Manchester United are considering a new share issue after announcing record income and a revenue forecast for this season of between £420m and £430m.
This assumes somewhat modestly that the club will finish 3rd in the Premiership and reach the quarter finals of the Champions League and domestic cup competitions. Exceeding these targets, particularly in the Champions League, could lead to significantly higher revenues.
Manchester United are considering a new share issue after announcing record income and a revenue forecast for this season of between £420m and £430m.
This assumes somewhat modestly that the club will finish 3rd in the Premiership and reach the quarter finals of the Champions League and domestic cup competitions. Exceeding these targets, particularly in the Champions League, could lead to significantly higher revenues.
Record revenues of £363m followed a season in which United won the Premier League once again. However, Real Madrid’s turnover for 2012-13 was €520.9m. The club’s sophisticated global commercial operation continues to make a big contribution to its financial success.
United have targeted the US market as their next big area of expansion. ‘The US market is under penetrated,’ said chief executive Ed Woodward ‘It is a very big media market, the most developed sports market in the world. But we don’t want to deals that are quick and wrong, that tie us up and we regret afterwards.’
‘We believe there has been an inflection point from 2010-11 when interest levels in football have increased. In the last three years the number of people watching Manchester United has gone up by between 30 and 35 per cent each year. NBC reported peak viewership for our game against Chelsea last month was the biggest weekday afternoon audience since the Olympics.
‘It is moving away from being a niche sport and into the territory of competing with some of the top sports in the country.’
Commercial revenues rose 29.7 per cent to £152.5m and now make up 42 per cent of total income. The contribution from broadcast income, while increasing, has fallen from 32.5 per cent to 28 per cent of all income.
Ed Woodward said that there were no imminent plans for a primary or secondary share issue. However, the word used, whilst ruling out an issue in the immediate future, do not mean that it could not happen within a few months.
The Glazer family could offer up to $400m of shares after a ‘shelf’ filing with regulators. The flotation last year raised just over a quarter of that amount, $110.3m.
Relatively low key transfer activity has enhanced fan concerns that were bound to arise after 26 years of Sir Alex Ferguson in charge. However, the win in the Champions League over Bayer Leverkusen makes the start to the season look less modest.