According to the regional audit office of Occitanie, the Montpellier rugby club is heavily dependent on its majority shareholder. The MHR, “structurally” in deficit and chronically lacking in audience, owes its viability to the millions of euros regularly injected by Mohed Altrad.
The financial situation of the Société anonyme sportive professionnelle Montpellier Hérault Rugby (SASP MHR), which manages the professional branch of the club, “is characterized by a structural operating deficit”, notes the regional audit office in a report covering the financial years 2017-2018 to 2022-2023.
Despite an attractive pricing policy, the MHR, French champion in 2022, “has not managed to increase its attendance rate”, which was only 71% in 2022-2023 with an average of 11,095 spectators. Competitors such as Stade Rochelais and Stade Toulousain have an occupancy rate close to 100%.
A 95.97% ownership group
With “insignificant” ticket revenues and salaries and social security contributions absorbing almost 100% of turnover, “the viability and sustainability” of the professional club “are dependent, in addition to public funding” (including more than two million euros in annual subsidies), “on the contributions of its main shareholder”, the Altrad Participations group, owner of 95.97% of the shares in 2022, according to the 47-page report from the regional audit office.
Between 2017 and 2023, Altrad Participations, a holding company chaired by Mohed Altrad, head of an international group active in particular in the construction industry, “agreed to waive debts to ensure cash flow to the tune of 31.8 million euros”. The club also benefits from a sponsorship contract with the company “Altrad investment authority” of 29 million euros over the same period.
Although he handed over the general management of MHR in 2023, Mohed Altrad, a French billionaire born in Syria, retained his position as chairman of the board of directors of the professional club. He occupies “a predominant place in the decision-making process”, according to the audit office.
The general meeting is certainly made up of 28 shareholders, but “the Altrad Participations group holds 95.97% of the capital, the presence of its representative alone is sufficient to ratify the decisions”, the body emphasizes.
In its report, the latter recommends clarifying the financial flows between the professional section (first team and training center) and the amateur part (rugby school) of the MHR. But also providing more information on the use made of subsidies from local public authorities (metropolis and city of Montpellier, department and region).