Manchester United Reports £11.4m Quarter Loss

Manchester United (NYSE: MANU - news) has announced a third quarter pre-tax loss of £11.4m but said a return to Champions League football will help boost its coffers.

The club, which announced a 39% collapse in broadcasting revenue in the three months to 31 March as a result of its season outside Europe's top club competition, said it was "pleased" by Louis van Gaal's first season in charge of the team.

Chief executive Ed Woodward said: "(We) are well positioned to achieve a top four finish in the Premier League and to return to European football next year.

"As we look forward to next season, on the playing side we expect to be challenging for trophies in all competitions and on the commercial side we are excited by the numerous opportunities for further growth, including the first year of our 10-year partnership with Adidas ."

In a call with analysts in the wake of the release of the results, he added that he expected United (Shenzhen: 000925.SZ - news) to be "active" in the transfer window but said it was too early to give any further guidance.

The club, currently fourth in the Premier League table with two games to go, said its quarterly matchday revenues also fell heavily, by 31% to £25.5m, as Old Trafford hosted fewer league and European games compared to the same period last year.

Average salaries for its 791 staff jumped to £254,000 per annum year-on-year - a rise of 4%.

However, commercial revenues of £47.8m were up 11.7% for the quarter, with three new sponsorship deals announced.

It also welcomed a new domestic Premier League live TV rights deal that is set to kick in from the season after next and a 25% increase in the amount distributed to clubs competing in the Champions League from next year.

Mr Woodward confirmed that as a result of its commercial revenues growth, it was raising its full-year guidance on its EBITDA profit measure from £90m-£95m to £103m-£110m.