Manchester United Plc said its fourth-quarter loss narrowed as the soccer team earned more from sponsorship on the way to a record-extending 20th English league title.

Annual revenue rose 13 percent to a record £363.2 million. The net loss was £2.7 million, or 2 pence per share, for the three months to June 30th, after a £10.6 million loss, or 7 pence a share, in the year-earlier period, the company said.

Net income before adjustments, which included tax charges from before last year’s initial public offering, was £106 million, compared with a £14.9 million loss. Revenue rose 14 per cent in the quarter to 85.1 million pounds as United continued a “scalpel not a spade approach” to mining territories for sponsors, Executive Vice-Chairman Ed Woodward said in a conference call with analysts. “Our commercial business continues to be a very powerful engine of growth, enabling the team to continue to be successful,” Woodward said.

Sponsorship sales rose 49 per cent for the quarter to £21.3 million. Retail and licensing sales increased by 22 per cent to £10.5 million, and matchday revenue increased by 9 per cent compared with the year-earlier period when United finished the season without a trophy for the first time since 2005.

In the quarter, United signed sponsorship agreements with the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam and Japanese mobile-game designer Gloops. Nike Deal United, which is in talks about improving its agreement with apparel supplier Nike, expects revenue to be between £420 million and £430 million for fiscal 2014, based on finishing third in the Premier League and reaching the Champions League and domestic Cup quarterfinals. United, which raised $233 million in the August 2012 IPO in the US, doesn’t have any immediate plans for further share sales, Woodward said, after United made a so-called “shelf” filing that says it may seek to raise $400 million at some point in the future. – (Bloomberg)