Background
Limerick FC to the best I can identify are run by a company called Munster Football Club Ltd (131715) which has been around since May'88. A well established company by league of Ireland standards. The company is actually owned by Galtee Fuels Limited after they bought 400,000 shares in Limerick in 2014. Galtee Fuels has been liquidated in 2018 so I assume these shares have been sold but I won't know that until this company files their 2018 accounts. In reality the club is owned by Pat O'Sullivan who was the owner of Galtee Fuels. The structure at Limerick is slightly different with other companies (Munster football club U'19's and Munster Football club academy Ltd) also being in existence. Like some other clubs, Limerick will be due to file their 2017 accounts soon, so this review is based on 2014-2016. In 2014 they finished 6th in the premier division, in 2015 they finished 11th and were relegated and in 2016 they won the first division to be promoted for the 2017 season. Like a lot of other teams, Limerick don't own their ground and the Markets Field is owned by LEDP https://www.ledp.ie/index.php/projects/the-markets-field/
Profit & Loss
The P&L of Limerick works in a very similar way to that of Derry, on first glance it looks okay, then you look at how much one person is investing to keep it going.
From the annual accounts, the table above shows the position without the significant contributions made by Pat O'Sullivan or his company (Paremek). The 2014 accounts don't have a related party note included but I would suspect that there were contributions in that year as well.
So at a minimum on a underlying trading basis Limerick would have lost over (€1m) and this for a club that finished 6th, were relegated and then promoted from division 1. Like both Derry and Pats it highlights the level of cost required to try and compete and Limerick clearly didn't compete.
All 3 years the club are losing substantial funds with a loss of (€200k) in 2014 which was also their best finish. The payroll bill was circa €396k that year, compared to Dundalk €644k & Rovers €1.2m. In 2015 the payroll bill was cut to €285k but the club still lost circa (€400k) and were relegated. Pat O'Sullivan gave circa €340k in donations that year to fund the club.
Lastly in 2016 Limerick were in the first division, the club won the league but again lost circa (€400k). This year the payroll bill was €347k which for division 1 standards is very high. Again Pat O'Sullivan invested in the and also a company controlled by him gave corporate sponsorship of €315k to help the P&L.
Over the 3 years, in terms of losses generated, Limerick have run up real trading losses of in excess of (€1m) but like Derry & Pats have a benefactor who has funded these losses. As most reading know, this is now coming to an end, O'Sullivan has indicated he cannot continue with this level of funding and Limerick are struggling in the league in 2018. It will be interesting to see what Limerick do post this investment http://www.limerickfc.ie/statement-from-chairman-pat-osullivan & https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2018/0111/932534-500-000-gap-limerick-owner-set-to-sell-club/
Balance Sheet
Limerick's balance sheet at Nov'16 is quite modest. As they don't own the ground they have little fixed assets.
They have a deficit of only (€167k) in liabilities over assets due to the way the club is being funded. Debt is not building up which is good for the future of the club. The club has circa €124k in current assets and (€308k) in current liabilities. There is no breakdown of these in the notes but you would assume they are normal trading assets/liabilities. The most interesting balance change was when a (€400k) debt to Galtee Fuels Ltd at Nov'13 was converted into equity during 2014 which improved the balance sheet significantly. Pat O'Sullivan owned Galtee Fuels so was probably just tidying up the balance sheet accepting there was little chance of this loan being repaid.
Summary
Limerick are another club that have had a benefactor over the last few seasons. Adding in 2013 and the €400k I mention above and a commitment in the account for Paremek to provide €350k in 2017, Pat O'Sullivan has easily invested €2m in Limerick over the last few years with very little success to show for it. Like Derry the club is not building up a problem on its balance sheet given the method of investment in the club. 4 out of the 5 clubs I have posted on have run up significant losses over a 3 year period chasing something, at this stage of looking at figures I am not 100% sure what we are all chasing as bar Dundalk no one is close to delivering it. Real losses at 4 clubs over 3 years total circa (€4m) which is an eye opening amount. Thankfully most of these losses are "funded" by someone, the question you would have to ask is what happens if/when this funding dries up as every cycle turns at some point. Also most clubs are losing a similar amount which backs up my thoughts on the sustainability of the league as its not just 1 or 2 with high costs.
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