Caterham has revealed that it made a £75,000 profit on the crowdfunding which powered it to the final race of the season according to an article in the Independent by Christian Sylt.
The revelation is sure to surprise some of the fans who gave money to the team so it could race in Abu Dhabi as it seems that some of it is still in the bank. Not that it will make a dent in the team's debts which stand at £16.2m.
The revelation of Caterham's crowdfunding profits follows yesterday's news that a meeting of its creditors will take place today (Monday) to try and plot a path forward for the team.
The fans who participated in the crowdfunding are not classed as creditors despite being crucial to its survival. They paid a total of £2.4m to buy team equipment and get their names on its cars at the season-ending race. However, according to recently-released company documents, the value of what Caterham sold came to just £160,316 so it made a huge profit on the crowdfunding.
"The stock value of the rewards granted to the crowdfunding participants was £160,316 plus VAT," state the documents. They add that "we have received £515,298 (€650,000) sponsorship income relating to drivers relating to the Team's participation In the Abu Dhabi Grand Pnx. We anticipate receiving a further €l00,000 of fees and €l50,000 of VAT on the total fees very soon." The drivers in question were Kamui Kobayashi, who retired from the race, and Britain's Will Stevens who finished in last place.
However, the majority of this income was burned up by the colossal cost of racing in F1 and the documents say "it is estimated that the final trading surplus figure will be in the region of £75,000." Caterham's fuel bill for the final race alone came to £80,000 whilst travel and accommodation costs came to £31,142, equipment hire hit £37,500 and a staggering £28,577 was spent on catering.
In contrast, Caterham's 49 team members were paid just £2,000 each which is far from the turbocharged salaries F1 is famous for. In fact, its crew are believed to have been paid less than the workers at any other team in F1 this year.
The closest comparison is Marussia, which also collapsed recently and on Tuesday began selling its assets to pay its bills. Marussia's latest company accounts are for 2012 and show that the 168 staff who worked for the team were paid an average of £2,800 per Grand Prix which races past Caterham's tally.
The documents reveal that Caterham owes £177,600 to former employees and Finbarr O'Connell, a partner at the team's administrators Smith & Williamson, says "at this stage in the proceedings it is too early to comment with any certainty on the expected level of return to each class of creditor."
Smith & Williamson allowed the team to race in Abu Dhabi to showcase it to buyers. "Some of the potential interest in the team has occurred only because the team raced at Abu Dhabi," says O'Connell. It remains to be seen whether Caterham will be on the grid next year but it hasn't run out of gas yet as O'Connell adds that "having concluded a successful race event, the administrators have continued to have encouraging discussions with several potential buyers, a process which is still ongoing."
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