Cardiff Blues benefactors Peter Thomas and Martyn Ryan have written off more than £4million of money owed to them by the region.
Former chairman Thomas has also converted more than £10m into equity in a move that sees a significant reduction in the Blues’ debt.
The full figures have been revealed in the region’s latest accounts, which run up until June 2018.
Thomas has poured millions of pounds into the Blues in the form of loans over the past two decades, with the overall figure believed to be around £14m.
It was in June of last year that he exclusively announced to WalesOnline that he would be standing down as chairman after more than 20 years in the role.
He also revealed he would be effectively writing off the millions of pounds he had put into the business.
Speaking at the time, he said: “The bigger picture is the welfare of the club.”
Now we can see in detail exactly what he has done.
He has written off £3.33m and converted more than £10m into equity or shares.
Fellow director Ryan wrote off a further £933,708, producing what has been termed as “exceptional income” of £4.27m.
That enabled the Blues to record an accounting profit of £2.29m in a season which culminated in them winning the European Challenge Cup in memorable fashion in Bilbao last May.
It also means the region’s overall debt has been reduced from £15.75m in 2017 to £4.16m.
However, the operating loss rose to almost £1.3m compared to £976,000 in 2017.
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Turnover rose to £9.58m from £8.7m, while expenditure went up to almost £11m from £9.93m.
The annual report also revealed the Blues were paying a lease of £412,661 at the Arms Park and almost £1.7m to the Vale of Glamorgan, where their training facilities are.
The man who has taken over from Thomas as chairman, Alun Jones, paid tribute to the benefactors for their actions.
“Peter Thomas, Paul Bailey and Martyn Ryan have compromised on the company’s financial obligations to them and have significantly reduced the amounts owed to them,” he said.
“This is an act of extraordinary generosity.”
Jones admitted there were still financial issues to be addressed.
“The financial results for the 2018 year do not make pleasant reading, but do contain some significant developments which bode well for the future,” he said.
“The company has undertaken a capital restructuring as part of the broader changes to the organisation of Welsh professional rugby.”
