A "return to the lucrative Champions League" helped ManU report a 39% rise in first-quarter revenue, with "higher broadcast and matchday income" taking the figure to a record level, according to Aastha Agnihotri of REUTERS. Sales for the first three months of the '15-16 financial year were "also boosted" by income from a new kit supply deal with adidas and the fact that "shirts and other equipment are selling well." ManU, currently fourth in the EPL, failed to qualify for last season's Champions League, "but look set to progress" out of its group to the knockout stages. The club maintained expectations for "higher full-year adjusted core earnings" of £165M ($251.3M) to £175M ($267M), up from $182.5M last year. It is forecasting annual revenue of between £500M ($761.5M) and £510M ($776.7M). Shares in ManU jumped almost 7% to $19.39 on the N.Y. Stock Exchange, valuing the club at around $3B (REUTERS, 11/12). In London, David McDonnell reported two home Champions League games -- against Bruges in the qualifying round and a group game against Wolfsburg -- plus a Capital One Cup home tie against Ipswich "also served to boost matchday revenues." The club's return to the Champions League also saw its wage bill increase, while it spent £49.9M ($76M) on six new players -- Memphis Depay, Matteo Darmian, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Morgan Schneiderlin, Sergio Romero and Anthony Martial. ManU Exec Vice-Chair Ed Woodward said, "We are delighted with the early progress made in licensing. During the quarter we entered into an agreement with HCL to be our Digital Transformation partner, which will enable us to connect with our fans around the world in innovative ways and further strengthen and grow our commercial revenues." ManU's commercial revenue for the three months was £71.2M ($108.4M), up 25.4% (DAILY MIRROR, 11/12). The BBC reported profit for the period was £5M ($7.6M), down 43.8% from the £8.9M figure a year ago. The drop in profit was "partly caused" by a loss on player trading of £7.4M ($11.3M). That compared with a profit of £18.3M a year before -- that sum "being largely due" to the sale of Danny Welbeck to Arsenal for £18M. The EBITDA figure, which indicates the "underlying profitability of a company," was up more than 100% to £41.6M ($63.4M) (BBC, 11/12).
COSTS UP AT WEST HAM: INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL's David Owen reported West Ham "has suffered a fall in annual profits owing to rising costs." A 13.8% jump in employment costs to £72.7M ($110.7M) helped to cut pre-tax profit in the year to May 31 to £3M ($4.6M), down from £10.3M in '13-14. West Ham Vice-Chair Karren Brady said that the "major component" of these costs was wages for the first team squad and management. Brady said that there had been a net investment of £32.5M ($49.5M) in transfer fees in '14-15. Turnover edged up from £114.9M to £120.7M ($183.8M) (INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL, 11/12).
