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.
What is Folia?
Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal's new plant-based menu will launch at Four Seasons hotels in Dubai this November. A desire to cater to people looking for clean, healthy meals beyond green salad is what inspired Prince Khaled and American celebrity chef Matthew Kenney to create Folia. The word means "from the leaves" in Latin, and the exclusive menu offers fine plant-based cuisine across Four Seasons properties in Los Angeles, Bahrain and, soon, Dubai.
Kenney specialises in vegan cuisine and is the founder of Plant Food Wine and 20 other restaurants worldwide. "I’ve always appreciated Matthew’s work," says the Saudi royal. "He has a singular culinary talent and his approach to plant-based dining is prescient and unrivalled. I was a fan of his long before we established our professional relationship."
Folia first launched at The Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills in July 2018. It is available at the poolside Cabana Restaurant and for in-room dining across the property, as well as in its private event space. The food is vibrant and colourful, full of fresh dishes such as the hearts of palm ceviche with California fruit, vegetables and edible flowers; green hearb tacos filled with roasted squash and king oyster barbacoa; and a savoury coconut cream pie with macadamia crust.
In March 2019, the Folia menu reached Gulf shores, as it was introduced at the Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay, where it is served at the Bay View Lounge. Next, on Tuesday, November 1 – also known as World Vegan Day – it will come to the UAE, to the Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach and the Four Seasons DIFC, both properties Prince Khaled has spent "considerable time at and love".
There are also plans to take Folia to several more locations throughout the Middle East and Europe.
While health-conscious diners will be attracted to the concept, Prince Khaled is careful to stress Folia is "not meant for a specific subset of customers. It is meant for everyone who wants a culinary experience without the negative impact that eating out so often comes with."
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What is a robo-adviser?
Robo-advisers use an online sign-up process to gauge an investor’s risk tolerance by feeding information such as their age, income, saving goals and investment history into an algorithm, which then assigns them an investment portfolio, ranging from more conservative to higher risk ones.
These portfolios are made up of exchange traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to indices such as US and global equities, fixed-income products like bonds, though exposure to real estate, commodity ETFs or gold is also possible.
Investing in ETFs allows robo-advisers to offer fees far lower than traditional investments, such as actively managed mutual funds bought through a bank or broker. Investors can buy ETFs directly via a brokerage, but with robo-advisers they benefit from investment portfolios matched to their risk tolerance as well as being user friendly.
Many robo-advisers charge what are called wrap fees, meaning there are no additional fees such as subscription or withdrawal fees, success fees or fees for rebalancing.
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
French business
France has organised a delegation of leading businesses to travel to Syria. The group was led by French shipping giant CMA CGM, which struck a 30-year contract in May with the Syrian government to develop and run Latakia port. Also present were water and waste management company Suez, defence multinational Thales, and Ellipse Group, which is currently looking into rehabilitating Syrian hospitals.
The Breadwinner
Director: Nora Twomey
Starring: Saara Chaudry, Soma Chhaya, Laara Sadiq
Three stars
What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
- Tourism industry knowledge.
- Professional ethics.
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Neil Thomson – THE BIO
Family: I am happily married to my wife Liz and we have two children together.
Favourite music: Rock music. I started at a young age due to my father’s influence. He played in an Indian rock band The Flintstones who were once asked by Apple Records to fly over to England to perform there.
Favourite book: I constantly find myself reading The Bible.
Favourite film: The Greatest Showman.
Favourite holiday destination: I love visiting Melbourne as I have family there and it’s a wonderful place. New York at Christmas is also magical.
Favourite food: I went to boarding school so I like any cuisine really.
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
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