Manchester United Profits: Manchester United plc played down talk of a takeover from its host of high-profile investors yesterday as it reported a 34 per cent drop in half-year profits due to lower player sales.
The club, which remains the richest in the world, counts Irish businessmen JP McManus and John Magnier as its largest shareholders. A company owned by the duo raised its holding in Manchester United to 10.37 per cent earlier this month, giving rise to fresh takeover speculation. Fellow Irish financier Dermot Desmond is believed to own a 1.5 per cent stake.
The club has reported pre-tax profits for the six months to January 31st of £20.3 million (€29.3 million), slightly above analysts' forecasts, with the fall due largely to one-off profits on the sale of players, Jaap Stam to Lazio and Andy Cole to Blackburn, in the previous reporting period.
The club, second in the Premierhsip and through to the quarter-finals of the European Champions League for a record seventh successive year, is bringing success on the pitch to its accounts with sales up 13 per cent and a debt-free balance sheet.
"Strong financial results set us apart and we see further growth from our ground-breaking Nike deal while seeing further cost control measures," said chief executive Peter Kenyon.
Kenyon played down talk of a takeover bid being launched by its main shareholders.
"We have had several meetings with a lot of our shareholders but the story so far is that they see it as an undervalued business with potential for maximising its brand," he said.
Kenyon said the investors told him their stakes were "investment opportunities" and he would be meeting with major shareholders over the next few days. These include Desmond and mining magnet Harry Dobson who holds a 6.5 per cent stake in the club. Both men are known to be close to McManus and Magnier.
Other substantial shareholders include Malcolm Glazier, owner of Super Bowl champions Tampa Bay Buccaneers, TV show Big Brother creator, John de Mol, and Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB, which owns 9.9 per cent.
Winning the European competition, with the final being played at Old Trafford, would boost year profits by about £7 million.
Meanwhile, the Saturday afternoon "black-out" of live televised soccer could be the major victim of the next Premier League contract. Kenyon has confirmed the removal of the regulation is likely to be demanded by England's top clubs in an effort to ensure an increasing number of televised games can be fit into an already packed schedule.
At present games cannot be screened for three hours after 2.30 p.m. on a Saturday because of fears over the effect it may have on smaller clubs' attendances.
Having been nominated for live television coverage on a record 16 occasions in the Premiership, United's fixture list has become more fragmented than any of their rivals. Of 22 home matches in league and FA Cup this term, just five will have a traditional Saturday 3 p.m. start time, a situation which brought a mass protest before the home game with Fulham last month.
Three more early kick-offs have been planned for the remainder of the season, including Saturday's Old Trafford clash with Liverpool.
