Reminder that SISU are not in good shape... (1 Viewer)

[AFCCOVENTRY]

Sisu Capital sees second annual loss as fee income falls


JOY Seppala’s secretive hedge fund Sisu Capital posted a £434,000 net loss for the year to the end of March after being hit by a huge tax charge by HMRC, accounts show.

Sisu Capital, co-founded 14 years ago by Seppala and business partner Dermot Coleman, posted a £272,300 loss before tax, slightly better than the £376,300 loss it made in the year to March 2010. This second consecutive loss is a far cry from the £10.6m pre-tax profit Sisu made in the year to March 2008 and £17m profit in 2007.

The high post-tax figure was caused by a £161,752 tax charge from the conclusion of an HMRC probe into Sisu’s tax payments from 2006 to 2008.

Sisu, a low-profile fund with Mayfair headquarters and no website, specialises in buying distressed debt and has a reputation for aggressive tactics to recoup funds when it invests.

It took control of Coventry City football club in 2007 after unsuccessfully bidding for Southampton, Derby and Manchester City. But while it has spent a reported £25m on the club, City’s debt remains at £40m and is growing by £500,000 per month.

The firm paid £1.493m in salaries to 25 employees over the year, down from £1.723m in 2010.

 

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[AFCCOVENTRY]

Joy Seppala, the Finnish-American blonde that runs secretive Mayfair debt trading hedge fund Sisu Capital, was once referred to as The Queen of Debt

... although the last couple of years don't look that great.


There is no website for the fund, and not a great deal is known. There was a good piece written on The Queen of Debt in The Times back in 2005 here.

The Telegraph over the weekend has now reported that in the last financial accounts Sisu Capital, has reported a loss that seems closely tied with their ownership of Coventry City Football club. The owner of Coventry City registered a loss before tax of £272k, a slight improvement on last year's figure of £376k. The figures were not helped by a £161k tax bill Sisu had to pay after an HMRC inquiry into previous tax years.

 

[Nonleagueherewecome]

Sign of the times, innit? Venture Capitalists who suck off the fat of the system not making money as Western Capitalism crumbles, that'll be.

 

[AFCCOVENTRY]

Last March....

NEW evidence has emerged about the extent of Coventry City’s financial plight with the discovery that the club has taken out a mortgage on its training ground to raise cash to help cover running costs.

The Sky Blues secured a loan for what the Coventry Telegraph understands to be in the region of £1 million on what was the only freehold property owned by the club in July last year, to provide capital to help pay the bills and offset their annual losses of more than £4m.

Records at Companies House show that City took out a mortgage with Swynson Ltd on July 27 for their ten to 15-acre Ryton training facility.

The news comes in the wake of Ray Ranson’s resignation as executive chairman after becoming increasingly disillusioned with club owners Sisu who he feels have failed to give him the tools to build a promotion winning team, having sold off key players Scott Dann – now believed to be worth in the region of £8m – and Danny Fox to raise in the region of £5m and not re-investing that in the squad.

The sale of Academy star Conor Thomas to Liverpool for a quick-fix £1m was the last straw for Ranson who wanted to keep the teenager who is expected to be worth several million in the future.

Although Sisu have invested upwards of £25m since saving the club from administration in 2007 – including a £500,000 facelift of the training ground in 2008 – and continue to pay the wages, they are desperately looking for fresh investment to avoid having to continue to throw good money after bad at a club whose revenue streams are limited to ticket sales, sponsorship and merchandising due to the fact that it doesn’t own the Ricoh Arena.

To that end, some bills have not been paid, including to their official coach firm Harry Shaw, as of last week.

And as exclusively revealed by the Telegraph yesterday, in his first interview since resigning as vice-chairman, high-flying banker and life-long fan Gary Hoffman is also actively looking for a new owner to take over the club and buy the stadium.

The club has been hit with a transfer ban by the Football League and is currently a month overdue in submitting accounts to Companies House.

City acquired the old mining gravel pit site at Ryton in the early 1960s when the club’s then property consultant Harvey Williams identified it for visionary manager Jimmy Hill who wanted the players to train away from Highfield Road.

After Hill and then chairman Derrick Robins invited the owner, Alderman Featherstone-Dilke, to a match they came to an agreement to buy the then 25 acre plot – which included the land where the Sky Blue Connexion sports centre now stands – for £10,000 to be paid at £1,000 a year for ten years with no interest.

Then when Hill returned as chairman in 1980 he decided to develop the site further and the club gained a Duke of Edinburgh grant to build the sports centre, which was later sold by chairman John Poynton for just under £100,000 because it was losing too much money, but the club kept the remaining land including the Sky Blue Lodge which is City’s current training ground.

 

[AFCCOVENTRY]

Let's see how long this transfer embargo take to lift...

Although, in England, the transfer window formally opens on 1 July, transfers between clubs in the same association can take place as soon as the last competitive fixtures for the season have been played. However, many transfers will not be completed until 1 July because many players' contracts expire on 30 June. Outside of the transfer window, a club may still sign players on an emergency basis, usually if they have no goalkeeper available. Special dispensation from their competition's governing body, for example the Premier League, is required. The transfer window restriction does not apply to clubs below Football Conference level. [20]


Thorn says all the players he wants he has spoken to and want to come...

If you say so....

Deja Vu...

 

[Ashdown]

How can we possibly be making losses of £500,000 per month now..................who the hell are we paying what? Dubious, devious, scandalous bullshit............it certainly isn't on the player wage bill.

 

[skybluehugh]

How can we possibly be making losses of £500,000 per month now..................who the hell are we paying what? Dubious, devious, scandalous bullshit............it certainly isn't on the player wage bill.

No it is all the dam boardroom wages that we have to pay out. That is why we can not afford to pay for any players.

 

[coundonskyblue]

If were losing 500k a month then the 100k a month rent is the least of the clubs worries.

 

[RedSalmon]

Suspect we are still paying off several ex managers. Heard last week that we are still paying Strachan!!!!!

 

[MattCCFC]

I was told by someone i know who works at the club that they cant even afford to put an order in for new stationary.

 

[Moff]

How can we possibly be making losses of £500,000 per month now..................who the hell are we paying what? Dubious, devious, scandalous bullshit............it certainly isn't on the player wage bill.

Well Ashdown reading your post made me think of the new fairytale (or horror story) Sisu White and the Seven Dwarfs.

I believe you have named the first four above, Dubious, Devious, Scandalous, and Bullshit, but lets not forget the other three, Corrupt, Liar and of course for comedy affect Nigerian Onye!

 

[idris65]

Thorn says he can have the players he wants.Lets hope he wants Messi,Ronaldo,Ibrahimovic et al then.

 

[thorninmyside]

Liquidation can't come soon enough . . This is starting to feel like waiting for an operation!

 

[italiahorse]

Liquidation can't come soon enough . . This is starting to feel like waiting for an operation!

What!!!! You want the club to disappear forever rather than struggle on. How silly.

 

[The Reverend Skyblue]

I know SISU are not in good shape, i'm also not in a good place tonight.

Its never been harder to look on the bright side than it is tonight. Wether thorn stays or goes, that sunglass wearing twat of a coach must be shown the door. The style of play is so frustrating, sideways then back sideways then back sideways then back sideways to where we started then Hussey gives it an almighty hoof.

Not one of our players looks comfortable on the ball, they just want to get rid asap, no looking for a killer pass, infact no forward pass at all most times. Murphy did FA today, a couple of goals he could of done much better. I did like the look of Willis who I thought played Lambert very well and has potential. With what i saw today we will struggle badly next season, and teams like Stevenage most likely will tear us apart from what I've seen of them tonight.

The club is in total disarray, the worst I've ever seen it ,and I really can not see any hope of avoiding another season of struggle next season.We have some decent youngsters but physically they are way to weak and small to play in Div 1. We have to rid ourselves of the Bell's and Bakers of this world and just pray we can somehow survive both on and off the pitch, but my loathing of what SISU has done to my club increases by the day.

The Rev

 

[idris65]

I know SISU are not in good shape, i'm also not in a good place tonight.

Its never been harder to look on the bright side than it is tonight. Wether thorn stays or goes, that sunglass wearing twat of a coach must be shown the door. The style of play is so frustrating, sideways then back sideways then back sideways then back sideways to where we started then Hussey gives it an almighty hoof.

Not one of our players looks comfortable on the ball, they just want to get rid asap, no looking for a killer pass, infact no forward pass at all most times. Murphy did FA today, a couple of goals he could of done much better. I did like the look of Willis who I thought played Lambert very well and has potential. With what i saw today we will struggle badly next season, and teams like Stevenage most likely will tear us apart from what I've seen of them tonight.

The club is in total disarray, the worst I've ever seen it ,and I really can not see any hope of avoiding another season of struggle next season.We have some decent youngsters but physically they are way to weak and small to play in Div 1. We have to rid ourselves of the Bell's and Bakers of this world and just pray we can somehow survive both on and off the pitch, but my loathing of what SISU has done to my club increases by the day.

The Rev

So true and i think i may be in the same place.
Dancing with tears in my eyes.

 

[thorninmyside]

Many of us mourning the death of our club as we know it.

The only hope we have is new owners realistically. Not going to happen

 

[AFCCOVENTRY]

The annoying this is most clubs get relegated from the Champ to L1 in a bad state and then a knight in shinning armour comes and saves the day.

Unfortunately, we thought this knight came a few years ago and won't let go even in a shit state.

Really difficult to see how we can ever change this downward spiral now.

Hoffman's bid is dead in the water now from what I read and SISU will just be here till someone pays them every single penny they put into our club or co-invest with them.

 

[theprince]

I was told by someone i know who works at the club that they cant even afford to put an order in for new stationary.

Nothing new there, back in the old Highfield Road days under Richardsons chairmanship office staff had to hand in empty biros for replacement, that's an absolute fact and the then groundsman had to take pegs, yes pegs from the Ryton training ground to replace broken ones in the visitors dressing room at HR. But McGinnity still got his gin and lemon.