English football giants Manchester United announced record financial results on Wednesday after a year of rapid commercial expansion.
Having added a glut of new sponsors to their portfolio over the past 12 months, the 20-time English champions saw revenues rise 29.7 % to £152.5 million for the year ending June 30, 2013.
The leap in revenues helped the club from the English northwest register a 13.4 % increase in turnover to a club-record figure of £363.2 million, while debt fell 10.9 percent to £389.2 million.
United floated on the New York stock exchange last year, in a bid to tackle the huge debt loaded onto the club by American businessman Malcolm Glazer’s takeover in 2005.
Manchester United players celebrate with the Premier League trophy at the end of the English Premier League football match between Manchester United and Swansea City at Old Trafford in Manchester, northwest England, on May 12, 2013.
Sponsorship revenue alone in the 2012-13 period rose 44.1 5 to £90.9 million.
The club revealed that “exceptional items” costs of £6.2 million were partly due to the contracts of coaching staff members Mike Phelan, Rene Meulensteen and Eric Steele being cancelled following the departure of long-serving manager Alex Ferguson at the end of last season.
Despite the impressive figures, United moved cautiously during the close-season transfer period, waiting until the final day of the window before sanctioning a £27.5 million move for Everton midfielder Marouane Fellaini.
