by Booney » Mon Feb 01, 2016 1:51 pm
The plan, in 2012, was to be somewhere near or making an operating profit in 2015. This was the goal, this was achieved. Even the most fervent knockers of the club should admire that.
The aim off field has been to show stability and increase not only membership but the very important corporate support. This too, has been very successful, up 140% since 2012. Investment in the Aboriginal and Broader Community program reached $1.5m in 2015. There was also a direct payment of $1m to the SANFL.
So while the operating profit could be seen as meager ( $211,302 ) it is a near $2.7m turn around from the last year.
We've done many things right in the last 24 months and sustaining that is now the key, obviously further development is crucial but ultimately on field is the reason football clubs exist, close behind is community involvement and while 2015 wasn't great on field the club has again been outstanding in funding and developing pathways for thousands, in fact just on 100,000 kids, in the Northern Territory and South Australia.
Football department spending has stayed below the AFL's "soft cap" and we will ( pending the Monfries / Ryder outcome ) pay 100% of the salary cap this year.
AO revenue is to go up by just over $500k for 2016. Clearly the club is heading in the right direction, knock it if you want, but there has been steady positive improvement off field for 4 years since new leadership has taken over. Any business model that plans to burst onto the scene can fall away just as quickly, the methodical approach Koch has led is building as planned. Pretty sure he knows what he's doing, nothing to show otherwise thus far. A strong sustainable business plan is now in place after many years of chasing our tail year on year.
One thing he emphasized at the AGM on Friday night was this ( not word for word ) "You will never see our club turning $3m profits like Hawthorn, when, not if, we are in that position we will be sending that money directly to our community based programs."
PAFC. Forever.
LOOK OUT, WE'RE COMING!