Manchester United’s bonds disappoint

MANCHESTER United’s bonds have fallen in value within two weeks of being issued.

The club has secured the £500m funding that it needs to refinance its bank debt, but investors have seen the value of sterling-denominated bonds fall by 7%.

In addition to £250m of sterling bonds the issue included $425m of dollar-denominated bonds which have dropped to 94.5% of their face value.

Some commentators have suggested the bonds performed poorly because they were priced too highly at launch.

Suki Mann, credit strategist at Société Générale told the Financial Times: “In a benign credit market, Manchester United is one of the worst performing bonds since the beginning of 2009.”

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Meanwhile, the American owners of Liverpool FC are under pressure to pay £100m to its funder Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).

Minutes of a meeting held between the supporters’ group Spirit of Shankly and the club’s managing director Christian Purslow, show that the bank is owed £237m.

A one-year refinancing agreement expires in July and RBS will only agree to a further deal if £100m is paid back.