Man Utd scores profit goal

Manchester United continue to score with their financial results

Manchester United, one of the world's most financially successful football clubs, has reported a 30% jump in profits.

United, last season's English champions and currently third in the league behind Leeds and Arsenal, earned pre-tax profits of £21.8m ($32m) in the 12 months to the end of July, on record turnover of £129.6m.

The Premiership club said it would start selling financial services such as personal loans, insurance policies, mortgages and credit cards.

Shareholders can expect a final dividend of 1.39p per share, up 5.3%, giving a total payout of 2.0p for the year.

Player costs

The club said it had invested £50m on strengthening its squad and that the majority of the first team have been secured on new long-term contracts.

Stock market-listed clubs: Pre-tax profit

Man Utd £21.8m

Leicester City £0.6m

Sunderland £0.4m*

Aston Villa £0.1m

Southampton
-£0.1m

Tottenham Hotspur
-£0.8m

Sheffield United
-£1.6m

Chelsea -£3.5m

Leeds Utd -£4.0m

Celtic -£11.2m

Newcastle Utd
-£18.9m

Latest annual figures except *=14 months

It spent £18m on Dutch star Ruud van Nistelrooy and £28m on Juan Veron of Argentina, signings it said would affect profits in the current financial year.

But, with the Old Trafford stadium boasting 67,700 seats last season, compared with 58,000 before the latest capacity boost, higher gates boosted income.

Sponsorship income rose to £22.5m, from £18.5m the season before, thanks largely to deals with Vodafone and Platinum Sponsors.

Future fixtures

The club announced a deal with Bank of Scotland and Zurich Financial to launch a new range of affinity financial services products under the MU Finance brand in conjunction with current partners, MBNA and Britannia Building Society.

Stock market-listed clubs: Turnover

Man Utd £129.6m

Chelsea £106.8m

Leeds Utd £86.3m

Tottenham Hotspur £48.0m

Newcastle Utd £45.1m

Celtic £42.0m

Aston Villa £39.4m

Sunderland £37.3m*

Southampton £29.1m

Leicester City £26.0m

Sheffield Utd £5.8m

Latest annual figures except *=14 months

"Looking further forward, the value of other partnerships and opportunities with Nike, financial services and media activities will begin to come through in the second half of the 2002 calendar year and beyond," said Professor Sir Roland Smith, club chairman.

The club's £303m strategic alliance with Nike takes effect next August, and United said it is ready to exploit new and existing media rights, on both the website and MUTV, as they revert back to the clubs from the Premier League.

The club's current finance director, David Gill, will become the group's managing director, allowing Peter Kenyon to "to devote more time to develop and direct the future strategy of the business", Monday's results statement said.

In the City, Manchester United shares, which rose to 138p in early trade on Monday, closed down 1.5p at 128.5p.