MANCHESTER, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Manchester United (NYSE: MANU; the “Company” and the “Group”) – one of the most popular and successful sports teams in the world - today announced financial results for the 2014 fiscal first quarter ended 30 September 2013.
Highlights
-
Commercial revenues of £59.9 million
- Sponsorship revenue increased 62.6%.
- Retail, merchandising apparel & product licensing revenue up 13.8%.
- Twelve new sponsorship deals activated in the first quarter – Aeroflot and Bulova (global); Pepsi, Apollo Tyres, Federal Tyres and Manda Fermentation (regional); Commercial Bank Qatar, Emirates Bank, MBNA and afb (financial services); Sky NZ (MUTV) and True Corporation (mobile and MUTV).
- Broadcasting revenues increased 40.9% due to the new FAPL domestic and international TV rights agreements.
Commentary
Ed Woodward, Executive Vice Chairman commented, “We are pleased to have achieved another record first quarter, driven by the strength of our commercial business and increased broadcasting revenues. Our unique approach to the commercial business will continue to drive future growth. We are also excited by the continuing rise in the value of sports content, evidenced, amongst other things, by the recently announced BT deal for the UK rights to broadcast the Champions League and Europa League matches for three seasons from 2015/16. This deal represents a meaningful increase over the current arrangement, which should translate into higher broadcasting revenues for the participating clubs.”
Outlook
For fiscal 2014, Manchester United continues to expect:
- Revenue to be £420m to £430m.
- Adjusted EBITDA to be £128m to £133m.
This assumes the team finishes third in the FA Premier League and
reaches the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League and the domestic
cups.
|
Key Financials (unaudited) |
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| £ million (except adjusted earnings per share) |
Three months ended
30 September |
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| 2013 | 2012 | Change | |||||
| Commercial revenue | 59.9 | 43.0 | 39.3% | ||||
| Broadcasting revenue | 19.3 | 13.7 | 40.9% | ||||
| Matchday revenue | 19.3 | 19.6 | (1.5)% | ||||
| Total revenue | 98.5 | 76.3 | 29.1% | ||||
| Adjusted EBITDA* | 22.2 | 16.3 | 36.2% | ||||
| (Loss)/profit for the period (i.e. Net Income) | (0.3) | 20.5 | N/A | ||||
| Adjusted profit/(loss) for the period (i.e. Adjusted Net Income/(Loss))* | 2.2 | (0.6) | N/A | ||||
| Adjusted basic and diluted earnings/(loss) per share (pence)* | 1.37 | (0.39) | N/A | ||||
| Gross debt | 361.0 | 359.7 | 0.4% | ||||
| Cash and cash equivalents | 83.6 | 52.5 | 59.2% | ||||
* Adjusted EBITDA, adjusted profit for the period and adjusted basic and diluted earnings/(loss) per share are non-IFRS measures. See “Non-IFRS Measures: Definitions and Use” below and the accompanying Supplemental Notes for the definitions and reconciliations for these non-IFRS measures and the reasons we believe these measures provide useful information to investors regarding the Group’s financial condition and results of operations.
Revenue Analysis
Commercial
Commercial revenue for the quarter was £59.9 million, an increase of £16.9 million, or 39.3%, over the prior year quarter.
- Sponsorship revenue for the quarter was £45.2 million, an increase of £17.4 million, or 62.6%, over the prior year quarter primarily due to a significant increase from the pre-season tour, higher renewals and the activation of new global and regional sponsorships.
- Retail, Merchandising, Apparel & Product Licensing revenue for the quarter was £10.7 million, an increase of £1.3 million, or 13.8%, over the prior year quarter, primarily due to additional profit share pursuant to the agreement with Nike.
- New Media & Mobile revenue for the quarter was £4.0 million, a decrease of £1.8 million over the prior year quarter, due to the expiration of a few of our mobile partnerships.
Broadcasting
Broadcasting revenue for the quarter was £19.3 million, an increase of £5.6 million, or 40.9%, over the prior year quarter, due to increased revenue from the Premier League domestic and international rights agreements, one additional live Premier League game compared to the prior year quarter, and increases in share of UEFA Champions League fixed pool distributions as we finished 1st in the Premier League in season 2012/13 compared to 2nd in the 2011/12 season.
Matchday
Matchday revenue for the quarter was £19.3 million compared to £19.6 million in the prior year quarter, which included one-off fees earned from the staging of Olympic Games football matches at Old Trafford whereas the current year quarter included fees earned from participating in this season’s Community Shield match which we did not participate in last season.
Other Financial Information
Operating expenses
Total operating expenses for the quarter were £90.2 million, an increase of £15.4 million, or 20.6%, over the prior year quarter.
Staff costs
Staff costs for the quarter were £52.9 million, an increase of £12.6 million, or 31.3%, over the prior year quarter. This increase was primarily due to the impact of a full period of wage costs relating to players signed part way through the prior year quarter, contractual player wage increases and bonuses associated with the growth of our commercial business. Additionally, the prior year quarter benefitted from a one-off receipt of £1.3 million in respect of players on International duty at Euro 2012.
Other operating expenses
Other operating expenses for the quarter were £23.4 million, an increase of £3.7 million, or 18.8%, over the prior year quarter primarily due to increased pre-season tour travel costs, and higher gateshare payments to domestic cup opponents and sponsorship servicing.
Depreciation & amortization of players’ registrations
Depreciation for the quarter was £2.0 million, an increase of £0.1 million, or 5.3%, over the prior year quarter. Amortization of players’ registrations was £11.9 million, £2.1 million or 21.4% higher than the prior year quarter. The unamortized balance of players’ registrations at 30 September 2013 was £144.7 million.
Net finance costs
Net finance costs for the quarter were £9.8 million, a decrease of £2.6 million, or 21.0%, over the prior year quarter. The decrease was primarily due to a £4.1 million reduction in interest payable on our secured borrowings and a £7.8 million reduction in premium paid and accelerated amortization related to the senior secured note repurchases in the prior year quarter; partially offset by a £7.6 million gain on re-translation of our US dollar borrowings in the prior year quarter.
On 1 July 2013 we started hedging the foreign exchange risk on a portion of our future US dollar revenues using our US dollar borrowings as the hedging instrument. As a result, FX gains or losses arising on re-translation of our US dollar borrowings are now initially recognized in other comprehensive income, rather than recognized in the income statement immediately. Amounts previously recognized in other comprehensive income and accumulated in a hedging reserve are subsequently reclassified into the income statement in the same accounting period and within the same income statement line (i.e. commercial revenue) as the underlying future US dollar revenues. This will reduce foreign exchange volatility in our income statement.
More recently, we have entered into a floating to fixed interest rate swap on our $315.7 million secured term loan creating a maximum and minimum interest rate of approximately 4.1% and 2.8% respectively (subject to leverage grid) from 25 November 2013 for the remaining life of the facility.
Tax
The tax credit for the quarter was £0.2 million, compared to a credit of £26.5 million in the prior year quarter (which predominantly related to the recognition of a deferred tax asset for the US tax basis inherited from Red Football LP). There have been no changes to the estimates and judgements in relation to the valuation of deferred tax assets since the June 2013 year end.
Cash flows
Net cash generated from operating activities for the quarter was £23.2 million, an increase of £13.9 million, primarily due to a £15.4 million reduction in interest paid.
Capital expenditure on property, plant and equipment for the quarter was £4.1 million, £0.7 higher than the £3.4 million in the prior year quarter.
Net player capital expenditure for the quarter was £26.8 million, a decrease of £2.7 million from the prior year quarter.
Net cash used in financing activities for the quarter was £0.1 million, a decrease of £7.6 million from £7.5 million net cash generated in the prior year quarter. In the prior year quarter the Company raised £70.3 million from our IPO, the proceeds of which were used to repurchase a portion of our US dollar denominated senior secured notes, comprising a principal value of £62.6 million and a premium on repurchase of £5.3 million.
Conference Call Information
The Company’s conference call to review first quarter fiscal 2014 results will be broadcast live over the internet today, 14 November 2013 at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time and will be available on Manchester United’s investor relations website at http://ir.manutd.com. Thereafter, a replay of the webcast will be available for thirty days.
About Manchester United
Manchester United is one of the most popular and successful sports team in the world, playing one of the most popular spectator sports on Earth.
Through our 135-year heritage we have won 62 trophies, enabling us to develop the world’s leading sports brand and a global community of 659 million followers. Our large, passionate community provides Manchester United with a worldwide platform to generate significant revenue from multiple sources, including sponsorship, merchandising, product licensing, new media & mobile, broadcasting and matchday.
Cautionary Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on such statements because they are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties relating to the Company’s operations and business environment, all of which are difficult to predict and many are beyond the Company’s control. Forward-looking statements include information concerning the Company’s possible or assumed future results of operations, including descriptions of its business strategy. These statements often include words such as “may,” “might,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “seek,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “continue,” “contemplate,” “possible” or similar expressions. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based on our current expectations and estimates of future events and trends, which affect or may affect our businesses and operations. You should understand that these statements are not guarantees of performance or results. They involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Although the Company believes that these forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, you should be aware that many factors could affect its actual financial results or results of operations and could cause actual results to differ materially from those in these forward-looking statements. These factors are more fully discussed in the “Risk Factors” section and elsewhere in the Company’s Registration Statement on Form F-1, as amended (File No. 333-182535) and the Company’s Annual Report on Form 20-F (File No. 001-35627).
Non-IFRS Measures: Definitions and Use
1. Adjusted EBITDA
Adjusted EBITDA is defined as profit for the period before depreciation, amortisation of, and profit on disposal of, players’ registrations, exceptional items, net finance costs, and tax credit.
We believe adjusted EBITDA is useful as a measure of comparative operating performance from period to period and among companies as it is reflective of changes in pricing decisions, cost controls and other factors that affect operating performance, and it removes the effect of our asset base (primarily depreciation and amortisation), capital structure (primarily finance costs), and items outside the control of our management (primarily taxes). Adjusted EBITDA has limitations as an analytical tool, and you should not consider it in isolation, or as a substitute for an analysis of our results as reported under IFRS as issued by the IASB. A reconciliation of profit for the period to adjusted EBITDA is presented in supplemental note 2.
2. Adjusted profit/(loss) for the period (i.e. Adjusted Net Income/(Loss))
Adjusted profit/(loss) for the period is the adjusted profit/(loss) for the period attributable to owners of the parent, calculated, where appropriate, by adding the profit for the period attributable to non-controlling interest to the (loss)/profit for the period attributable to owners of the parent, adjusting for material charges related to the IPO, the repurchase of senior secured notes, foreign exchange losses/gains on US dollar denominated bank accounts and borrowings, and fair value movements on derivative financial instruments, subtracting the actual tax credit for the period, (subtracting)/adding the adjusted tax (expense)/credit for the period (based on an normalized tax rate of 35%; 2012: 35%) and subtracting the profit for the period attributable to non-controlling interest. The normalized tax rate of 35% is management’s estimate of the tax rate likely to be applicable to the Group in the long-term.
We believe that in assessing the comparative performance of the business, in order to get a clearer view of the underlying financial performance of the business, it is useful to strip out the distorting effects of material charges related to ‘one-off’ transactions such as the IPO (including the associated recognition of deferred tax assets or liabilities) and repurchase of senior secured notes, plus the impact of foreign exchange reflected in the retranslation of the US dollar denominated bank accounts and borrowings, and in the fair value movement on derivative financial instruments; and then to apply a ‘normalized’ tax rate (for both the current and prior periods) of the US statutory rate of 35%. We have refined the calculation of adjusted profit/(loss) by also now adjusting for foreign exchange losses/gains on US dollar denominated bank accounts and borrowings and fair value movements on derivative financial instruments. A reconciliation of (loss)/profit for the period attributable to owners of the parent to adjusted profit/(loss) for the period attributable to owners of the parent is presented in supplemental note 3.
3. Adjusted basic and diluted earnings/(loss) per share
Adjusted basic and diluted earnings/(loss) per share is calculated by dividing the adjusted profit/(loss) for the period attributable to owners of the parent by the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue during the period, and is presented in supplemental note 3.
|
Key Performance Indicators |
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| Three months ended | ||||||||||||||
| 30 September | ||||||||||||||
| 2013 | 2012 | |||||||||||||
| Commercial % of total revenue | 60.8% | 56.4% | ||||||||||||
| Broadcasting % of total revenue | 19.6% | 18.0% | ||||||||||||
| Matchday % of total revenue | 19.6% | 25.6% | ||||||||||||
| Home Matches Played | ||||||||||||||
| FAPL | 3 | 3 | ||||||||||||
| UEFA competitions | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Domestic Cups | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Other | ||||||||||||||
| Employees at period end | 810 | 735 | ||||||||||||
| Staff costs % of revenue | 53.7% | 52.8% | ||||||||||||
| Phasing of Premier League home games | Quarter 1 | Quarter 2 | Quarter 3 | Quarter 4 | Total | ||||||
| 2013/14 season* | 3 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 19 | ||||||
| 2012/13 season | 3 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 19 | ||||||
| 2011/12 season | 3 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 19 |
*Subject to changes in broadcasting scheduling
|
CONSOLIDATED INCOME STATEMENT
(unaudited; in £ thousands, except per share and shares
outstanding data) |
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|
Three months ended
30 September |
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|
|
2013 | 2012 | |||
| Revenue | 98,521 | 76,316 | |||
| Operating expenses | (90,208) | (74,811) | |||
| Profit on disposal of players’ registrations | 996 | 4,818 | |||
| Operating profit | 9,309 | 6,323 | |||
| Finance costs | (9,838) | (12,476) | |||
| Finance income | 59 | 89 | |||
| Net finance costs | (9,779) | (12,387) | |||
| Loss before tax | (470) | (6,064) | |||
| Tax credit | 177 | 26,532 | |||
| (Loss)/profit for the period | (293) | 20,468 | |||
|
Attributable to: Owners of the parent |
(293) | 20,386 | |||
| Non-controlling interest | - | 82 | |||
| (293) | 20,468 | ||||
| (Loss)/earnings per share attributable to owners of the parent: | |||||
| Basic and diluted (loss)/earnings per share (pence) | (0.18) | 12.73 | |||
| Weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding (thousands) | 163,819 | 160,134 | |||
|
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET (unaudited; in £ thousands) |
|||||||
|
As of
30 September 2013 |
As of
30 June 2013 |
As of
30 September 2012 |
|||||
| ASSETS | |||||||
| Non-current assets | |||||||
| Property, plant and equipment | 256,244 | 252,808 | 250,479 | ||||
| Investment property | 14,051 | 14,080 | 14,169 | ||||
| Goodwill | 421,453 | 421,453 | 421,453 | ||||
| Players’ registrations | 144,680 | 119,947 | 135,634 | ||||
| Trade and other receivables | 241 | 1,583 | 1,500 | ||||
| Deferred tax asset | 139,434 | 145,128 | 24,589 | ||||
| 976,103 | 954,999 | 847,824 | |||||
| Current assets | |||||||
| Derivative financial instruments | 882 | 260 | 1,228 | ||||
| Trade and other receivables | 64,292 | 68,619 | 69,887 | ||||
| Current tax receivable | - | - | 3,551 | ||||
| Cash and cash equivalents | 83,602 | 94,433 | 52,527 | ||||
| 148,776 | 163,312 | 127,193 | |||||
| Total assets | 1,124,879 | 1,118,311 | 975,017 | ||||
|
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET (continued) (unaudited; in £ thousands) |
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|
As of 30 September 2013 |
As of 30 June 2013 |
As of 30 September 2012 |
|||||
| EQUITY AND LIABILITIES | |||||||
| Equity | |||||||
|
Share capital |
52 | 52 | 52 | ||||
|
Share premium |
68,822 | 68,822 | 68,666 | ||||
|
Merger reserve |
249,030 | 249,030 | 249,030 | ||||
|
Hedging reserve |
16,342 | 231 | 791 | ||||
|
Retained earnings |
129,949 | 129,825 | 8,069 | ||||
|
Equity attributable to owners of the parent |
464,195 | 447,960 | 326,608 | ||||
|
Non-controlling interest |
- | - | (1,921) | ||||
| 464,195 | 447,960 | 324,687 | |||||
| Non-current liabilities | |||||||
|
Derivative financial instruments |
1,649 | 1,337 | 1,701 | ||||
|
Trade and other payables |
18,014 | 18,413 | 23,232 | ||||
|
Borrowings |
353,476 | 377,474 | 353,966 | ||||
|
Deferred revenue |
18,023 | 17,082 | 7,131 | ||||
|
Provisions |
845 | 988 | 1,247 | ||||
|
Deferred tax liabilities |
14,913 | 17,168 | 25,608 | ||||
| 406,920 | 432,462 | 412,885 | |||||
| Current liabilities | |||||||
|
Derivative financial instruments |
571 | 29 | - | ||||
|
Current tax liabilities |
5,472 | 900 | 1,128 | ||||
|
Trade and other payables |
72,929 | 78,451 | 79,437 | ||||
|
Borrowings |
7,571 | 11,759 | 5,740 | ||||
|
Deferred revenue |
166,757 | 146,278 | 150,714 | ||||
|
Provisions |
464 | 472 | 426 | ||||
| 253,764 | 237,889 | 237,445 | |||||
| Total equity and liabilities | 1,124,879 | 1,118,311 | 975,017 | ||||
|
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS
(unaudited; in £ thousands) |
|||||
|
Three months ended
30 September |
|||||
| 2013 | 2012 | ||||
| Cash flows from operating activities | |||||
| Cash generated from operations (see supplemental note 4) | 32,770 | 33,883 | |||
| Interest paid | (9,146) | (24,503) | |||
| Debt finance costs relating to borrowings | (19) | - | |||
| Interest received | 59 | 85 | |||
|
Income tax paid |
(487) | (202) | |||
| Net cash generated from operating activities | 23,177 | 9,263 | |||
| Cash flows from investing activities | |||||
| Purchases of property, plant and equipment | (4,093) | (3,396) | |||
| Purchases of players’ registrations | (33,450) | (34,897) | |||
| Proceeds from sale of players’ registrations | 6,655 | 5,364 | |||
| Net cash used in investing activities | (30,888) | (32,929) | |||
| Cash flows from financing activities | |||||
| Proceeds from issue of shares | - | 70,258 | |||
|
Repayment of borrowings |
(91) | (62,704) | |||
| Net cash (used in)/generated from financing activities | (91) | 7,554 | |||
| Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents | (7,802) | (16,112) | |||
| Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period | 94,433 | 70,603 | |||
| Exchange losses on cash and cash equivalents | (3,029) | (1,964) | |||
| Cash and cash equivalents at end of period | 83,602 | 52,527 | |||
SUPPLEMENTAL NOTES
1 General information
Manchester United plc (the “Company”) and its subsidiaries (together the
“Group”) is a professional football club together with related and
ancillary activities. The Company incorporated under the Companies Law
(2011 Revision) of the Cayman Islands, as amended and restated from time
to time.
|
2 Reconciliation of (loss)/profit for the period to
adjusted EBITDA |
||||||||||
|
Three months ended
30 September |
||||||||||
|
2013
£’000 |
2012
£’000 |
|||||||||
| (Loss)/profit for the period | (293) | 20,468 | ||||||||
| Adjustments: | ||||||||||
| Tax credit | (177) | (26,532) | ||||||||
| Net finance costs | 9,779 | 12,387 | ||||||||
| Profit on disposal of players’ registrations | (996) | (4,818) | ||||||||
| Exceptional items | - | 3,098 | ||||||||
| Amortization of players’ registrations | 11,904 | 9,823 | ||||||||
| Depreciation | 1,983 | 1,917 | ||||||||
| Adjusted EBITDA | 22,200 | 16,343 | ||||||||
|
|
|||||
|
3 Reconciliation of (loss)/profit for the period
attributable to owners of the parent to adjusted |
|||||
|
Three months ended
30 September |
|||||
|
|
2013
£’000 |
2012
£’000 |
|||
| (Loss)/profit for the period attributable to owners of the parent | (293) | 20,386 | |||
| Add: profit for the period attributable to non-controlling interest | - | 82 | |||
| (Loss)/profit for the period | (293) | 20,468 | |||
| Professional advisors fees relating to the issue of shares | - | 3,098 | |||
|
Accelerated amortisation of issue discount and debt finance costs |
- | 2,543 | |||
| Premium on repurchase of senior secured notes | - | 5,244 | |||
| Foreign exchange loss on US dollar denominated bank accounts | 3,029 | 1,964 | |||
| Foreign exchange gain on US dollar denominated borrowings | - | (7,644) | |||
| Fair value movement on derivative financial instruments | 884 | 16 | |||
| Tax credit | (177) | (26,532) | |||
| Adjusted profit/(loss) before tax | 3,443 | (843) | |||
|
Adjusted tax (expense)/credit (using a normalised US statutory rate of 35%) |
(1,205) | 295 | |||
| 2,238 | (548) | ||||
| Subtract: profit for the period attributable to non-controlling interest | - | (82) | |||
| Adjusted profit/(loss) for the period (i.e. Adjusted Net Income/(Loss)) | 2,238 | (630) | |||
| Adjusted basic and diluted earnings/(loss) per share (pence) | 1.37 | (0.39) | |||
| Weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding (thousands) | 163,819 | 160,134 | |||
The Group has refined the calculation of adjusted profit/(loss) by also now adjusting for foreign exchange losses/gains on US dollar denominated bank accounts and borrowings and fair value movements on derivative financial instruments.
|
4 Cash generated from operations |
||||||||||
|
Three months ended
30 September |
||||||||||
|
2013
£’000 |
2012
£’000 |
|||||||||
| (Loss)/profit from continuing operations | (293) | 20,468 | ||||||||
| Tax credit | (177) | (26,532) | ||||||||
| Loss on ordinary activities before tax | (470) | (6,064) | ||||||||
| Depreciation charges | 1,983 | 1,917 | ||||||||
| Amortisation of players’ registrations | 11,904 | 9,823 | ||||||||
| Profit on disposal of players’ registrations | (996) | (4,818) | ||||||||
| Net finance costs | 9,779 | 12,387 | ||||||||
| Share-based payments | 383 | 327 | ||||||||
| Fair value gains on derivative financial instruments | (160) | (111) | ||||||||
| Reclassified from hedging reserve | (188) | - | ||||||||
| Decrease in trade and other receivables | 10 | 6,358 | ||||||||
| Increase in trade and other payables and deferred revenue | 10,685 | 14,210 | ||||||||
| Decrease in provisions | (160) | (146) | ||||||||
| Cash generated from operations | 32,770 | 33,883 | ||||||||
