[haggler]

Red football the company glazer set up to buy united made a 7.1 million pound operating profit in the year to june 2007 - the previous years posted accounts had a loss of 37.2 million .

maybe the ginger bearded leprachaun is not as daft as many painted him . the turnaround is due to renegotiations of his debts that cut interest due .

please do not take this as me saying glazers are great for the club as i think exact opposite .

2008/9 figures are likely to be much better due to new tv deal money coming in , much higher ticket prices , cup ticketing scam and potential merchandise sales on back of trophy wins . this info comes from todays sun .

 

[fazman]

thay arnt going to buy the club to make a loss are they be serious they are overpricing tickets selling anything from shirts to pencils this is a money making machine . United are a licence to print money simple as that

 

[kingstreet]

Man Utd owners are going up
By Tom Burgis
FT April 26 2008


The holding company that owns Manchester United saw both its interest costs and pre-tax profits rise last year, according to results the owners said put the Premier League champions on a more stable financial footing.

Red Football Joint Venture's interest on bank loans and overdrafts it refinanced in August 2006 was £42m for the 12 months to June 30 last year, compared with £27.2m for the previous 14 months, accounts seen by the Financial Times showed.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose from £36.3m to £75.4m. Operating profit - after depreciation and amortisation, which includes the falling value of ageing players - moved into the black, reaching £7.1m following a loss of £37.2m. The overall loss for 2006-07 was £57.8m, smaller than the previous period's £135m.

Red Football, owned by the Glazer family, which is headed by Malcolm Glazer, the US sports tycoon, bought Manchester United in May 2005 for £790m. The purchase drew the ire of fans who feared the highly leveraged deal would impede a flow of big-name signings that had seen stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Rio Ferdinand join the club.

Yesterday's data showed net debt rose from £603m to £666m. But that includes one-off costs for redeeming high-interest loans and switching to senior debt.

The company could have paid its interest out of ebitda 1.8 times last year. However, had earnings been the same as 2006, the company would have fallen £6m short of covering its interest payment.

A spokesman for the Glazers rejected suggestions this showed a vulnerability for a company reliant on the team's on-field success, which cannot be guaranteed. "We are confident that our ebitda will continue to comfortably service our interest payments, leaving considerable cash for investing in the club."

He said confidence was partly based on a sponsorship deal with AIG worth £18m a year over five years, and another with Nike that will bring in £303m in the next 13 years. Gate receipts for the expanded 76,000-seat stadium at Old Trafford rose 28 per cent to £92.6m. Receipts from TV and other media rose to £61.5m (£46m).

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/403d583a-1...0779fd2ac.html