Manchester United on Tuesday announced financial results for its 2018 fiscal fourth quarter and for the 12 months ended June 30, 2018.

The company said total revenue for 2017-18 rose 1.5% to a record £590 million but operating profit fell 45.4% to £44.1 million.

For fiscal 2019, Manchester United said it expects revenue to rise to between £615 million and £630 million.

Total operating expenses for the 2017-18 year rose 10.3% to £564.0 million.

Employee benefit expenses for the 2017-18 year rose 12.3% to £295.9 million “primarily due to player salary uplifts related to participation in the UEFA Champions League.”

Manchester United’s executive vice chairman Ed Woodward said: “Our increased revenue expectation for the year demonstrates our continued strong long-term financial performance which underpins everything we do and allows us to compete for top talent in an increasingly competitive transfer market.”

Broadcasting revenue for the year rose 5.2% to £204.1 million, “primarily due to finishing runners up in the Premier League compared to sixth in the prior year.”

However, broadcasting revenue for the quarter fell 20.2% to £64.7 million compared to the prior year quarter, “primarily due to winning the UEFA Europa League in the prior year.”

Matchday revenue for the year fell 1.6% to £109.8 million.

Matchday revenue for the quarter fell 27.9% to £19.4 million “primarily due to quarterly phasing of Premier League home games and impact of UEFA Europa League quarter-final and semi-final home games in the prior year quarter.”

Commercial revenue for the year rose 0.2% to £276.1 million.