Man City report club record revenues of £473.4m
Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has hailed the Premier League leaders’ financial success after they announced club record revenues of £473.4m.
The figure was a 21 per cent increase on 2015-16 but pre-tax profit fell from £19.5m to £0.1m – a drastic reduction that City attributed to a 13-month reporting period as the club changed its cycle.
“What hopefully comes across is that the football organization and off-field business have the right symmetry and balance to allow us to continue to further strengthen and grow,” said Al Mubarak.
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City’s revenue for last year is the second highest reported by an English club. Only Manchester United, named the richest team in the world by analysts Deloitte, generated more, with £581.2m. Arsenal, by comparison, reported revenue of £422.8m.
All Premier League clubs enjoyed a financial boost last season as a new cycle of television contracts worth more than £8bn over three years took effect. City’s broadcast revenue rose to £203.5m in 2016-17, up from £161.4m the previous year.
Commercial income grew from £177.9m to £218.0m, in part due to an expanded partnership with Nexen Tire. Revenue from match-day operations fell marginally to £51.9m.
City have spent around £375m over the last three transfer windows on furnishing manager Pep Guardiola with star talent including Leroy Sane, Gabriel Jesus, Kyle Walker and John Stones.
Their runaway success so far this season suggests it is bearing fruit, but Al Mubarak warned that “silverware remains the most important on-field performance benchmark”.
He added: “Having set such high standards for ourselves it is inevitable that finishing a campaign empty-handed brought with it a raw sense of disappointment.”
Chief executive Ferran Soriano said City would “never be satisfied” with another barren season, adding: “I am convinced we will see further progress and silverware in the seasons to come.”
