ManU Exec Vice-Chair Ed Woodward said that the cost of the club's failure to qualify for the Champions League will be in the region of £35M ($59M) in lost earnings, according to Roger Blitz of the FINANCIAL TIMES. Woodward's comments came as the club "prepares to appoint a new manager to restore its ailing fortunes." ManU ended its "dismal" Premier League campaign in seventh place, meaning it "missed out on European competition next season for the first time in nearly a quarter of a century." That failure cost Manager David Moyes his job after only 10 months. Dutch Manager Louis Van Gaal "was expected to be named this week as his successor, but that announcement has been put back in order to resolve the future of backroom staff." Woodward told analysts that the appointment of a new manager "would be made in due course and the club continued to be active in the transfer market." Woodward: “The club’s aim is absolutely to get straight back into the Champions League. You will see this reflected in the transfer market and with what we have done on the managerial front recently” (FT, 5/15). BLOOMBERG's Peter-Joseph Hegarty reported ManU's fiscal third-quarter profit tripled. The club's revenue also rose 26% and finance costs declined. Net income for the three months to the end of March was £11M, compared with £3.6M in the year-earlier period. Revenue increased to £115.5M from £91.7M and finance costs declined to £6M from £18.6M. In a statement, Woodward said, “This puts us in a healthy financial position to continue to invest in the squad. Everyone at the club is working hard to ensure the team is back challenging for the title and trophies next season.” Sponsorship revenue rose 43% in the quarter to £30.7M. Commercial revenue was £42.8M, an increase of 19%. Broadcasting income was up 64% at £35.6M, with matchday revenue growing 9% to £37.1M (BLOOMBERG, 5/15). In London, James Ducker reported Moyes's payoff was described by a ManU official as a “single digit million pounds.” However, Moyes’s severance package -- thought to be around £3.5M ($5.8M) -- "did not form part of the latest accounts and will be included in Q4’s figures." An 18.9% rise in wages is "a consequence of the arrivals" of Marouane Fellaini and Juan Mata, and new contracts given to Nani and Adnan Januzaj. Wayne Rooney "also signed a new deal during the present financial year but it is thought that the striker’s wages remained in line with his previous contract and that the extra earnings he receives from a separate image rights contract are not reflected in United’s staff costs" (LONDON TIMES, 5/15).
