Bear in mind that the figures presented at the AGM on Thursday are for the financial year which ended on 31st May and therefore they relate to the activity last season and not this. It is true that the operating loss last year was similar to the previous year but it is important to note that the concerns raised by the Auditors in the report for the previous year about the club operating as a going concern have been been removed this year. And since the end of the last financial year the club has been making some progress on identifying additional sources of income whilst containing costs. That indicates a significant improvement from where we were a couple of years ago.
I'm afraid financial balance sheets make little sense to me, but there were a number of former club directors there on Thursday and others with experience of these things and nobody raised any concerns or felt the need too ask questions about the current financial situation. It seems to me therefore, that there is a general consensus that whilst our financial situation remains difficult, we are moving in the right direction.
When he spoke, CEO Scot Gardiner was at pains to point out that the single thing that would make the biggest improvement to our finances would be a return to the Premiership and there is a focus to achieve that. However, I get the sense that whilst that might be true, there is also a pragmatism in place to ensure that we remain financially viable should we fail to regain our Premiership status.