Yahoo Finance Manchester Utd report record revenues as cash from TV rights soars
Manchester United has reported record revenues of £627m for the fiscal year, as the football club's performance on the pitch comes under increasing scrutiny.
An uptick in broadcasting revenues contributed the most heavily to the club's bumper year - money from television rights grew by 18.1% to £240m in 2019, compared with £204m in 2018.
This was primarily due to the new UEFA Champions League broadcasting rights agreement.
Jose Mourinho, the former Manchester United manager who was sacked in December 2018, cost the club £19.6m as it was forced to pay out compensation for his early termination.
The club also spent almost £150m in the summer on the three signings of Harry Maguire, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Daniel James.
Despite announcing 10 new or renewed sponsorship deals, Manchester United's commercial revenues remained flat.
The club said it had also achieved an operating profit of £50m - an increase of 13.9% on the previous year.
In its results, Manchester United warned that the club's revenues for 2020 would drop by as much as £67m because of the absence of Champions League competition revenues.
Teams that play in Europe's foremost tournament receive about £13m just for participating, with the scope to earn an additional £67m for winning the competition.
As a result of finishing sixth in England's Premier League last season, Manchester United failed to qualify for this season's Champions League, leading to a loss of revenue for the club.
The club - which has 1.1 billion fans and followers according to research firm Kantar - also predicted that its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) might drop by as much as £30m as a result.
For the 2020 fiscal year, the company said it expects total revenues to be in a range of £560m to £580m and total adjusted EBITDA to be in a range of £155m to £165m.
"We remain focused on our plan of rebuilding the team and continuing to strengthen our youth system, in line with the philosophy of the club and the manager," Ed Woodward, executive vice chairman, said in a statement.
Mr Woodward added: "Everyone at Manchester United is committed to delivering on our primary objective of winning trophies."
Manchester United were criticised heavily on Sunday following their 2-0 defeat to West Ham. The team has just eight Premier League points from six games this season.
