Crusaders Chairman Murray Ellis has announced that the Canterbury franchise achieved a break-even result for the 2013 financial year.
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He says the result, which was reported at the Annual General Meeting, is a satisfactory one for the partnership’s first year.
“There has been a lot of work behind the scenes in getting the new Crusaders Limited Partnership up and running. All things considered, we are satisfied that we have achieved an essentially break-even in our first year with a negligible operating surplus of $296,” Ellis said.
Crusaders CEO Hamish Riach said the growth in sponsorship revenue was particularly pleasing.
“Sponsorship grew by 21 percent in 2013, which has been critical to our break-even result. So we sincerely thank our commercial partners and sponsors, and the work done by our own staff in achieving this outstanding result.”
“It was disappointing that our other major revenue item, match attendance, was down by 9 percent. Revenue overall grew by 2.8 percent compared with the earnings of the former Crusaders Franchise Ltd in 2012, and costs were up 4.3% as we bedded in the new Partnership operation,” Riach said.
The Crusaders AGM was also advised that the independent appointments process has confirmed the reappointment of the existing directors to the Board of Crusaders (GP) Ltd (the company that manages the Limited Partnership for the partners).
Ellis said the Crusaders Limited Partnership is now looking forward to the 2014 season and remains optimistic and excited about the future.
“This new partnership is already helping to achieve the financial stability and commercial opportunities that we hoped it would. We look forward to achieving even better results next year, both on and off the field.”