Christina Rühl-Hamers presented FC Schalke 04's group annual report for 2021 in a cheerful and cheerful manner on Tuesday morning.
Although the group made a loss of 17.8 million euros in 2021, which can be explained by the relegation to the second division and loss of income as a result of the pandemic, total liabilities fell from around 217 million euros to 183.5 million euros in the same period .
This feat was achieved through a "historically unique squad reorganization," explained Rühl-Hamers.
Personnel costs for the professional department were reduced from more than 80 million euros to around 20 million euros in the summer.
"The development of these indicators makes it clear that our measures are having an effect," said Rühl-Hamers.
However, the annual report does not only contain good news.
Many values have been lost in the recent past.
Some of the best players were sold, and FC Schalke also sold its valuable e-sports division for 26 million euros.
The situation is therefore not relaxed, as Rühl-Hamers also conceded: “We have been working primarily on a liquidity basis for the past two years.
As a result, some key figures, such as equity, are not yet developing positively, or only slowly.
Schalke is apparently still in talks with the former main sponsor Gazprom, which is no longer allowed to advertise with the Revierklub after the outbreak of war.
Rühl-Hamers did not want to give details about the separation process, but she could not announce that all open questions had been resolved either.
For example, it is unknown whether the Revierklub will have to pay back money to the Russians because the partnership ended so abruptly, but Gazprom may have already paid for the sponsorship over the coming weeks.
It is clear that Schalke had to adjust their applications for a first and second division license for the new season after the separation from Gazprom and are very happy to have found a new sponsor within a few days.
Even if he pays less.