New Zealand rugby's financial position improved in '13 with the national body's "war chest of cash reserves swelling" to NZ$63.7M, while all 14 top-tier provinces "returned to surplus after years of turmoil," according to Greg Stutchbury of REUTERS.
The NZRU posted a NZ$2.9M ($2.48M) profit in '13, down slightly from NZ$3.2M a year earlier but "on the back of increased disbursements to the country's provinces and a boost in the contribution to the players' collective agreement."
The NZRU said that profit had been forecast at only NZ$790,000. Cash reserves "also swelled" by more than NZ$13M to NZ$63.7M in the last financial year as they "generated or extended lucrative sponsorship agreements."
New Zealand rugby "has struggled in recent years as the global financial crisis squeezed sponsorship markets, which eroded a healthy cash surplus" of more than NZ$81M generated after the last British and Irish Lions tour of the country in '05. NZRU CEO Steve Tew said, "People talk about a rainy day. Well it was raining and we sought shelter. We had the experience of keeping the business of rugby going through the financial crisis when a lot of businesses had to retrench more than we did and, in a very considered way, we used up some of our cash reserves" (REUTERS, 3/25).
