Record annual revenue for Manchester United
MANCHESTER United has reported record annual revenues of £363.2m and an 18.6% hike in annual earnings (EBITDA) of £108.6m on the back of a 20th league title and soaring sponsorship income.
The club, which is beginning life under a new corporate and team management regime after the retirement of long-serving CEO David Gill and Sir Alex Ferguson, said commercial revenues grew 29.7% for the year 2013 to a record £152.5m – 42% of total revenue.
During the fiscal year to June 30 Manchester United announced seven
global sponsorship partnerships including a world record shirt deal with US car brand Chevrolet, four regional sponsorship partnerships, and
nine financial services and telecom agreements.
Gross debt, a legacy of the Glazer family’s leveraged buyout. fell nearly 11% to £389.2m. During the year United refinanced its £177.8m sterling bonds and $22.1m of the US dollar bonds with a new term loan, resulting in interest savings of around £10m per year.
The club also gave forward guidance on its expected earnings and revenues for the next year.
Assuming the team finishes at least third in the Premier League and reaches the last eight of the Champions League, FA and League cups, revenues – boosted by the new TV deal – will rise to between £420m and £430m and EBITDA will be in the range of £128m to £133m.
The accounts reveal that total operating expenses for the year increased 8.8% to £310.3m. Staff costs rose 11.6% to £180.5m, mostly due to increased headcount to facilitate growth of the commercial business – during the last year 80 more people were hired, taking the workforce to 793.
Vice chairman Ed Woodward said: “We are very proud of our results for fiscal 2013. It has been a little over a year since our IPO and in that time we have delivered on our targets and objectives. Our commercial business continues to be a very powerful engine of growth enabling the team to continue to be successful.”
