Dear Fellow PBC Members, with the end of February being half was through our financial year I thought I would report back on how we are going from a purely financial perspective.
Our half-year surplus is $25,701 compared to a loss last year of $1,344 so that is very positive.
- Playing fees net of PPV discounts are up 1.9% to $94,659.
- Lessons and supervised play continue to support our core activity of duplicate bridge sessions as well as their revenue being 16.1% higher than last year at $9,443.
- Overall, revenue is up 3.2% on the first half of last financial year.
- However, the main contributor to our very good surplus is excellent expense control. Total expenses are 19.3% less than for the same period last year with some of the main expense lines being:
- With excellent buying by Robin Ho our kitchen expenses are 13.5% less than last year.
- Obviously the removal of winners' vouchers is contributing - $10,682 less than last year.
- Directing fees is always our biggest expense and this year we have spent 26% less than last year. Last year we had more sessions being directed by our non-playing Working Director Susan Falkingham, while this year we have more being directed by in-house playing directors. We have not changed the benefits we give to our directors compared to last year.
- As we progress with our plans regarding premises it is very important that we continue to generate a surplus as there are many uncertainties ahead and we will surely incur significant additional costs. For example, our current very heavily subsidized rent will probably not continue into the future. If you have ever wondered why table money is much less at PBC than at other comparable clubs, a realistic commercial rent for a space such as ours would be in the order of $110,000 per annum rather than $11,000 that we currently pay.
I would like to acknowledge and thank Robin for the great work she is doing, not just in terms of managing the banking, payments and financial data capture but also for the great volunteer job she is doing in ordering and managing kitchen and office supplies. I would also like to thank Max Paterson for continuing to volunteer many hours in helping keep our finance work ticking over.
Please note that the making of a surplus does NOT affect our not-for-profit status. If any members have any comments or questions on any club financial matters, please do not hesitate to contact me by email at
