Two of the Premier League’s top clubs, Arsenal and Manchester United, have announced their latest financial results.
Manchester United has revealed that the club, which is struggling in the Premier League, has seen its revenues drop to £198.7m for the final three months of 2024, down from £225.8m for the same period last year.
Overall, the club made an operating profit of £3.1m – down from £27.5m over the same period in 2023. The departures of key club figures have contributed significantly to the results.
Dan Ashworth’s brief stint at United cost the club £4.1m which formed part of the £14.5m total exceptional costs related to the departures of Ashworth, manager Erik ten Hag and his backroom staff.
United have consistently posted losses over the last five years, totalling £373m since the start of the 2019-20 season, which has led minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe to implement a range of cost-cutting measures across the club since taking control of operations last year.
Last week, The Athletic revealed that the club is planning further redundancies at Old Trafford with more than 100 members of staff at risk, having already cut 250 jobs last summer.
Meanwhile, Arsenal have posted club record revenue of £616.6m have still made an overall loss of £17.7m for the financial year ending 31st May 2024.
Large parts of the 32.1% revenue increase on the £466.7m posted in May 2023 will be attributed to the club’s return to the Champions League, European football’s premier competition, in the 2023/24 season. This has resulted in a £71.1m rise in broadcasting revenue and £29.1m increase in matchday revenue.
However, significant wage increases have struck the profit figures, with a 40% rise from £234.8m to £327.8m, which was ‘driven by investment in player wages in both men’s and women’s teams’.
In a statement, the club added that ‘commercial performance, in the second year of a new commercial strategy, was strong across the board and revenues were significantly improved to £218.3 million (2023: £169.3 million).’
‘The renewal and extension of our agreement with Emirates led the way on partnerships but was supported by the naming rights deal for the Sobha Realty Training Centre and an increased number of secondary deals at improved valuations.’
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