FC Porto SAD reports 21.1 million euro loss for 2025/26 after record squad spending

The reported loss

FC Porto SAD filed its consolidated 2025/26 accounts with Portugal's securities regulator CMVM on Thursday, 8 October, reporting a loss of 21.1 million euros. The result reverses a profit of 39.2 million euros in the previous season, which the club described as a record. Notícias ao Minuto, citing the club's results statement, puts the loss at 26.3 million euros. The club linked the loss to its participation in the Europa League, whose revenue was not offset by player-transaction results, and to a sporting decision to keep the main players in the squad. The SAD also noted that the combined result of the last two seasons remains positive at 12.5 million euros, attributable to shareholders of the parent company, a period in which FC Porto did not play in the Champions League.

Revenue and costs

Operating income excluding player transactions reached 150.3 million euros, against 149.5 million in 2024/25, according to Notícias ao Minuto. Excluding revenue from the 2025 Club World Cup from the comparison, operating income grew 13%, or 17.8 million euros. Operating costs excluding player transactions rose 22%, from 147.1 million to 180 million euros, which the club attributes mainly to squad investment and to a greater number of matches at the Estádio do Dragão. Individual revenue lines grew sharply: UEFA prizes rose from 17.2 million to 23.8 million euros, merchandising from 11 million to 14.5 million, and ticketing from 13.2 million to 17.9 million. Sponsorship and advertising moved from 30.1 million to 32.6 million euros, while corporate hospitality rose 9%.

Transfers and sales

The club spent about 110 million euros on incoming players in the summer 2025 window, which the report describes as the largest investment the club has made in a single transfer window. Including the winter window, acquisitions reached approximately 120 million euros over the season. Player sales brought in 56 million euros, which the report says is below the average of recent years. PÚBLICO and SAPO give 56 million, while Notícias ao Minuto gives 55.9 million. The SAD also booked gains of 23.96 million euros from disposals of subsidiaries, including a 9.2 million euro gain on the sale of its stake in Porto Seguro to MDS.

Debt, assets and the Ithaka deal

Net financial debt fell by 29 million euros compared with 30 June 2025, and the report says the remaining debt is structured over longer terms at a lower average cost. Total assets stood at 523 million euros, up 3%, while liabilities reached 553 million euros, up 6%. The club's operation with Ithaka over Porto StadCo, S.A., struck in 2024, currently points to a total of 80 million euros. It began with a base amount of 50 million euros, followed by a second guaranteed tranche of 15 million euros renegotiated by the current administration. A further 15 million euros was recorded in 2025/26 as an earn-out tied to ticketing EBITDA. The club also reports that the first phase of the Estádio do Dragão modernisation programme cost more than 16 million euros, covering executive boxes, common areas, restaurants, lighting and hospitality spaces.

Villas-Boas on the season

André Villas-Boas, president of the SAD, used the opening message of the report to describe 2025/26 as a stage in the club's transformation, with the 31st national championship as its main milestone. The club's membership reached an all-time high of 180,470 members, and the Under-19, Under-17 and Under-15 teams each won their national championships. The women's team earned promotion for a second consecutive season, and the club also reached the Taça de Portugal final for the first time. On the balance between ambition and spending, Villas-Boas wrote:

The sporting ambition of FC Porto is not negotiable, but it will only last if it is accompanied by rigour in management, financial discipline and the ability to consistently increase structural revenues.

In a separate statement he added:

Winning is part of the identity of FC Porto. But winning consistently requires preparation, competence and the ability to take decisions, even when they force change.

Next steps

Villas-Boas and CFO José Pereira da Costa are scheduled to present the report in detail on Friday morning, and they will answer questions from the press at that session.