MANCHESTER UNITED BECAME the first British football club to earn more than half a billion pounds in a single year after announcing today total revenue of £515.3m (€608.9m) for the year ending 30 June, 2016.
The Premier League giants also declared a record operating profit of £68.9m (€82m).
Their figures also saw United return to the black, following a net annual loss of £900,000, with a net profit of £36.4m (€43m).
However, United’s annual revenue figure was still shy of the €679m declared by Barcelona in July.
United’s continuing financial success, despite not winning the Premier League last season and failing to qualify for Europe’s lucrative Champions League, allowed new manager Jose Mourinho to splash out a world record £89m (€105m) on signing midfielder Paul Pogba from Italian side Juventus during the recent transfer window.
Although United won the FA Cup, a fifth-place finish in the 2015/16 Premier League season saw Dutch manager Louis van Gaal sacked and replaced by former Real Madrid and Chelsea boss Mourinho.
United’s revenue is forecast to rise to between £530 to £540 million at the end of the next financial year and executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward said: “Our record fiscal 2016 financial performance reflects the continued underlying strength of the business and the club is on target to achieve record revenues in 2017, even without a contribution from the Champions League.
“This strong financial performance has enabled us to invest in our squad, team management and facilities to position us to challenge for, and win, trophies in the coming years.”
Retail, merchandising, apparel and product licensing revenue was £97.3m (€115m), an increase of £65.7m (€65.7m), or 207.9%, over the previous year, mainly as a result of the start of a new kit agreement with adidas that guaranteed United more money than their previous deal with rival sportswear giants Nike.
Broadcasting revenue, boosted by a new Premier League deal, rose more than 30% to £140.4m (€166.2m), with matchday revenues at Old Trafford totalling £106.6 million (€126m) — an increase of more than 17%.
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