LONDON, Nov 16 — English football club Manchester United posted a 17 per cent rise in first-quarter revenue, helped by strong growth in broadcasting income as the team returned to the Uefa Champions League this season after a one-year absence.

Broadcasting revenue for the quarter was £38.1 million (RM210 million), a 31 per cent increase from the previous year.

United, whose stars include Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, are top of their group in the lucrative Champions League competition and second in the English Premier League, eight points behind cross-town rivals Manchester City.

Controlled by the American Glazer family, United have won the English league a record 20 times and are seeking to regain the title they last won in 2013.

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United won England’s League Cup last season, as well as Europe’s second-tier Europa League competition, their first silverware under manager Jose Mourinho.

The Europa League win secured their qualification for the Champions League after they missed out the previous season.

The club’s adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) for the three months to September 30 rose 17 per cent to £36.6 million from £31.2 million a year earlier.

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Revenue for the period came in at £141 million, compared with £120.2 million a year ago.

United, which posted a 33.3 per cent rise in matchday revenue after playing two additional home games in the period, stuck to its full-year forecast for revenues of £575-£585 million and adjusted EBITDA of £175-£185 million. — Reuters