Hereford United held their 65th Annual General Meeting at the Starlite Rooms earlier this evening.
Chairman David Keyte took the meeting. Along side him on top table were directors Grenville Smith, Nick Nenadich, Dave Preedy and Colin Addison. Around 30 shareholders including several from outside the county also attended.
The chairman apologised for the AGM being held later than he had hoped. He also revealed that some of the figures were changed last Thursday after discussions with the club's accountant about payments to previous employees (Jamie Pitman and Russell Hoult)
A loss of £422,472 for the year to May 31st 2012 was reported against a profit of £431,601 the previous year. There were several reasons for the loss, the main ones being a drop in transfer receipts of £206,000 and no prize money as against £112,500 the previous season.
Turnover was £1,873,696 compared with £2,055,026.
In the wages and salaries, which amounted to £1,421,402 -up £134,000, was the cost of settling with former managment staff. This added £60,000 to the expenditure. Directors fees were just £7,200, mainly paid to former director Tim Russon.
The loss also included a one-off VAT charge of £45,399. Questions were asked whether the club might be able to recoup some of this from either Graham Turner and/or accountants at the time Kidsons Impey but the chairman felt this was unlikely.
Shareholders were told about changes to contracts regarding stock in the club shop. Because of a former deal the club had to sell off shirts cheaply, including on e-bay. A new deal has now been signed which meant the club now carries less stock.
The police bill had risen but the chairman felt it was reasonable.
On an evening of gloom, there was some good news regarding the Starlite Rooms. Since last October the rooms had started to be in profit and this would be reflected in the next set of accounts.
The chairman felt the VP club was one area which could do more to help the finances of the club. It needs to move forward he said.
Players contracts were discussed. There were still players at Edgar Street with Football League contracts which would have to be paid until the end of July. The chairman noted that just two of those players started the game at Cambridge last Saturday.
Director Nick Nenadich spoke about how he is still trying to find out what has happened to the £100K bond lodged with Hereford Council.
At the end of the meeting, the chairman said he would be not be quite so involved with the day to day running of the club for the next three months. His wife is due out of hospital tomorrow and he wants to devote some time to ensure she returns to full health.
One further point from the accounts was the fact that the club/company has current (as at May 31st 2012) liabilities of £238,211. However the directors say they 'have a reasonable expectation that the company has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future, being at least twelve months from the date of sign off.'
The directors are, in effect, funding the club at present. They hope that in the longer term the development of the two ends of the ground may allow them to recoup some of their investment.
Finally the club is unlikely to return to profit this financial year. The club broke even, with the help of the cup-run, TV, and the fund raising by supporters, up to around the New Year. However currently it's losing around £30,000 per month.
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