MELBOURNE'S season of woe has culminated in the club revealing an operating loss of $1.7 million.
The Demons' financial picture would be even bleaker had the AFL not given them $1.45 million to partly fund the restructure that saw Peter Jackson take over as chief executive and Paul Roos as senior coach.
Meanwhile, Carlton is back in the black, announcing an operating profit of $528,095, which comes after the club posted a loss of almost $700,000 last year.
The AFL money to Melbourne was put towards payouts to a number of staff whose contracts were terminated during the year. They include former coach Mark Neeld, Neil Craig, Chris Connolly and Cameron Schwab.
The cost of the restructure totalled $2.8 million, which means Melbourne's statutory loss was $3.1 million.
Along with the personnel changes, the other key factors behind the poor financial result were a significant drop in crowds, membership, merchandise sales and corporate sales and sponsorship.
Dogs post loss after increased spending
Nevertheless, Jackson remained upbeat about the Demons' long-term prospects.
"Despite a disappointing result, the club has a sound balance sheet making the football club's future much more stable than the 2013 result indicates," he said.
"We have a clear objective to bring the club back to a break even position in 2014. I fully expect to achieve that."
"The club has improved its non-football revenue streams, with those businesses projected to pay off their own debt by 2017, creating an unencumbered business for the club, in addition to the $9 million land asset attached to the Bentleigh Club.
"These businesses will secure the future sustainability of the club.
"The outlook for the club is positive, but we will, of course, need and expect our football performances to improve to support the financial outcomes for the club."
A big reason for Carlton's turnaround was a 23 per cent increase in revenue from $46 million to $57 million, a figure partly boosted by a record membership of more than 50,000.
This helped the Blues cover a rise in football department spending from $20.3 million to $21 million.
The rise in revenue also enabled the club to reduce its debt by $1 million, in line with its goal to be debt free by the end of 2017.
"We’re very pleased to have been able to turn around a loss and produce a significant overall net profit in 2013, while staying on track to repay the Club’s historical debt," Carlton chief executive Greg Swann said.
"Membership reached record levels this year, while television ratings and match attendances were also improved.
"It shows that Carlton is in a healthy position both on and off the field, and delivers the club a strong platform to celebrate the 150th anniversary in 2014.
"We will work to engage and put our members at the centre of the celebration.".
