Premier League Leaders Reveal Profit Rise
Premier League leaders Manchester United have announced a significant rise in profits for the second half of 2012, with pre-tax profits growing to £22.3 million.
The club, who top the league and have already seen a number of bookmakers paying out to punters, reported record second quarter total revenue of £110.1 million versus £101.3 million in 2011, along with record earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of £50.2 million against £44.9 million in 2011, according to media reports.
In a Red Devils press release, the forecast for revenue for the 2013 financial year is expected to come in between £350 million and £360 million, while EBITDA is set to range from £107 million to £110 million.
United’s revenues dropped by 3.3% to £320 million last year, mainly due to early exits from both the UEFA Champions League and FA Cup.
The club, owned by the Glazer family, listed on the New York Stock Exchange last year at a flotation price of $14 a share and are now trading at nearly $19 – giving the company a valuation of over $3bn.
Commercial revenue from sponsors such as Nike and Aon rose 26.4% to £78.6m for the six months to 31 December 2012, while the club also secured six new sponsorship deals with Kansai, Singha, Wahaha, Multistrada, China Construction Bank and Denizbank.
The club – who were in Champions League action on Wednesday, drawing 1-1 with Real Madrid in the first leg of the last 16 – also announced that it had signed a new eight-year sponsorship deal for its training kit, having bought out the last two years of DHL’s existing contract, sparking rumours that a better deal is on the cards.
The logistics company expanded its partnership with the club in 2011 to become its first official training kit sponsor, in a four-year deal worth £40 million. A deal that dwarfed revenues of the majority of main shirt sponsorships of other Premier League clubs.
In a busy quarter for the club, United also completed the strategic acquisition of BSkyB’s one-third stake in MUTV, taking full control of its global television channel.
