Manchester United are set to announce a major drop in annual profits when they release the first figures of the Malcolm Glazer era.
United are set to confirm a £12.3million drop in annual profits to £46million but only include three months of Glazer's time in charge.
United chief executive David Gill forecast the potential for a fall 12 months ago, with reduced TV money from the Premier League and lower income from the Champions League the key elements behind the announcement.
While an even earlier exit from Europe this season means there is no immediate prospect of profits rising substantially when the next set of results are announced in 12 months' time, Gill is confident the outlook for 2007 is particularly rosy.
"Like any business, we aim to push profits up year on year but our performance in the Champions League will have a knock-on effect," Gill said.
"The forecast for 2006 is very good but I am not going to predict profits will be over £50million. But going forward, the new stadium expansion means there will be nearly 8,000 extra seats from the start of next season and the end of 2007 is looking very positive."
Gill also confirmed the club paid out £2.2million in agents fees over the previous year, the vast majority of which went in the second - and concluding part - of Wayne Rooney's £27million move from Everton in August 2004.
The Red Devils paid out £1.5million to Paul Stretford's Proactive group, although Gill defended the vast sum involved.
"Agents provide a service - the issue is who pays for it, the player or the acquiring club?" he said. "We operate in a market for world class players and one of the costs in acquiring them is the service of an agent."
Gill also confirmed United spent £6.6million in legal and banking fees during the protracted Glazer takeover, which the club's board were heavily in opposition to.
