Locog expects to break even after London 2012 Olympics - The Guardian

The organising committee of the London 2012 Olympics expects to break even when it submits its final accounts – and that could spell bad news for the finances of the British Olympic Association.

The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games' annual report published on Friday forecasts that both total revenue and expenditure will be £2.4bn.

The cash-strapped BOA had been hoping to benefit from a surplus which would give the organisation a £5m windfall but it now appears there is no guarantee of that happening.

The BOA has a substantial deficit and the current financial situation will serve to put further pressure on the organisation chief executive, Andy Hunt, ahead of a board meeting on Wednesday.

London 2012's annual report states: "It is anticipated that the company's performance in raising funds and controlling expenditure will meet the objective of breaking even. Locog forecasts that both core lifetime revenue (AFR) and expenditure (AFC) will be £2.4bn."

The report shows that the London 2012 chief executive Paul Deighton had a performance bonus doubled to £1.39m as a result of the "successful delivery of the Games".

Taking into account all bonuses and deferred incentives, Deighton ended his employment with a total of £1.98m to go with his basic £720,000 salary. He is now working for the government as commercial secretary to the Treasury.

The Locog report shows the company made a loss of £53m up until the end of the year but has £78m revenue in the bank. That does not necessarily mean a surplus of £25m when the accounts are finalised in June because there are still significant outgoings which is why it is predicting a break-even figure.

Any surplus would be hugely welcome to the London 2012 chairman, Sebastian Coe, in his new role as chairman of the BOA. Such profit from the running for the Games will see £5m go to the BOA and £2.5m to ParalympicsGB before the government has any claim on what remains.

London 2012 said that, as in the past, Deighton will be giving his bonus to charity. He has also waived his salary for the Treasury job.