Revenue, costs rise at Manchester United

MUMBAI: English soccer club Manchester United has posted a revenue of ?175 million for the six months to the end of 2011, up from ?156.5 million a year earlier, driven largely by rises in media and commercial income, including a new training kit deal with DHL.

Operating costs, however, rose to ?110 million from ?96.9 million.

Match day revenues rose from ?52.4 million to ?54.5 million, media revenue were up from ?53.7 million to ?60.9 million and commercial revenue was up from ?50.4 million to ?58.6 million.

There was a fall in the bank balance, from ?150.6 million to ?50.9 million, over six months as a result of the ?47 million net outlay on transfers in the summer and ?5.3 million in the most recent quarter alone spent on buying back bonds.

Debt was ?439 million less than the ?508 million reported a year ago.