Man Utd’s Financial Statements 2009/10 show £79.6 million pre-tax loss

Today it was announced that Manchester United has reported a pre-tax loss of £79.6 million for the year ending 30th June 2010. This means a drop of £127.6 million from last year’s profit figure, which stook at a profit of £48 million. Manchester United have entered the red zone after finance charges increased to £67 million and interest payments amounted to £40 million, combined with a reduction in revenue from the sale of players.

Last season, as already mentioned, Manchester United reported a £48 million profit. However, it is good to remember that in the last financial year, Cristiano Ronaldo was sold to Real Madrid for £80 million. Had this not been the case, United would have registered a £32 million loss. Despite this fact, Man Utd’s Chief Executive David Gill states that the club is under no pressure to sell players, making reference to Wayne Rooney. He said, “We have money in the bank so there is zero pressure on that, no pressure at all to sell any star player whether it is Wayne Rooney or X, Y or Z. I can categorically say that.”

The annual turnover of the club stood at £286.4 million, whereas matchday revenue dropped from the previous financial year (£108.8 million) to £100.2 million. The latter was attributed to the club not progressing as the previous year in the UEFA Champions League. Media turnover increased from the previous year to £104.8 million thanks to higher TV payments from UEFA, and commercial turnover increased to £81.4 million due to more sponsorship revenue. Interest charges were unchanged from 2008/09, and were £40 million, but the item which put the books of the club in the negative zone was the January bond issue of £504 million to pay back most of its bank debt. David Gill assured the fans of the club that, “We have a long-term financing structure in place, excellent revenues that are growing, we are controlling our costs – total wages are 46% of turnover – and we can afford the interest on our long-term finance.”