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Manchester City post record revenues in their third consecutive year of profit, new financial figures reveal

The club's annual report for 2016-17, the first season of Pep Guardiola’s management of the club, showed a record revenue of £473.4million

Jack Pitt-Brooke
Wednesday 08 November 2017 16:00 GMT
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City's commercial revenue streams rose by 23 per cent
City's commercial revenue streams rose by 23 per cent

Manchester City posted record revenues and third consecutive year of profit in their latest financial figures released this afternoon.

City’s annual report for 2016-17, the first season of Pep Guardiola’s management of the club, showed a record revenue of £473.4million, a 21 per cent increase from last year. Like most big Premier League clubs, their matchday revenue is relatively stable – City’s was £52m - but this season saw a big jump in Manchester City’s broadcast and commercial revenue streams.

Broadcast increased by 21 per cent to £203m while commercial rose even faster, by 23 per cent, to £218m, as City secured new partnerships such as the NexEn sponsorship on this year’s shirt sleeves. City also hosted a series of lucrative concerts at the Etihad Stadium.

The increase in revenue means that the wage to revenue ratio is now down to 56 per cent, a far healthier level than the early days of the Abu Dhabi ownership era at City when it would frequently top 100 per cent.

Under normal circumstances these figures would have led to a profit estimated at £10m. But City’s profit was just over £1m, owing to the fact that this is a one-off 13-month reporting period, to bring Manchester City in line with other parts of CFG.

This meant that June 2016 and June 2017 were both included in these accounts, a month when revenue is down, with no matches, and spending on salaries, bonuses and signings can increase.

This was still City’s third consecutive year of profitability and, with zero debt, that provides the context for the heavy spending on players they are able to do.

City spent big this summer

This summer, after the reporting period for these figures, City spent big on Kyle Walker, Benjamin Mendy, Bernardo Silva, Ederson and Danilo, building a squad that is currently comfortably top of the Premier League table.

“We are committed to playing beautiful football and to win,” said chief executive officer Ferran Soriano. “Both elements are compatible and the second is a consequence of the first.”

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