Manchester United quarterly sales up by 8%

Manchester United has seen its third quarter revenues rise by 8.1% to £137.5m, from £127.2m a year before.

The Old Trafford club, which plays against Chelsea in the FA Cup final on Saturday, also recorded a small profit for the quarter of £100,000.

Despite defeat by Spain's Sevilla in the Champions League the club has stuck to its revenue targets for the current year, of £575m to £585m.

The club finished second in the Premier League behind rivals Manchester City.

Ed Woodward, executive vice chairman, said: "As another season nears its close, we have achieved our highest number of points and finish since 2012-13 and we look forward to another trip to Wembley.

"We anticipate another successful summer tour in the United States in preparation for the 2018-19 season."

Broadcast revenues were up 26.4% at £39.7m. Commercial revenues were slightly higher, and matchday income was 6% higher at £31.1m.

New deals

Four sponsorship deals were signed during the three months to April including new deals with Chinese insurance firm PingAn and sports nutrition firm Science in Sport.

A deal with South Korean pharmaceuticals company Cho-A-Pharm was renewed, and one with Chinese mattress maker Mlily was extended.

However, total sponsorship revenues for the quarter were down by 0.2% to £41.7m compared with a year before.

Wages for the quarter were £75.1m, an increase of £8.6 million, or 12.9%, "primarily due to player salary uplifts related to participation in the Uefa Champions League".

But other operating expenses for the quarter were £26.3m, a decrease of £4.4m, or 14.3%, reflecting lower home domestic cup gate share costs, reduced travel costs and a reduction in foreign exchange losses.

Net debt at the end of March stood at £301.3m, a decrease of 17.7% over the year.