Wolverhampton Wanderers owners Fosun International Limited have reaffirmed their commitment to the club in the latest set of financial statements.
Last week saw Wolves publish their accounts for the 2023/24 financial year, with the headline figures being that the club posted a pre-tax loss of £14.3million, which while the third year in a row the club had posted a loss, was a significant reduction from the £67.2million seen the previous year.
There were few major surprises in the accounts for Wolves, who sit five points above the drop zone in the Premier League with 11 games remaining, with player trading still an important part of the business model at the club, something that has helped reduce losses in recent years.
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But among the details was a paragraph that reaffirmed the commitment of owners Fosun, at least in the short term, to be the custodians of the football club.
A statement in the accounts read: “The directors have obtained a letter from Fosun International Limited (FIL), which confirms their intention to meet all the obligations of the company, to the extent that they may not be able to meet those obligations themselves, for a period of not less than one year from the date of the signing of the financial statements.
“The company also has no intention of calling the loans due to them for at least the next 12 months.”
This is often pretty standard fare in terms of ownership commitment in club accounts, but for Wolves and Fosun it arrives at a time of some uncertainty over the future relationship between the two, with Fosun understood to be testing the market over a possible minority stake sale, or even a full sale, with U.S. investment funds among those who have seen their interest piqued, although that is likely to be dependent on the club maintaining its position as a Premier League member beyond the end of this season.
Back in 2021, Fosun Sports, the company which owns Wolves, sold a stake to U.S. investment firm PEAK6, with the aim to use fresh expertise to grow the club in the growing North American market.
In November of last year, Fosun bought back the shares from PEAK6 for a sum of around £39million, a development that hinted at a potential tidying up exercise by the owners in preparation for a possible sale.
According to the 2023 Premier League valuations list, compiled by U.S. sports business website Sportico, Wolves were valued at around £235million. That figure is likely now north of £300million given the sale price of other teams around Europe that has been seen.
