Manchester City target new highs after announcing record £535m revenues

Manchester City have announced club record revenues of £535.2m, an increase of around 6%. The champions are confident this will rise again next year because of a lucrative new kit deal with Puma.

City posted the results in their annual report for 2018-19, which also shows that wages rose from 52% to 59% of turnover, having spent £259.2m in 2017-18, compared with £315.6m last year.

Manchester United’s revenue for 2018-19 was £627.1m, the Premier League’s highest, but as the club are not in this season’s Champions League it may drop markedly. This means City may come close to overtaking them from their current second place in 2019-20, with the Puma deal worth more than £600m. When United published results for their first quarter of the year on Monday, revenue was £135.4m.

City’s chairman Khaldoon al-Mubarak said: “The organisation is now at a level of maturity that enables us to plan on multi-year cycles both in terms of our management of squads and more widely across the business.

“This strategic planning has allowed us to create an environment in which continued on-pitch success is both possible and likely, and financial sustainability is a reality.”

City secured an unprecedented domestic treble last season and have won four Premier Leagues in the past eight seasons. Al-Mubarak added: “To finish a season holding six domestic men’s and women’s trophies is an outcome that represents not just a season, but a decade of hard work.”

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Chief executive Ferran Soriano believes the success can be continued: “We can all be sure that we will be focused, resilient and consistent in our approach. Victories are not accidents – they are the product of careful planning, consistent hard work and the acknowledgment of the need to stay humble and hungry.”

City believe Brexit could have material effect on the club. “Management continue to monitor the situation surrounding Brexit and any potential financial impact from this process,” a statement said.

source: theguardian.com