2016-17 Financial Report: "Fundamentals of French football in the right direction" (D. Quillot)

"The fundamentals (of French professional football) are going in the right direction. The cumulative turnover (excluding transfer activities) has increased by 10.3% (from €1.689bn in 2015-16,  to €1.863bn for 2016-17). Not many industries in the world display such a growth percentage," stated Didier Quillot, CEO of the LFP, commenting on the 2016-17 Financial Report of the French professional football, a document of the DNCG (French professional football financial contro) made public at the headquarters of the French League in Paris (FRA) on 13/04/2018.

"Operating profit also improved by €50m, or +13.8% (from -€387m in 2015-16 to -€334m in 2016-17). As for the net profit, it is certainly negative (-€101.29m), but this is neither bad news nor a surprise. The clubs invest, especially in a highly qualified workforce, the players. And the fourth fundamental that is positive, equity, is up sharply (+21% to €1.042m)," added Didier Quillot.

"The 2016-17 season was also marked by significant investment following the arrival of new investors, and by reduced transfer profit (an overall…