In all the chaos in the markets, we found one winning side from the North of England.
Manchester United Ltd. said it rose up to a profit in its latest fiscal quarter, as revenue jumped 27% following a return to Union of European Football Associations play and a recently signed deal with Adidas.
Manchester United, which controls the British soccer team, has seen its revenues improve in recent quarters as it managed to return to the UEFA Champions League after falling out of the competition the prior season for the first time since the mid-1990s. In the three months ended Dec. 31, Manchester United's revenue rose 27% to GBP133.8 million.
Commercial revenue, which accounted for 49% of Manchester's overall revenue in the quarter, grew 42.5% to GBP66.1 million, reflecting the start of a new agreement with Adidas in August. Broadcasting revenue gained 31.3% compared with a year ago to GBP37.3 million, primarily due to participation in the UEFA Champions League.
Match-day revenue edged down 1.6% to GBP30.4 million due to playing two fewer Football Association Premier League home games in the quarter and having hosted a friendly international game in the year-prior quarter. Manchester said two UEFA Champions League home games and one domestic cup home game in most recently ended quarter largely offset those declines.
For the period, Manchester reported a profit of GBP18.6 million, or GBP11.33 a share, from a prior-year loss of GBP55,000, or GBP0.03. On an adjusted basis, earnings were GBP10.77 a share, up from GBP2.66 a share a year ago.
The company affirmed its full-year revenue forecast is in a range of GBP500 million to GBP510 million in its current fiscal year.
