The publication of Eagle Football Group's accounts suggests very gloomy prospects for OL.
The 2023-2024 financial year delivered his verdict. And for OL, the accounts are not good. Certainly, the net loss recorded is less compared to last season. Last June, a deficit of 25.7 million euros was admitted, compared to 99 million a year earlier. But to achieve such a result, Eagle Football Group was able to rely in particular on the illusory cost of CVC Capital Partners and on the sale of assets with high potential.
At the scale of the holding company in charge of Les Gones, the most worrying remains the financial debt burden, which has increased in the space of one year from 458.4 to 505.1 million euros. The direct consequence of a refinancing carried out in December 2023. In summary, the structural costs of the group led by John Textor today are pharaonic and disproportionate; the weight of debt and various financial costs slowly but surely precipitating the clubs of the Eagle galaxy into the abyss.
Beyond a social plan already underway and concerning some 90 employees, OL is banking on different levers to try to redress the situation. Included in particular are: contributions of €75 million by the end of December 2024 in the form of equity and/or proceeds from the sale of players held by clubs in the Eagle Football Holdings group (including within the Botafogo or Molenbeek clubs, editor’s note).” But also ” the contribution of a maximum amount of €100 million at the start of 2025 from Eagle Football Holdings “, mainly via the group's entry on the New York Stock Exchange, as well as the ” completion of player transfers during the January 2025 transfer window ».
No certification possible to date
Bets more than achievements at this time, for two imperatives thus hammered out: the establishment of a “ operating costs rationalization plan » and the adoption of a new “ capitalization plan “. Yes, but all these perspectives leave the auditors responsible for certifying this laudable financial project perplexed. “ Although the Group considers that it is probable that all, or part of these refinancing operations, will be completed, any significant delay or any non-realization of these cash flows could call into question the principle of continuity of operation of the company and its subsidiaries », notes Eagle in full transparency.
« The group's auditors are considering issuing an impossibility of certifying on the corporate and consolidated accounts of Eagle Football Group. They considered that the audit work carried out on the structuring assumptions of going concern did not allow them to collect sufficient conclusive evidence to rule on the reasonableness of the various assumptions, nor consequently on the merits of the principle of continuity of operation adopted for the closing of the corporate and consolidated accounts of Eagle Football Group. » In other words, John Textor has no guarantee to offer to date regarding his ability to keep the OL ship afloat – among other things. Worrying, obviously.
