New Sponsorship Deals Put Manchester United On Course To Meet Financial Goals

ManU is "on course to hit financial targets this year" after signing multiple sponsorship deals at the end of '12, according to Keith Weir of REUTERS. ManU signed six new sponsorship deals with companies around the globe in the last three months of '12, "one of the busiest periods" in the football calendar. ManU Vice Chair Ed Woodward said, "Manchester United achieved record revenue and record adjusted EBITDA (underlying profit) in the second quarter driven by our commercial operation, which continues to experience extremely strong growth particularly in sponsorship." ManU had revenues of £110M  ($171M) in the three months prior to Dec. 31, and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of £50M ($77.5M) for the period, "in line with analyst forecasts" (REUTERS, 2/14).

NUMBERS GAME: The MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS reported ManU posted its results for the final six months of '12, which revealed that "revenues rose" from £175.1M ($271M) to £186.4M ($288M). Pre-tax profits during the six months grew from £12.8M ($20M) to £22.3M ($34.5M). Commercial income in those three months "rocketed" by nearly 30% from £27.6M in '11 to £35.6M ($55.2M) in '12 (MEN, 2/14). The PA reported the club's gross debt decreased by 16.1% to £436.9M ($675M) in the final six months of '12. For the '12-13 financial year, ManU is now forecasting revenue to be £350M ($542M) to £360M ($557M), compared to £320M last year, which was down 3.3% (PA, 2/14).