Commercial deals drive Q1 revenue at Manchester United
MANCHESTER United has declared another record set of first quarter figures thanks to a string of commercial deals, but finance costs pushed it to a pre-tax loss.
The club said revenue grew from £76.3m to £98.5m in the three months to the end of September.
It made an operating profit of £9.3m, up from £6.3m last time. However, the cost of servicing debts was £9.8m which left United with a pre-tax loss of £470,000. This is an improvement on last year when it had a £6m pre-tax loss which was wiped out by a £26.5m tax credit.
During the period the club lined up 12 new commercial deals with the likes of Aeroflot, Pepsi, Apollo Tyres, the Commercial Bank Qatar, Emirates Bank and MBNA. These deals helped commercial revenue grow by 39% to £59.9m during the period. Broadcasting revenue jumped 41% to £19.3m but income from ticket sales fell by 1.5% to £19.3m which the club said reflected the bonus of hosting Olympic Games football matches in 2012.
Player and staff wages accounted for £52.9m of costs, up 31%, an increase which was put down to the impact of a full period of wages relating to players who were signed part way through the prior year quarter.
Vice chairman Ed Woodward said: “We are pleased to have achieved another record first quarter, driven by the strength of our commercial business and increased broadcasting revenues. Our unique approach to the commercial business will continue to drive future growth.
“We are also excited by the continuing rise in the value of sports content, evidenced, amongst other things, by the recently announced BT deal for the UK rights to broadcast the Champions League and Europa League matches for three seasons from 2015/16. This deal represents a meaningful increase over the current arrangement, which should translate into higher broadcasting revenues for the participating clubs.”
The club’s gross debt stands at £361m, up marginally from £359.7m.
