Man City halve annual loss after title win
Reuters - Friday 14 December 2012, 16:57
Premier League champions Manchester City halved their annual losses to
97.9 million pounds in 2011/12 after winning the
top-flight title for the first time since 1968.
The
club, bankrolled by Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of Abu
Dhabi's ruling family, had racked up a deficit of 197.5 million pounds
the previous year, the highest recorded in British soccer.
Despite
remaining deep in the red, City said they were well placed to meet new
financial fair play rules being introduced by UEFA to force clubs to
clean up their balance sheets or risk exclusion from European
competition.
The club noted
that some of their spending and investment last season would be covered
by exemptions under the rules being brought in by European football's
governing body.
Chief
executive Ferran Soriano said the priority for City was success on the
field which would drive commercial growth and provide more money to
spend on the team.
"This cycle will be key in achieving the long-held ambition for sustainability at Manchester City," he said in a statement.
Soriano
is confident City's plans to build an academy for young players
adjacent to their Etihad Stadium will help the club prosper.
"It
is my belief this project and the long-term perspective of our owner
will further differentiate the club from its competitors in the future,"
he added.
HIGHER REVENUE
Record
revenue of 231 million pounds, an increase of more than 50 percent,
helped City to rein in their losses in a season when they pipped local
rivals Manchester United to the Premier League title.
The
value of a new 10-year sponsorship agreement with Etihad Airways, the
national airline of Abu Dhabi, was illustrated by a doubling of
commercial revenue to 97 million pounds.
However, City's annual revenue fell short of the 320 million pounds generated by United last season.
The
club said they invested heavily to buy players and create a winning
team after Sheikh Mansour took over in 2008 and that recruitment
spending had now passed its peak.
However
City, whose players include Argentina's Carlos Tevez and Yaya Toure of
the Ivory Coast, spent more than 200 million pounds on wages and related
staff costs last season.
The
club have already been eliminated from the lucrative Champions League
this season and are second in the Premier League, six points behind
United after a 3-2 defeat in the Manchester derby last weekend.