October 15: FC Porto’s return to the top of Portuguese football came at a price. The champions closed the 2025/26 season with a consolidated loss of €21.1m, reversing the €41m profit recorded a year earlier after choosing to keep their key players and spend heavily on rebuilding the squad.
Porto invested nearly €120 million over the course of the season, around €110 million in the summer alone, and were rewarded with a 31st Portuguese league title. Financially, however, the commitment was clear.
Profits from player transactions fell to €55.9m from €100.4m, while operating costs excluding transfers rose 22% to €180m. The ordinary operating margin remained, in general, stable at 150.3 million euros. That left Porto almost €30m in the red before transfers and other disposals were taken into account.
President André Villas-Boas has been unapologetic about the strategy.
“If the transfer of Rodrigo Mora had been completed before June 30, this result would have been positive and the perceptions of the accounts would probably have been more favorable,” he said.
“The three biggest clubs in Portugal are forced to sell players to balance their accounts, because these transactions are their main source of income.”
Mora eventually joined Roma in August for an initial €25m for 50% of his financial rights, with the overall deal capable of reaching €50m plus bonuses. After the June 30 close, none of that revenue helped the accounts just posted.
Porto were also out of the Champions League last season, competing in the Europa League instead. They have returned to UEFA’s top competition this term, which should restore a more lucrative source of central distribution, although back-to-back losses in the open campaign could condemn their tenure among Europe’s elite to a crushing length.
Drilling down into the details, the sale of insurance subsidiary Porto Seguro generated a gain of €9.2 million for the club, while another €15 million came through an earn-out linked to the previous sale of 30% of Porto StadCo to Ithaka.
Together, these one-off operations contributed to a positive consolidated operating result of 2.6 million euros before financial expenses.
That said, Porto closed June with total assets of 523 million euros and a negative net worth of 29.7 million euros, while cash generated by operations was negative 42.3 million euros.
At least there has been progress on the debt. Net financial borrowing decreased during the year, while trading income also moved in the right direction. Merchandise revenue hit a record €14.5m, ticket sales rose 33% to €18.1m and corporate hospitality grew to €11.5m.
Porto supported the squad, kept their best players and got the title they wanted. The accounts show exactly what this election cost.
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at harry.ewing@insideworldfootball.com