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Bosso fans at BF

Muziwethu Hadebe, Sports Correspondent
HIGHLANDERS FC recorded a deficit of $185 190 in the 2017 financial year after realising revenue figures of $877 724 against an expenditure of $1 062 914 in operating and administrative expenses.

The club’s liabilities exceeded its current assets by $776 058 and also made a cumulative loss of $538 051.

This was revealed at Bosso’s annual general meeting at the clubhouse on Sunday, as auditors gave the club yet another qualified opinion.

Revenue dropped by 23 percent from the $1 144 619 in 2016.

Despite the qualified audit opinion and the auditors’ note on the club’s ability to continue as a going concern, the team will be able to continue with its football obligations after it secured a yet to be named sponsor for the coming soccer season following the end of its partnership with BancABC.

The top revenue earner for the club came from sales. The sales comprise the clubhouse, Manwele Beer Garden and the sale of merchandise. Total sales realised $273 554, a drop from $361 571 in 2016. The sports club got $163 350 up from $107 266. Manwele Beer Garden dropped to $95 829 from $241 508 in 2016 as it continued to make losses.

While football clubs in South Africa and Europe make huge revenue from the sale of replica jerseys, Bosso only got $11 212 from the sale of replica jerseys compared to $12 000 in the 2016 financial year. There was, however, an improvement in the sale of other merchandise, as sales rose from $797 in 2016 to $3 163 in the last financial year.

Sponsorship proved to be another top revenue earner as Bosso picked $265 241 in 2017. This was, however, a 42 percent drop from the $455 693 figure realised in 2016. This was attributed to the drop in sponsorship by BancABC. The bank poured $375 931 in 2016 and reduced this by 47 percent to $200 222 in 2017. Other sponsorship revenue came from Nyaradzo Funeral Assurance Company that chipped in with $28 686.

There was also a drop to $36 333 from the SuperSport TV rights compared to $51 673 paid in 2016. The 30 percent drop was not explained to the members, although the auditors confirmed verifying the figure with the Premier Soccer League and Supersport.

Gate takings also contributed significantly with $114 174. This was a drop from $120 470 in 2016. The abandoned Dynamos match realised the highest figures with an amount of $31 362. This was a rise from the $20 185 realised from the same match in 2016. All the home matches recorded profits except for the Bantu Rovers and How Mine matches that saw losses of $219 and $242 respectively.

Income from sale of players rose from $70 000 to $116 000, with the sale of striker Prince Dube to South Africa for $65 000 and the balance of $50 000 received from Bidvest Wits on the 2016 sale of Knox Mtizwa. Prize money was a bit low on $84 069, with Bosso finishing sixth on the log and struggling in the Chibuku Super Cup.

Salaries and bonuses as the biggest expense at the club, although there was an amount of $13 500 paid to the PSL for pitch invasion by the fans and other offences during football matches.

The more than 100 Bosso members adopted the 2017 financial report, although they requested the executive to act on the audit findings, such as proper audit trail to avoid revenue leakages and a variance of $1 101.60 on the year-end cash count which was later reclassified as it was found to be unauthorised credit sales at the bar of $701.60 and salary payments of $400. The meeting was silent on how the debit will be liquidated.