Audit issues opinion on Corinthians’ balance sheet under Duilio’s management

RSM Global, a company hired by Corinthians, issued, this Wednesday, the independent and audited report of the club’s financial statements for the year 2023, when Duilio Monteiro Alves held the presidency.

The audit approved without reservations the balance presented by the management that preceded Augusto Melo.

“In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above adequately present, in all material respects, the equity and financial position of Sport Club Corinthians Paulista as of December 31, 2023, the performance of its operations and its cash flows for the year ending on that date, in accordance with accounting practices adopted in Brazil, applicable to non-profit entities and professional sports entities”, says an excerpt from the report in which the experts’ opinion is exposed.

By the end of the week, the document will be reviewed by the CF (Fiscal Council) and Cori (Guidance Council). After that, the balance will be voted on at a meeting at the CD (Deliberative Council), scheduled for next Monday night.

At Parque São Jorge, voting on the bills is treated as a major event and expectation. There are, behind the scenes, important political movements in order to establish articulations and alliances. Among the advisors allied with the situation group, the intention is to disapprove Duilio’s balance sheet. In this sense, the opinion of the independent audit company, without any reservations, becomes an obstacle and strengthens the idea that there is no technical reason to disapprove the financial presentation.

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Corinthians’ 2023 financial statement, also audited by RSM Global, was monitored by Rozallah Santoro, financial director of the current management.

The document presents a record collection, which reached R$1.010 billion. In relation to 2021, the last year before Duilio took over the club, the increase is 92.5%.

The consolidated operating result (EBITDA) was also positive: R$259 million. This amount refers to cash generation, it covers everything the club raised and subtracts from this amount everything the club spent, without interest and amortization expenses.

The previous management’s three-year period, therefore, achieved a total operating profit of R$608 million, an amount that does not remain in cash precisely because it is used to pay debts, interest, amortization, among other commitments.

Still according to the graphs presented in the balance sheet, Corinthians’ debt with the social club plus football, not counting Neo Química Arena, fell. When Duilio assumed the presidency, this debt was R$949.2 million and ended 2023 at R$885.8 million.

The debt on Neo Química Arena, which refers to the loan from Caixa Econômica Federal, closed 2023 at R$703.1 million. Therefore, Corinthians’ net debt (“Clube + Arena”) last year reached R$1,588.9 billion.

The problem is that in the last graph of the balance sheet, which deals precisely with gross debt, it shows the value of R$1,968.8 billion, that is, almost R$2 billion. In it, the club’s debt is listed at R$1.2 billion + R$703 million from the Arena.

This divergence occurs because Rozallah Santoro disregards values ​​that the club has to receive and what it has in cash, an economic concept that differs from that used by the club in recent decades and is more common in the market.