UK Accountancy submission dates and differences between jurisdictions

[AnAspiringAccountant]

Afternoon all.

If a Company ends in "PLC", whether it's here or abroard, then they need to submit to CH by 31st December 2019 I assume?

I note that Birmingham City PLC and Birmingham City FC PLC have not yet submitted theirs- and neither have Chelsea, though their results are out in terms of their losses being released.

Birmingham is more interesting though!

The curious thing is that the clubs parent Company seems to be based in Hong Kong but is nicely segmented which is helpful in estimating their losses for last season...two things, maybe more I'm interested in?

• Given that it says PLC but the accounts were made up to 30th June 2019, does that mean they can hold out until the end of March or so- even though past years have had it not much later than 31st December 2019?
• Should there be a significant difference between their Results to 30th June 2019- segmented in their HK results of the overall group btw- and their ones to 30th June 2019 in UK- what would explain it?
• There are rumours that they have sold their ground to their owner, whether within or without the group- another of those sale and leasebacks, hopefully will be investigated in due course. Regardless of that though, how come it might appear in UK ones (might) but not in the HK ones. For example in terms of Profit on Fixed Tangible Assets.
• Lastly, though more of a side question tbh and not so important are HK accounts really simple or something? I notice that they always get their ones in within 3 months of June 30th for the 12 month ones and within 2 months for the 6 month ones...yet they get 9 months here! Mad.

Quite interested in 1 and 2 though, in particular. It seems not to appear on the Land Registry if there has been a sale.

 

[Fidget]

It's 9 months after their financial year end, which can be anywhere in the year depending upon the individual company's financial year end. A Company's year end doesn't have to run to calendar year or fiscal year. There's certain rules around it, but by 31st Dec isn't one. So as long as they file them within 9mths of year end, then it's ok.

 

[AnAspiringAccountant]

Cheers for that.

Was slightly confusing what with all or pretty well all of their accounts being submitted by December 31st or a little later.

Does/did say at CH 31st December though!

 

[AnAspiringAccountant]

https://www.informdirect.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Filing-deadline-diagram.jpg

This site seems to think it's 6 months if Company ends in PLC?

When are my annual accounts due? - Inform Direct

This guide explains how to calculate your annual accounts filing deadline and the special rules that apply to a company's first set of accounts.

www.informdirect.co.uk

Granted, it could be incorrect!

It's PLC, but it's a PLC in Hong Kong...ie listed on HK Stock Exchange. Not listed in UK as such, but maybe a hangover from when it was.

UK football clubs at the parent company level, being listed on foreign Stock Exchanges...game's gone!

 

[Fidget]

It's me that's wrong. I presumed it was 9mths for all companies.

 

[AnAspiringAccountant]

They're out...and they lost money!

Not yet analysed the two sets of accounts for differences...will be in interesting, though the obvious one is that Stadium sold to and will be leased back from a commonly owned company for a £15m profit, could include one or two other fixed assets too! Can't recall the exact amount but it was around a £15m profit and gross sale price seemed to be somewhere between £20-25m.

Sure that there are differences too though in other areas between their Accounts in HK to 30th June 2019 and their UK ones...I put it down to fluctuations in Exchange rates given that there seems to be "Revenue Recognition at a Point in time"...

Stadium sale and leaseback aside, will look at the difference between the HK and UK ones, in due course.

One minor curiosity is that the Cash Flow Statement seems to show no cash for the transaction- read something online about an I.O.U. effectively, another is that despite seemingly having been carried out in the last Accountancy Period it is not yet at the Land Registry.

Both explainable of course, but put together you wonder a little?

On the other hand, there DOES seem to be a realistic price (£20-25m) and there also seems to be a sensible sounding rent if it's for this, 25 year lease, at £1.25m. So maybe it's all kosher?

 

[AnAspiringAccountant]

The Stadium sale looks interesting having taken a look, or it maybe something that seems interesting but actually isn't!

Birmingham City FC PLC or Birmingham City PLC owned St Andrews.
Birmingham City FC PLC Parent Company is Birmingham City PLC.
Birmingham City PLC Parent Company would be Birmingham Sports Holdings Limited (listed on HKSE, based in Cayman Islands).

The company that are purported to have purchased it are Birmingham City Stadium Limited...and it states that the person with Significant Control is Birmingham Sports Holdings Limited.

Would have thought it could cancel out any profit at least potentially, but who knows?

 

[AnAspiringAccountant]

On a general note, what a lot of creativity football accounting in the late 2010's seems to bring about!

Sales of Fixed Assets between Subsidiaries that don't appear on the Land Registry, sales of Fixed Assets to commonly owned companies that are well after the Reporting Period they are in the Accounts for at the Land Registry and sales of Fixed Assets to subsidiaries or commonly owned companies that have nothing in the cash flow statement or no terms with respect to rent payable or length of lease!