‘Manchester United is expected to reveal tomorrow that six-month pre-tax profits have more than halved, reflecting the football club's reduced earnings from European matches, declining media revenues and a rising wage bill.
‘Analysts predict the club will say pre-tax profits for the half-year to January 31 have collapsed to between £12m and £13m - down from £26.8m for the same period a year earlier.
‘The decline in profits is likely to be seized on by acquisitive American billionaire Malcolm Glazer who holds a 28.1% stake in Manchester United and has been circling the club for months. He is expected to launch a formal offer within the next few weeks, having indicated a provisional offer price of £800m, worth 300p a share to investors.
‘Mr Glazer's advisers are likely to point out that interim profit levels will have fallen from a high of £30.9m in 2002, and have reached their lowest level since 2000.
‘The decline will in part be explained by the £1.1m write-off related to the sale of Eric Djemba-Djemba to Aston Villa. It also reflects lower Champions' League earnings, which followed from the club's third-place finish in the Premiership last season.’