Football
PA Sport 7y

Defeat in Europa League final would cost Manchester United over £50m

Manchester United will have over £50 million at stake when they face Ajax in the Europa League final next week.

United can only qualify for next season's Champions League by winning the game in Stockholm, and a number a financial deals depend on them playing in the top European competition.

The club's kit deal with Adidas would take a £21m hit next term -- a 30 percent reduction on the £70m they could receive -- should they miss out on a Champions League return.

In addition, United would expect to make an additional £30m than they would by returning to the Europa League -- revenue of £40m to £50m compared to £15m to £20m, chief financial officer Cliff Baty said on Tuesday.

To help mitigate the impact of a defeat, Baty said there are clauses built into contracts to soften the impact of missing out on the Champions League.

"Clearly the Champions League has greater revenues," Baty said. "But we do have a design, sort of an offset, within salary costs and our bonus structure, which attempts to sort of dampen the impact between being in the Champions League and being in the Europa League."

Overall, United are predicting record revenues of up to £570 million this year. The club raised guidance on revenue and profit for the year ending June 30, 2017.

United have increased projected revenue in their third quarter results to between £560m to £570m -- a £30m rise on the second quarter prediction.

The club achieved a record profit of £191.9m last year and, despite big-name acquisitions and the lack of Champions League football, are on course for earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of between £185m to £195m.

United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward said: "As we near the end of the season, I am delighted we have picked up two trophies so far, and look forward to competing for a third in the Europa League final, the only trophy we have never won.

"We are forecasting better full year financial performance than expected and as such have raised our revenue and profit guidance for the year.

"We look forward to a strong finish to 2016-17, both on and off the pitch.''

Total revenue for the fiscal third quarter ending March 31, 2017 was £127.2m and broadcasting revenues of £31.4m were up 12.9 percent for the quarter.

Staff costs rose 18.3 percent on the previous year quarter and net debt is £366.63m, representing a £17.6m increase over the year but US dollar debt principal remains unchanged.

Baty added: "The increase in net debt ... was entirely driven by the impact of foreign exchange movements on our U.S. denominated debt. Our long-term debt remains unchanged in US dollar terms.

"Following the progress of the team in both domestic cup competitions and in reaching the Europa League final, together with lower staff costs, we would now expect full-year results to be above our previously stated guidance for fiscal 2017."

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