Manchester United have released their results for the first quarter of the new financial year, with operating profits reflecting the controversial cost-cutting measures under Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS.
The latest report headings include:
Total revenue fell slightly from £143.1m to £140.3m. This compares the last three months of commercial activity to the same three months in 2024. Man United recorded an operating profit of £13m compared to an operating loss of £7m a year ago. The club expects total annual revenue to be between £640m and £660m. A quarter of this will be a positive £160m per quarter, which means we can expect revenue to increase over the next nine months. This matches Man United’s record profit of £666.5m, which covers the entire 12 months of the 2024-15 financial year, announced in September. Manchester United still have an overall loss of £33m for the year, but there is no significant change in the figure from a year ago and this will make no difference to the club’s approach to the January transfer window.
Chief Executive Officer Omar Berrada said: “These strong financial results reflect the resilience of Manchester United as we continue to make significant progress in the transformation of the club.
Omar Berrada says ‘difficult decisions’ helped Man United to ‘streamline’ their finances
“The difficult decisions we took last year have resulted in a more streamlined and effective organization to sustainably reduce costs and drive the club towards improved sporting and commercial performance over the long term.
“This has allowed us to invest in our men’s and women’s teams, which are in sixth and third place in the Premier League and Women’s Super League respectively.”
Total revenue was down 2% from the first three months of the previous financial year, with other revenue sources reporting isolated losses.
However, these are very small cuts in each case, and for a club and business of Manchester United’s size they are not all that significant.
But importantly, despite the decline in all these sources of income, Man United’s operating profile has now gone from a loss of £7m a year ago to a profit of £13m.
This shows that Manchester United are cutting costs across their business and are doing so effectively. This includes redundancies and other cost-cutting measures to reduce the cost base, although this has proven not to be widespread in some areas of the club.
“Latest financial figures do not change January window plan.”
Adam Wharton is reported to be a Man United transfer target but is still expected to do his day job in the summer
Analysis by Rob Dorsett of Sky Sports News:
“There is no significant change in the numbers from a year ago and this will not make any difference to the club’s approach to the upcoming transfer window.
“Whilst Berrada praised the solid financial figures and pointed out in the financial report that Man United are ‘fully committed to and compliant with the Premier League’s PSR rules’, the truth is that Man United do not have a lot of money to spend and are far more likely to hold onto their significant transfer investment until the summer rather than pay potentially high fees to acquire some of their targets in January.”
“Signing a world-class defensive midfielder remains a priority, but again Elliott Anderson, Adam Wharton and Carlos Baleva are interested, which is likely to happen in the summer rather than January.”
