São Paulo cut debt, still need £9m in sales for surplus | OneFootball

São Paulo reduced its net debt to R$ 913 million at the end of September, according to a report from the governance committee of the Deliberative Council, obtained by the portal ‘Sport Insider‘.

This amount represents a decrease compared to R$ 968 million in December 2024, but it is still above the R$ 886.3 million from September of last year.

The recent improvement was driven by the sales of players trained in Cotia during the third quarter, which generated revenues exceeding the budget forecast.

According to the criteria adopted by the committee, the calculation of net debt considers everything the club needs to pay, subtracting what is in cash and the amounts receivable from third parties.

Among the liabilities, the most concerning item is the growth of obligations related to the payroll, which jumped from R$ 34 million in December to R$ 120 million in September.

According to ‘Sport Insider‘, the increase indicates difficulties in keeping salaries up to date and a probable delay in the collection of social charges, such as INSS, which is considered one of the main factors in the increase of tax debt among football clubs.

On the other hand, there was progress in reducing debts with financial institutions, which fell from R$ 259 million to R$ 202 million in the period (compared to September 2024, when the amount was R$ 277.7 million, there was also a decrease). These commitments usually have high interest rates and contractual guarantees. Even with the increase in liabilities, net debt was reduced thanks to the growth of ‘net rights’, that is, amounts receivable from athlete sales.

The governance body, however, warned of the probability of a deficit in the 2025 fiscal year. Expenses up to September exceeded the budget by R$ 98 million, or 16% above the forecast.

In September alone, the deviation was R$ 9.6 million (28%). Excluding operations with athletes, the recurring deficit reaches R$ 179 million for the year, which corresponds to about R$ 20 million per month.

If this pace continues, São Paulo will end 2025 with a negative result of R$ 1.3 million and will need to generate an additional R$ 55 million in athlete sales to achieve a surplus.

Among the committee's recommendations, two are delayed: the hiring of a senior treasurer to mediate bank negotiations and progress in studies on budgetary processes. According to superintendent Márcio Carlomagno, the professional is “in the process of being hired.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.