Kieran Maguire: Leeds United ‘unable to repay loans’ amid £21m document reveal
Leeds United shareholders have helped to tidy up the balance sheet by waiving £21.3million of unpaid loans.
That is the view of finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the latest from behind the scenes at Elland Road.
Leeds posted a £25m in profit in 2020-21 and were one of only a handful of Premier League teams to be in the green for the Covid-hit campaign.
But as relayed by The Athletic on Tuesday (6 September), those figures included £21.3m of waived loans from shareholders.
Maguire explains that, as Leeds were unable to repay the loans, waiving them was the ideal way to shore up the balance sheet.
“The £21.3m loans that have been waived are all part of the overall management structure at Leeds,” he told Football Insider’s Adam Williams.
“All of these loans were to related parties, effectively significant shareholders. It was effectively an acknowledgement that the clubs were unlikely to be able to repay the loans.
“Given that the lenders are likely to have been shareholders, this is a way of tidying up the balance sheet.
“Leeds have total liabilities of £210m in their most recent balance sheet. This was a way of keeping that figure at a low level.
“It’s more of an accounting exercise than a cash flow issue.”
Leeds are currently 9th in the Premier League with eight points from their opening six games.
They were due to play Nottingham Forest next Monday (12 September) but all figures have been postponed following the death of the Queen.
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