UNITED DEBT STORM

Exclusive by David Harrison & Rob Beasley

FRESH financial strife awaits Manchester United tomorrow when a damning fans' report accuses the Glazers of running up a £100million interest bill this year.

The Independent United Supporters Trust insist the £660m debt started by the club's American owners is spiralling out of control and is now "a ticking time-bomb".

And in a statement to be released to the City tomorrow, the Trust claim:

• The club's interest payments have INCREASED by a staggering £28m this year.
  
• The Glazer family have passed on rising costs by HIKING ticket prices by nearly 50 per cent.
  
• Some fans are taking LEGAL action.
  
• Other supporters have been FORCED to give up their season tickets.

Owner Malcolm Glazer seems to have sunk the Red Devils so deeply into the red following his £790m takeover in 2005 that even leading City financiers believe his only lifeline is to sell up.

Trust spokesman Oliver Houston declared: "The Glazers got very lucky with the increased television revenue and the new shirt sponsorship deal with AIG.

"But people should realise this extra money is being used merely to service the debt. The Glazers have not put any money in at all for new players. A lot has been made of the £50m transfer fees spent in the summer but this all came out of club funds and is being financed on the never-never.

"The simple fact is prices are going up — not just season tickets but car parking, catering, everything."

And the Trust statement claims: "Despite appearances to the contrary, the Glazer family continue to face an extraordinary and growing debt problem. Since last year's debt refinancing, United and the Glazers have been faced with a series of interest rate rises which have increased the annual debt service bill from £62m a year on the total debt of £660m.

"The interest bill is currently an annualised £100m-plus, of which £73m is payable this year and the other £27m in the future — a ticking debt time-bomb.

"The recent and continuing turmoil in financial markets has not only forced the Glazers to postpone indefinitely any further refinancing but has also seen the six-month LIBOR rate (the variable inter-bank lending rate to which the United debt is undoubtedly tied) increase to almost one per cent above the bank base rate.

"Today it stands at 6.69 per cent, driving up the annual cost of servicing United's debt to painful pre-refinancing levels. No wonder, for the third season running, the Glazers forced the club to pass on this eye-watering extra finance cost to the fans by way of a 14 per cent ticket price rise.

"This has forced many fans to give up their season tickets. They are unable to afford the latest hike, which represents a compound increase since the takeover of approximately 50 per cent.

"This has caused such a negative reaction from loyal fans priced out of Old Trafford that, for the first time in a generation, season tickets have not sold out and the much-vaunted waiting list has disappeared.

"And some angry supporters are taking legal action against the club over the new Automatic Cup Scheme (which requires all season-ticket holders to pay for all cup games — whether they want to go or not) and the unfair way it was introduced."

As we exclusively reported last week, rival groups from China and Dubai are ready to pay up to £1bn for the world's biggest club. Yet the Glazers continue to insist they will NOT sell and are in for the long term.

We probed the Americans in a bid to unravel United's financial structure. But they politely refused our request to shed light on the deepening concerns about the club's future in the climate of a global credit crisis.

The Trust report claims the debt is split into five separate loans.

The first loan of £75m was borrowed over seven years at a current interest rate of 8.81 per cent — producing annual interest bill of £6.61m.

The second of £150m, borrowed over eight years at a current interest rate of 9.31 per cent, produces interest of £13.97m. The third, also of £150m, over nine years at 9.69 per cent, is running up an annual interest bill of £14.53m.

Another 10-year £150m loan at 12.19 per cent is producing £18.28m annual interest, while the final £135m "Payment in Kind" loan is costing £23.3m in interest, although it is not payable this year.

On top of that, City experts estimate United will pay at least another £24m in capital repayments, bringing the total to more than £100m.

A City expert told us: "The problem is the Glazers have entered a deal which meant they put very little money in but have taken on a lot of debt. They are clearly looking at all kinds of securitization, like future season ticket sales to raise cash immediately and cut the debt.

"In today's climate, it is clear with these levels of borrowing at such high interest rates, the Glazers need to do something dramatic and quickly. There are really only two options — to somehow get the cost of the borrowing down or sell the club."

And the Trust statement continued: "Taking the figures from the July 2006 refinancing documents, copies of which we have seen, we have calculated United's current interest and debt service bill.

"Due to recent turmoil in the markets and cumulative interest rate rises since July 2006, the total annualised debt cost to Manchester United has hit £100m for the first time since the takeover in 2005."

It was only a year ago the Glazers refinanced and they recently held talks with three banks — JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank and the Royal Bank of Scotland — about a new debt structure.

Those talks failed to produce a deal, leaving United with a £62m annual interest bill.

But the club still manage to make huge profits and there are forecasts of operating profits of £90m for the year ending 2007.

This is due mainly to staggering gate receipts of around £87m, a £14m-a-year sponsorship deal with US insurance giants AIG and the Premier League's TV deal.

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