Manchester United reported record annual revenues of £363.2m and an 18.6 per-cent increase in annual earnings of £108.6m following 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, revealed commercial revenues grew 29.7 per-cent for the year 2013 to a record £152.5m – 42 per-cent of total revenue.
During the fiscal year to June 30th, 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 per-cent 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.
The accounts reveal that total operating expenses for the year increased 8.8 per-cent to £310.3m. Staff costs rose 11.6 per-cent 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.”