Norwich announce lower loss of £14.4m for 2023-24

Norwich are seventh in the Championship

Norwich City have announced a pre-tax loss of £14.4m for the 12-month period up until June.

The figure is a big improvement on the previous year when the Championship club's loss was £27m.

Norwich made a £13.4m profit on player sales, but annual turnover was down to £73.1m as a result of being in the second and final year of parachute payments following relegation from the Premier League in 2022.

Executive director Zoe Webber said the club was "moving positively" through a "significant period of transition and change" that was "unprecedented" in her time at Carrow Road.

American Mark Attanasio became a joint majority shareholder alongside Delia Smith and husband Michael Wynn Jones a year ago, both holding a 40.4% stake.

However, Smith and Wynn Jones are set to step down from the board in March 2025, at which point their stake will be reduced to 10%, with Attanasio's Norfolk FB Holdings increasing theirs to around 85%, although this is still subject to final shareholder approval.

The club's annual report confirmed that Norfolk FB had been a "key source" of money with loans totalling £58.6m by 30 June and a further £8m of "cashflow funding" since then.

The existing loan will be converted into two new classes of preference shares, which will lead to the increase in their shareholding.

Attanasio, who has owned Major League Baseball side Milwaukee Brewers since 2004, first joined the Canaries board just over two years ago.

Soon after that, the club announced a pre-tax loss of £23.6m for the 12 months to June 2022, set against a club record turnover of £133.9m.

The latter figure fell to £75.6m for the year ending in June 2023.

Webber said the club was fortunate that Attanasio and Norfolk FB partner Richard Ressler shared the same values as the current co-owners.

She added: "They are passionate about achieving sporting success but with a strong focus on the people and the community that make up the football club."

Parachute payments came to an end last season, but the report also sets out a target of becoming an established, financially stable Premier League club through effective buying and selling of players and continued growth of off-field revenues.

On the pitch, Norwich reached the Championship play-offs last season under David Wagner before losing to Leeds United, managed by former Canaries head coach Daniel Farke.

Wagner was replaced by Johannes Hoff Thorup at the end of May and they are seventh in the table before Saturday's away game against Stoke City, with 15 points from nine games so far.

Their last performance before the international break was, however, one of their best so far, beating Hull City 4-0, with Borja Sainz scoring his eighth goal of the season.

In the annual report, sporting director Ben Knapper said: "Johannes is still in the early stages of his senior coaching career, but he has a clear vision and philosophy that we believe can help progress our football club, both in the short and long term."

He continued: "Over the course of the summer transfer window, we've been able to significantly lower the age profile of our group, attracting some really talented young players to the club who all have big potential and upside.

"Of course, with significant change to our playing squad and style of play, things will take time, but overall, we're really happy with the path that we're on."