While José Mourinho appears to be getting the Manchester United Plc (NYSE:MANU) playing staff to deliver on the pitch once more, in the corporate sphere Ed Woodward’s t commercial team is continuing its domination.
Figures released by the Manchester soccer club on Thursday revealed it had smashed revenue records, bringing in some £581.2mln for the twelve months to June 30 compared with £515mln in the year before.
To give that eye-watering figure a context that some soccer fans may digest more easily, the Red Devils generated the equivalent of two Neymars (the Brazilian cost Paris Saint German for a reported £198mln this summer) a Pogba (re-acquired by United last year for a reported £100mln) and a Gareth Bale (sold to Real Madrid for £86mln back in 2013) in the twelve month period.
Some £275mln of the £581mln was generated from the commercial division, whilst £194mln came from broadcast fees.
A further £111mln was taken on match day operations, with a total of 31 matches played at Old Trafford during the financial year.
The club’s earnings amounted to £199.8mln, and it reported an operating profit of £80.8mln with a net profit of £39.2mln.
United’s debt pile stood at £213.1mln, down by £47.8mln on the previous year, while net finance costs rose by £4.3mln or 21.5% to £24.3mln for the year.
Ed Woodward, Manchester United executive vice chairman, said: “We concluded a successful 2016/17 season with a total of three trophies and a return to Champions League football.
“The year saw us set record revenues of over £581m and achieve a record EBITDA of £199.8m. We are pleased with the investment in our squad and look forward to an exciting season.”
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