Manchester United Reduce Debt To £359.7m
Manchester United has announced its financial results for its first financial quarter ending on 30th September revealing that the club’s debt has fallen to £359.7m.
The debt reduction comes after the Glazer family used the proceeds from the club’s flotation on the New York Stock Exchange in August to pay off millions of pounds of bonds. The debt amount is down 17% from the same time last year and the club’s total revenue rose 3.4% to £76.3m.
The club also reported that sponsorship revenue had increased by 34% following the agreement of ten new sponsorship deals in the first quarter. The club now has partnerships with: General Motors, Bwin, Toshiba Medical Systems, Yanmar (global); Kagome (regional); Santander, Shinsei Bank and MBNA (financial services); Bakcell (mobile); and Fuji TV (MUTV).
Ed Woodward, executive vice chairman, commented: ‘Manchester United had a record first quarter driven by our commercial operation, which continues to experience extremely strong global revenue growth in new media and mobile, retail merchandising and sponsorship. The team has also made a strong start to the 12/13 season – currently first place in the Premier League and first place and undefeated in our Champions League Group.’
Overall the club made a net profit of £20.5m despite broadcasting revenue falling by 37.4%. However matchday revenues rose to £19.6m due to Old Trafford staging nine Olympic Games matches as well as making £4.8m from selling players such as Dimitar Berbatov and Ji-Sung Park.
