MANCHESTER UNITED MAKES ANOTHER REVENUE RECORD

Three trophies and a return to the Champions League helped the Red Devils reduce the debt in Jose Mourinho's first season with the first-team
Manchester United have announced record revenues of £581.2 million for the 2016-17 financial year.

United won the EFL Cup and the Europa League during Jose Mourinho's first season in charge and investment in stars such as Paul Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan saw staff costs rise by £31.3m to £263.5m – an increase of 13.5 per cent.
Nevertheless, United turned in a £39.2million pre-tax profit, with net debt reduced by £47.8m (18.3 per cent) to £213.1m.

The figures came in above the guidance published by United in May, which projected yearly revenues in the region of £560m-£570m, while the revenue figure of £515.3m from the previous 12 months was comfortably outstripped.

United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward said: "We concluded a successful 2016-17 season with a total of three trophies [including the Community Shield] and a return to Champions League football.

"The year saw us set record revenues of over £581m and achieve a record EBITDA [Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation] of £199.8m. We are pleased with the investment in our squad and look forward to an exciting season."

The impact of the Premier League's £5.1bn domestic broadcasting deal with Sky and BT has boosted incomes across England's top division and United's broadcasting revenue was up 38.2 per cent on the previous season's £140.4m to £194.1m.

Woodward added that the Old Trafford club's revenue projects for 2017-18 are estimated to fall between £575m and £585m.