The figures make rather depressing reading . A £2 million plus bank loan was taken out to complete Himalaya and there were very low cash balances at the end of 2010 . The future aims sound good , I just hope they can be achieved .
Indeed, very depressing reading, there's a lot of positive "jam next year" talk but the 2010 figures are very far from good and there will have to be very significant improvements to survive and prosper.
As complex accounts can be difficult to interpret because it's not always possible to tell where numbers have been allocated or offset I'll just point out a handful of straightforward salient points:
1. Overall the organisation made a £667,480 loss (compared with a £349,640 profit the previous year);
2. This included a one-off grant from HSBC for £400,000;
3. Both sales and profit from "retail and catering" have fallen (profit down by £80,000) which I'd consider disappointing given Himalaya was open for a large part of the year;
4. The accounts proudly trumpet the fact that visitor spend on retail and catering has increased -it has, but less than 1% per visitor;
5. Amounts received via gift aid has fallen (by about £57,000) even though admissions have increased (by about £311,000) -this would seem to suggest that increased prices have resulted in more people refusing to pay the extra to qualify for gift aid or a significant change in the visitor mix;
6. Advertising and publicity increased by about £224,000 to £480,378, this increased total gate take by around £274,000 (whilst retail and catering take was down about £24,000);
7. Cash in bank has fallen by £1,261,837 to £185,895. In addition there is a £148,173 overdraft (none last year);
8. Total bank borrowings repayable in 2011 (including the above overdraft, which theoretically can increase ) is £333,251. Furthermore there is £860,261 repayable in 2012!
9. The accounts also state that a £750,000 loan facility has been arranged for 2011. It's conceivable, but not certain, that this may be used to cleared some of the other borrowings;
9. At the end of 2009, total bank borrowings were only £70,000.
Whilst there may be various reasons that profit and losses might fluctuate, the borrowings are a stone cold, sobering, immutable fact.
Basically it would appear that the zoo has taken a "speculate to accumulate" strategy and incurred significant borrowing to do so. In my opinion 2011 will be a "make or break year" and I look forward to seeing those accounts.
Finally, anyone with some knowledge of accountancy might be interested to know the accounts show net current liabilities of £666,366 where there were previously net current assets of £1,062,046.
Don't shoot the messenger!
