Community Rugby.
The year’s results benefited from the seven test matches held at Twickenham in the year compared to only five in the previous year and also a favourable reduction in depreciation approved by auditors and HMRC following completion of a detailed review of the new South Stand facilities. The decline in corporate spending resulting from the onset of the recession did not materially affect sales for the autumn internationals in 2008 although it did affect hospitality sales for the Six Nations which were down 40% on a match by match basis. The prudent action taken by the Management Board to reduce costs last November helped to mitigate this decline in corporate sales. The results enabled the business to further strengthen its balance sheet in the year with net worth increasing by 6% to £150.7m. The decline in corporate sales seen during 2009’s Six Nations has continued into the current season and with only five test matches this year the RFU continues to take a cautious approach on costs. Whilst there have been some more encouraging signs recently on the economic front expectations are that it will be some time before the corporate market recovers.
Nick Eastwood, Finance Director for the RFU, commented, “These results demonstrate a good performance in a difficult year. The RFU results always benefit in those years when we have three home Six Nations games and a fourth autumn international. Last year was no different. The pre-tax profits of £9 million also benefited from a one-off reduction in depreciation of £1.2 million following completion of the detailed analysis of the new South Stand facilities as well as one-off reduction in costs of £1.2 million accruing from the establishment the Injured Players Foundation. The recession started to affect our business in the second half year with corporate sales being particularly badly hit as the recession took hold. The early actions we took to reduce costs have proved to be wise. As we look at the current year with only five test matches and continuing challenges in the corporate market we remain cautious and are managing our business accordingly.”
Francis Baron, RFU Chief Executive, added, “Our strategic goal is to develop new revenue streams to limit the dependence on any one area. With the opening of the Marriott Hotel, the Virgin Active Health Club and the new Conference & Events facilities in the new South Stand a major step in this direction has been taken. We have a vision to turn Twickenham into a 365 day a year business and it is pleasing to see we are already making progress towards this goal. The conference facilities are selling strongly, the Marriott Hotel is now fully up and running and the Virgin Active Classic club opened on 1 October and is already outperforming against its sales targets. These are all significant operations in their own right but the combination of them is a real differentiator for Twickenham.
“Notwithstanding that, in 2009/10, our budget and all of our forecasts suggest the environment will continue to be challenging and that the £5 million of savings we have identified and are achieving remain vital to ensuring the continued financial success of the Union. We will continue to take the decisions in the current financial year that we think are right to safeguard the best interest of the game, the clubs and RFU employees.”
The LV= Cup
Dave Barton | National Media Manager
Insurance, investments and pensions group LV=, is the new title sponsor of the LV= Cup, rugby’s Anglo-Welsh tournament, managed by the RFU. LV= has 3.6m customers and employs over 3,800. The initial two year sponsorship has an option for a further two, with the LV= Cup building on LV=’s existing investments in rugby union and complementing the LV= County Championship in cricket. The high profile LV= Cup, is a 16-team competition involving the 12 English Guinness Premiership clubs and four top Welsh clubs. The eventual winner, if an English club, will gain a place in the Heineken Cup for next season.
The tournament already has a broadcaster with Sky Sports showing one live match per round and the semi-finals and final for the next five years. It also has a committed supporter base with an average of 8,500 watching each pool game in the last three years and 55,000 attending last April’s final at Twickenham Stadium. The RFU, WRU and LV=, as well as Premier Rugby Limited (PRL) and Regional Rugby Wales, which oversee the teams playing in the competition, have all jointly committed to extensively promote the LV= Cup using all existing channels and media.
David Radford, Group Marketing Director of LV=, commented, “As an expanding business we see The LV= Cup providing a good fit with our target audience and we’re pleased to put our support behind this popular competition.” Francis Baron, RFU Chief Executive, added, “The Anglo-Welsh Cup is rich with heritage and history stretching back over many years, much like LV=. This year’s tournament promises to be as exciting and hard fought as ever with the ultimate prize of a place in the Heineken Cup on offer for any English club that wins. In addition we believe the new structure will give players, coaches and supporters an exciting tournament that embodies all that’s best about cross-border knockout competition and further showcases the game.”
Centenary Celebration Winners
Richard Prescott | England Teams Media Director
England Team Manager and RWC 2003 winning captain Martin Johnson won the ‘O2 Player of the Century’ award at the Twickenham Stadium Centenary Dinner. The award covering the best retired players seen at Twickenham Stadium in the last 100 years saw the Leicester Tigers, England and British & Irish Lions second row gather over 10% of the 31,000 votes cast via rfu.com/museum. He edged out Wales legend Gareth Edwards and fellow RWC 2003 winner Jason Robinson. The top ten short list was: Martin Johnson (England), Gareth Edwards (Wales), Jason Robinson (England), Lawrence Dallaglio (England), Richard Hill – RWC 2003 winner (England), Jonah Lomu (New Zealand), David Duckham (England), Rory Underwood (England), Neil Back (England) and Serge Blanco (France). Johnson said, “I’ve got so many good memories of Twickenham Stadium from receiving my first cap at 24 hours notice when I was in camp with the England B team through to beating South Africa in 1998 and all three SANZAR countries in 2002. This is a huge honour and it’s a privilege to be named in the company of so many great players.” An 800 strong vote at Twickenham Stadium’s Centenary Dinner saw the ‘bmi Try of the Centenary’ awarded to France’s Philippe Saint-Andre. It was one of five short listed from a list of 25 tries compiled by the Twickenham Centenary Ambassadors, chaired by Alastair Hignell with four players who each played a part in Grand Slam winning teams; Lawrence Dallaglio OBE, Rob Andrew MBE, Bill Beaumont CBE and Dickie Jeeps. The audience watched each of the short listed tries on a giant screen before voting. The short list was: Prince Alexander Obolensky (England) – England v New Zealand 1936; Ben Cohen (England) England v Ireland 2002; Philippe Saint-Andre (France) England v France 1991; Bob Hiller (England) England v Scotland 1971 and Andy Hancock (England) England v Scotland 1965.
