Manchester United said on Wednesday it turned a profit in the second quarter as its cost-cutting measures began to bear fruit, though lower sponsorship revenue and ticket sales after missing out on European competitions reined in earnings.
Over the past year, the club has resorted to cutting jobs, staff lunches and other cost-saving measures after six consecutive years of financial losses, brought on by underperformance both on and off the pitch.
“We are now seeing the positive financial impact of our off-pitch transformation materialise both in our costs and profitability,” chief executive Omar Berrada said.
After an inconsistent run in the English Premier League since last season, the 20-time English champions have seemingly found their footing under interim manager and former midfielder Michael Carrick, who replaced head coach Ruben Amorim in January.
The club’s debt swelled 37 per cent to £295.7 million (€339 million) at the end of 2025, while cash and cash equivalents fell to £44.4 million from £95.5 million a year earlier.
United reported a net profit of £4.2 million for the quarter to December 31st, compared with a loss of £27.7 million a year earlier.
United’s total revenues for the second quarter of its financial year were £190.3 million, down from £198.7 million for the equivalent period the previous year.
Commercial revenue dropped from £85.1 million to £78.5 million. Within that, sponsorship revenue was £37.2 million, 13.5 per cent of £5.8 million weaker year-on-year, largely due to the club’s training kit deal with Tezos coming to an end.
Merchandising revenue was also lower, down 1.9 per cent at £41.3 million.
Match day revenues were down from £52 million to £49.5 million which the club attributed to playing three fewer cup matches in the period after they got knocked out at the first hurdle in both the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup.
The club maintained its annual revenue forecast of between £640 million and £660 million, and profit of £180 million to £200 million. – Reuters
