Manchester United reported a 30 per cent rise in fourth-quarter revenue yesterday but forecast lower earnings for the current year as the club will miss out on Champions League football after finishing fifth in the English Premier League last season.
United said it expected £170-180 million in adjusted core earnings this year after reporting a record figure of 192 million for the year ended June 30.
It expects £530-540 million in revenue this year, up from 515 million due to new television deals for Premier League clubs.
United’s fifth place finish in the Premier League last season meant the team failed to qualify for a place in the lucrative Champions League in 2016-17 and will play in the lower profile Europa League instead.
The club has said that its absence from the Champions League would reduce its revenue in 2016-17 by more than £30 million.
United responded by replacing team manager Louis van Gaal with Jose Mourinho who has signed France midfielder Paul Pogba for a reported fee of £89 million and hired other big-name players including Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
United said it recorded £15.1 million in exceptional charges which included £8.4 million on Van Gaal’s payout.
The club’s revenue for the fourth quarter rose to £134.5 million from £105.8 million a year earlier. Adjusted core earnings jumped 53 per cent to £49.3m.
Controlled by the American Glazer family, United have won the English league title a record 20 times and last season won the FA Cup for the 12th time.
Schweinsteiger write-off
Meanwhile, the Old Trafford club have had to write off midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger as an asset in the club’s latest published accounts.
The 32-year-old German was brought to Old Trafford from Bayern Munich last summer by Van Gaal, but has been frozen out by new boss Mourinho.
Schweinsteiger is training away from the first team but stressed towards the end of the transfer window that United would be his last club in Europe, saying he “will be ready, if the team needs me”.
However, that looks even more unlikely after the club announced their financial results for the year ending June 30, 2016.
Under the ‘exceptional items’ section of United's annual results, it listed a sum of £6.7 million “related to a registrations’ impairment charge regarding a reduction in the carrying value of a player no longer considered to be a member of the first team playing squad”.
It is understood Schweinsteiger is that individual and could not be included as an asset as it may give an unfair impression to investors.
Manchester United reported a 30 per cent rise in fourth-quarter revenue yesterday.