The highest valued soccer club in the world, Manchester United (MANU), Thursday surprised investors by posting second-quarter adjusted earnings of 28.13 pence (~$0.36) per share. Wall Street was expecting the company to post earnings of $0.20 per share.
Adjusted EBITDA fell 28% to £104.3 million in Q2.
Total revenue gained 17.6% to £208.6 million (~$267.3 million), surpassing the average street consensus of $212.72 million. The top line was primarily helped by a 38% increase in Broadcasting revenue.
Meanwhile, Matchday revenue improved by 5.7% to £39 million.
Executive Vice Chairman Ed Woodward said, “The appointment of Ole and Mike as caretaker manager and assistant manager, working with Kieran, Michael and Emilio, has had a positive impact throughout the club. We are delighted with the improvement in the team’s performances since December and we look forward to a strong finish to the 18/19 season.”
Manchester United reiterated its revenue expectation for fiscal 2019 in the range of £615 million to £630 million. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between £175 million and £190 million during this period.
MANU shares closed its last trading session up 0.20% on Wednesday. The stock has lost 24% of its value since hitting an all-time peak in August.
The three-time UEFA Champions League winner also said a semi-annual cash dividend of $0.09 per share was paid on 4 January 2019.