German Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund said it expects to make a loss of €45m for the financial year due to the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on matchday income.
In a trading update, the club – which has the highest average attendance in European football – said EBITDA would be approximately €62.0m for the year to June 30.
The loss is a “direct impact” of the pandemic and subsequent ban on spectators from attending matches, the club said. With the biggest capacity in German football and the second largest VIP hospitality areas, Dortmund said it has been left particularly exposed by a reduction in matchday income and reductions and refunds of advertising and VIP hospitality proceeds.
Dortmund played its last five home games of the season behind closed doors after the Bundesliga was suspended between mid-March and mid-May.
“The COVID-19 pandemic, with its ongoing restrictions on public life and the associated significant effects on both the global economy and Borussia Dortmund’s operating business, has caused and is still causing considerable uncertainty,” the club said in a statement.
Prior to the pandemic, Dortmund had an average attendance of 81,154 at its 81,365-capacity Signal Iduna Park during the season, meaning 99.7 per cent of seats were sold.
The club’s board released the updated guidance following the conclusion of the Bundesliga season at the weekend.
It initially forecast a net profit in the low seven-figure range for the 2019/2020 financial year when it published its results for 2018/19 last September. That forecast was withdrawn in March following the suspension of the Bundesliga.
Dortmund reported a profit of €17.3m in 2018/19 with EBITDA of €116.0m. During the year to June 30, 2019, income from match operations increased by €2.3m to €44.7m.
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