Manchester United expect record revenues casting doubts on whether Glazers will sell club

Manchester United has predicted record annual revenue for the recent season, raising doubts about whether the Glazer family will sell the club.

The Premier League outfit has been courted by UK billionaire Jim Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim Al Thani, after a protracted bidding process that began in November.

Man United is expecting revenue to reach between £630 million and £640 million for its fiscal year 2023, according to a statement Tuesday for its third quarter results to the end of March. Previous guidance was between £590 million to £610 million.

The team finished the season in third place, securing a lucrative return to the Uefa Champions League. United also won the League Cup and reached the final of the FA Cup before losing to crosstown rivals Manchester City.

The record revenue could make the Glazers less keen to pursue a total exit from the club. Sheikh Jassim – who is bidding for the entire shareholding of the club, has made it clear that he will not make any further bids after submitting a fifth takeover earlier this month.

Sheikh Jassim’s main rival for control of the team is Ineos head Ratcliffe, who has bid on majority control of the shares. Manchester United has also received offers for minority stakes from investors including Carlyle Group Inc., Elliott Investment Management, and Sixth Street Partners.

The late Malcolm Glazer bought Manchester United in a 2005 leveraged buyout that saddled it with massive debts, and the family has faced distrust from supporters ever since.

While this was mitigated in the early years of their ownership as the team continued to win trophies under storied manager Alex Ferguson, resentment has grown steadily after the coach’s retirement in 2013.

The team’s non-current borrowings were $650 million as of March 31. United have funds available to buy new players from a £300 million revolving credit facility, a spokesman said.

Revenues were up 11 per cent at £170 million for the latest three months, reflecting stronger match-day revenue. Ticket sales surpassed the previous record set in 2016/17 with a cumulative 2.4 million tickets sold.

Despite the forecast of higher revenue for 2023, United posted a loss for the nine months to March 31 of £30.79 million, which is down from £57.8 million in the comparable period last year. The team’s operating expenses are £507.96 million, including finance costs.

How to improve Arabic reading in early years

One 45-minute class per week in Standard Arabic is not sufficient

The goal should be for grade 1 and 2 students to become fluent readers

Subjects like technology, social studies, science can be taught in later grades

Grade 1 curricula should include oral instruction in Standard Arabic

First graders must regularly practice individual letters and combinations

Time should be slotted in class to read longer passages in early grades

Improve the appearance of textbooks

Revision of curriculum should be undertaken as per research findings

Conjugations of most common verb forms should be taught

Systematic learning of Standard Arabic grammar

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3) People with a history of cancer in the family can be more susceptible.

4) Treatments include surgery and chemotherapy but early diagnosis is the key.

5) Anyone concerned is urged to contact their doctor

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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