Why The Open organisers R&A have swung back to £8.5m profit

The R&A, organiser of golf’s Open Championship, swung back into profit last year thanks to improved returns from its investment portfolio.

The body, which is also responsible for setting the rules of the game in most of the world, recorded a profit after tax of £8.5m for the year ending 31 December 2023, an improvement of more than £10m on its loss of £2.2m in 2022.

A successful Open Championship at Royal Liverpool, where the second biggest crowd in the event’s history saw American Brian Harman claim the Claret Jug, helped to boost revenue to £151.6m, a marginal increase on 2022’s £150.7m.

Operating profit at the R&A and its subsidiaries fell to £2.6m from £12.7m due to increased investment in development programmes and facilities, including the new Golf It! community centre in Glasgow. 

It also paid a dividend of £6m to its beneficial owner, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews. 

The R&A was eased back into the black after tax by its investments increasing in value by £2.5m, having decreased by £16.6m the previous year. 

As of the end of March, the group had cash reserves of £27.8m and investments of £171.6m, two thirds of which have daily liquidity.

The R&A is planning to build new headquarters at St Andrews with a view to having most staff work from a single location and hopes to move in by 2026.

That in turn will “deliver considerable operational efficiencies” and allow the existing buildings at the site to be repurposed, according to its annual accounts.