MELBOURNE Football Club reported on Monday an operating profit of $77,618 (FY11: $135,976) for the year ending 31 October 2012, with a statutory profit for the year of $19,486.

This is the fourth consecutive year the Club has made a profit.

The financial result is pleasing, given the number of challenges the Club faced throughout the year. While many factors contributed to the result, the Club’s robust governance and risk management practices held the Demons in good stead through those challenges. ??

Melbourne President Don McLardy said, “The key factor in achieving this result is the passion and loyalty of our members and supporters, and we again thank you all for your support throughout 2012. The Club is truly grateful that 35,459 of you continued to support us as members. Once again, the support of our Foundation Heroes was amazing. With over $700,000 raised to secure the future of the Club, their support was instrumental in allowing the Club to pursue our targets during the trade and free agency period.” ??

The Club would like to acknowledge the support of the AFL. The distributions received were used to fund football, commercial and fan development initiatives to improve our ability to compete and give the Club capacity to grow. ??

The MCC again provided significant funding in 2012, and we thank the Committee and the members for their ongoing support. We consider our relationship with the MCC to be fundamental to our future, and we are proud to be a sporting section of this great Club. ??

The Club continued to heavily invest in the football department, with an additional $1.674 million invested in this area in 2012. This was targeted spending, initially focused on our coaching and player development resources, in particular sport sciences, but also recruiting and list management.

Melbourne CEO Cameron Schwab said, “This year has been challenging for the Club, at many levels. The Club has worked extremely hard to rebuild its financial base, and it was critical that we did not allow one tough year to set us back, and making a profit, despite the difficulties, was a clear objective and expectation.”

The Club’s 2012 Annual General Meeting will be held on Wednesday, 6 February 2013, at 6.30 pm in the Members’ Dining Room at the MCG, and the 2012 Annual Report will be available on the Club’s website in the next few days.