20/08/2014
NEWS STORY
Days after team owner Gerard Lopez dismissed talk of financial problems at Lotus, 2013 accounts reveal a £64m loss for Enstone outfit.
According to a report in Forbes, the loss is the result of inter-company loans and the interest accrued. End of year accounts for 2013 reveal that though revenue remained stable at £92.6m ($154.1m), net losses increased by £9.6m ($16m) as interest payments on the inter-company loans increased to £13.5m ($22.6m).
Talking to the Independent at the weekend, Lopez, whose private equity firm Genii Capital controls Lotus, said: "We support Lotus with debt, not sponsorship like the other big teams”.
This is confirmed by the fact that the financial reports indicate that total loans to the team have doubled to £124.4m ($207.4m), comprising £30.2m ($50.4m) of third party debt and £94.2m ($157.1m) in group loans which have doubled.
Whilst claiming that much of the talk of the team's financial situation is the result of "smear campaigns", Lopez admits that Lotus is in "discussions to bring new partners to support its development” and is “notably in discussion with several parties for a long term title sponsorship.”
This, of course, follows last year's claim that investment group Infinity - which later changed its name to Quantum - had bought a 35% stake in the team. Despite repeated assurances from Quantum boss Mansoor Ijaz that the deal had been completed nothing more was heard and eventually a 10% stake in the team was sold to Russian telecoms company Yota Devices.
Whilst the recruitment of Pastor Maldonado has seen Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA add to the team's coffers - the 29-year-old having recently re-signed for 2015 - on-track performance this season has been poor, the Enstone outfit currently eighth in the standings.
Chris Balfe