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Man Utd scores on profit
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April 2, 2001: 8:29 a.m. ET
English premier league champs see sponsorship income, ticket sales rise
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LONDON (CNN) - Manchester United, the world's most profitable football club, said profit rose 38 percent as sponsorship income and gate receipts grew.
Man Utd, which last month announced a strategic alliance with the New York Yankees baseball team, said on Monday net income for the six months ended January 31 rose to £12.1 million ($17 million) from £8.8 million.
 Revenue rose to a record £72 million, an increase of 13 percent, as the club boosted six-month gate receipts to £28.4 million after the stadium was expanded to hold 67,700 fans, up from 55,300 last year.
"Our sponsorship program, which is really an important factor of that (record revenue), is critical to us going forward," Peter Kenyon, Man Utd chief executive, told CNN
The club said sponsorship income jumped 26 percent to £11.1 million after signing up Vodafone Group (VOD), the world's biggest mobile phone operator, as club shirt sponsor.
Man Utd has said it aims to increase its income from sponsorship, alliances and merchandising. Last November, the club signed a 13-year deal with U.S. sportswear group Nike (NKE: Research, Estimates) worth £303 million.
The Nike deal "will accelerate the developments of merchandising and the brand globally," Kenyon said.
Kenyon said the soccer club was managing the rising costs of players' wages through its new payment system to which both management and playing staff have agreed.
David Beckham, one of the world's most highly rated players, is currently negotiating a pay deal worth about £100,000 a week, various media reports have said.
"Jaap Stam and Andy Cole have both signed new contracts under that arrangement so we are very confident we will control our costs going forward," Kenyon said.
Man Utd is in the process of renegotiating other contracts, he said. Welsh international Ryan Giggs, England captain Beckham and midfield player Paul Scholes, and Norwegian "super substitute" Ole Gunnar Solskjaer are currently in pay talks.
An alliance with the New York Yankees, uniting the world's top baseball and soccer teams, will see them develop joint promotional and marketing ventures and they will also sell each other's licensed goods.
Other earnings figures showed, pretax profit rose 42 percent to £17.3 million and adjusted earnings per share increased 14 percent to 5.8 pence. Operating profit rose to £21.4 million from £18.6 million in the same period last year.
Income from television edged down 3.4 percent to £15.5 million, although the company said underlying growth remained strong. The club, poised to win their third successive English premier league title, is still in the lucrative European Champions League competition.
Merchandising and other turnover amounted to £13 million compared with £14.3 million in the same six-month period last year, the statement added.
Man Utd. (MNU) shares surged 6 percent to 186 pence, still below their high of 240 pence earlier in the year. 
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