• Manchester City's Norwegian striker Erling Haaland holds the European Cup. AFP
    Manchester City's Norwegian striker Erling Haaland holds the European Cup. AFP
  • The team buses pass through the fans in the streets. PA
    The team buses pass through the fans in the streets. PA
  • Manchester City's Phil Foden with the Champions League trophy, Aymeric Laporte with the Emirates FA Cup and Ruben Dias with the Premier League trophy. PA
    Manchester City's Phil Foden with the Champions League trophy, Aymeric Laporte with the Emirates FA Cup and Ruben Dias with the Premier League trophy. PA
  • Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola celebrates during the treble parade. PA
    Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola celebrates during the treble parade. PA
  • Manchester City's Phil Foden with the Champions League trophy. PA
    Manchester City's Phil Foden with the Champions League trophy. PA
  • Manchester City's Phil Foden with the Champions League trophy, Aymeric Laporte with the Emirates FA Cup and Ruben Dias with the Premier League trophy. PA
    Manchester City's Phil Foden with the Champions League trophy, Aymeric Laporte with the Emirates FA Cup and Ruben Dias with the Premier League trophy. PA
  • Manchester City's Kalvin Phillips, left, with the FA Cup, Phil Foden with the Champions League trophy, and Bernardo Silva, right, with the Premier League trophy during the parade in Manchester to celebrate the club winning the treble. PA
    Manchester City's Kalvin Phillips, left, with the FA Cup, Phil Foden with the Champions League trophy, and Bernardo Silva, right, with the Premier League trophy during the parade in Manchester to celebrate the club winning the treble. PA
  • The trophy parade is cheered by Manchester City fans as it passes through the streets of Manchester. AP
    The trophy parade is cheered by Manchester City fans as it passes through the streets of Manchester. AP
  • Fans take photos as the Manchester City bus passes through Manchester. Reuters
    Fans take photos as the Manchester City bus passes through Manchester. Reuters
  • Manchester City's Bernardo Silva lifts the Premier League trophy. PA
    Manchester City's Bernardo Silva lifts the Premier League trophy. PA
  • Manchester City's Phil Foden with the Champions League trophy. PA
    Manchester City's Phil Foden with the Champions League trophy. PA
  • Manchester City fans take shelter from the rain ahead of the parade. PA
    Manchester City fans take shelter from the rain ahead of the parade. PA
  • A City fan climbs a traffic light to get a better view. Reuters
    A City fan climbs a traffic light to get a better view. Reuters
  • City fans wait for the parade. PA
    City fans wait for the parade. PA
  • Manchester City fans in the rain during the parade. PA
    Manchester City fans in the rain during the parade. PA
  • A City fan with an inflatable Erling Haaland doll. PA
    A City fan with an inflatable Erling Haaland doll. PA
  • City fans line the streets of Manchester before the trophy parade. Getty
    City fans line the streets of Manchester before the trophy parade. Getty
  • A street vendor with Champions League trophy balloons ahead of the treble parade. PA
    A street vendor with Champions League trophy balloons ahead of the treble parade. PA
  • A Manchester City fan looks upwards towards the rain clouds as the parade is delayed due to bad weather. Reuters
    A Manchester City fan looks upwards towards the rain clouds as the parade is delayed due to bad weather. Reuters
  • A fan with an inflatable Jack Grealish doll. PA
    A fan with an inflatable Jack Grealish doll. PA
  • City fans try to shelter from the rain. Reuters
    City fans try to shelter from the rain. Reuters

Manchester City named most valuable brand in world football after posting record profits


  • English
  • Arabic

Manchester City's historic success on the pitch has been matched on the balance sheet after the Premier League club announced record revenue and profits in their annual report for the 2022/23 season.

City earned revenues of £712.8 million ($889.4 million) to June 2023 according to Manchester City FC Ltd's annual report, an increase of £99.8 million (16.3%) over the previous season, along with a record net profit of £80.4 million.

"The 2022/23 season saw Manchester City scale new heights and set new benchmarks," City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said in a statement. "In short, last season saw Manchester City achieve the greatest football and commercial year of its storied history."

City experienced growth over the previous year across all revenue streams of commercial, matchday and broadcasting.

Commercial revenues accounted for £341.4 million, followed by broadcast at £299.4 million and then matchday at £71.9 million, for a profit of £80.4 million, nearly doubling the previous year's record profit of £41.7 million.

Matchday revenue saw an increase of £17.4 million (32%) with a 99 per cent occupancy rate at the Etihad Stadium and four more home games played across all competitions. However, the average attendance of 53,249 fans over 19 Premier League games was just shy of their record of 54,130 set in 2018/19.

Broadcasting revenues climbed by £50.4 million over the previous year (20.2%), primarily due to the club reaching and winning the Champions League and FA Cup finals.

Profits also benefited from significant transfer business with £121.7 million generated from player sales, up a significant 79.8 per cent over the previous 12 months.

City earned top spot on the Brand Finance Football 50 list with a brand value of £1.51 billion, passing La Liga side Real Madrid (£1.46 billion). Manchester United were fourth at £1.36 billion.

It marked the first time an English club had earned the top spot since 2018 with the report citing City's decade of dominance on the pitch and the highest revenue of any of the clubs in the report as key reasons for their rise in the rankings.

City also topped the Deloitte Football Money League for the second consecutive year with the biggest revenues of any European football club, ahead of runners-up Real Madrid.

On the pitch, manager Pep Guardiola guided City to a third successive Premier League title, an enthralling 2-1 FA Cup final victory over rivals Manchester United, and a first Champions League title.

The women's team finished fourth in the Women's Super League (WSL), but saw average attendance climb to 3,555, up 84 per cent over the 2021/22 season.

City have been majority-owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Presidential Court, since August 2008. In that time, the club has been transformed from the second-best team in Manchester to now the most valuable football club in the world.

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Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km

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Jetour T1 specs

Engine: 2-litre turbocharged

Power: 254hp

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FIVE%20TRENDS%20THAT%20WILL%20SHAPE%20UAE%20BANKING
%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20The%20digitisation%20of%20financial%20services%20will%20continue%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Managing%20and%20using%20data%20effectively%20will%20become%20a%20competitive%20advantage%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Digitisation%20will%20require%20continued%20adjustment%20of%20operating%20models%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Banks%20will%20expand%20their%20role%20in%20the%20customer%20life%20through%20ecosystems%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20The%20structure%20of%20the%20sector%20will%20change%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How to help

Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Barings Bank

 Barings, one of Britain’s oldest investment banks, was
founded in 1762 and operated for 233 years before it went bust after a trading
scandal. 

Barings Bank collapsed in February 1995 following colossal
losses caused by rogue trader Nick Lesson. 

Leeson gambled more than $1 billion in speculative trades,
wiping out the venerable merchant bank’s cash reserves.  

Winners

Best Men's Player of the Year: Kylian Mbappe (PSG)

Maradona Award for Best Goal Scorer of the Year: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)

TikTok Fans’ Player of the Year: Robert Lewandowski

Top Goal Scorer of All Time: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)

Best Women's Player of the Year: Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)

Best Men's Club of the Year: Chelsea

Best Women's Club of the Year: Barcelona

Best Defender of the Year: Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/Italy)

Best Goalkeeper of the Year: Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG/Italy)

Best Coach of the Year: Roberto Mancini (Italy)

Best National Team of the Year: Italy 

Best Agent of the Year: Federico Pastorello

Best Sporting Director of the Year: Txiki Begiristain (Manchester City)

Player Career Award: Ronaldinho

The Sand Castle

Director: Matty Brown

Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea

Rating: 2.5/5

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What are NFTs?

Are non-fungible tokens a currency, asset, or a licensing instrument? Arnab Das, global market strategist EMEA at Invesco, says they are mix of all of three.

You can buy, hold and use NFTs just like US dollars and Bitcoins. “They can appreciate in value and even produce cash flows.”

However, while money is fungible, NFTs are not. “One Bitcoin, dollar, euro or dirham is largely indistinguishable from the next. Nothing ties a dollar bill to a particular owner, for example. Nor does it tie you to to any goods, services or assets you bought with that currency. In contrast, NFTs confer specific ownership,” Mr Das says.

This makes NFTs closer to a piece of intellectual property such as a work of art or licence, as you can claim royalties or profit by exchanging it at a higher value later, Mr Das says. “They could provide a sustainable income stream.”

This income will depend on future demand and use, which makes NFTs difficult to value. “However, there is a credible use case for many forms of intellectual property, notably art, songs, videos,” Mr Das says.

The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%201.8-litre%204-cyl%20turbo%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E190hp%20at%205%2C200rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20320Nm%20from%201%2C800-5%2C000rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeven-speed%20dual-clutch%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFuel%20consumption%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%206.7L%2F100km%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20From%20Dh111%2C195%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo

The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
​​​​​​​Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km

The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo

Power: 201hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 320Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm

Transmission: 6-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 8.7L/100km

Price: Dh133,900

On sale: now 

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.”

Key findings of Jenkins report
  • Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
  • Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
  • Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
  • Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
The Year Earth Changed

Directed by:Tom Beard

Narrated by: Sir David Attenborough

Stars: 4

Updated: November 15, 2023, 5:57 AM