Man Utd set to score on the net

By JONATHAN PRYNN FOR MAILONLINE
Updated:

 

Manchester United is expected to unveil an internet strategy later this year that could could see its website hived off as a separate company.

Finance director David Gill said that the club owned two assets that gave its internet operations great potential: 'content - and a huge and loyal fan base'.

The club's manutd.com site records around eight million hits a month and could be used to broadcast live games on a pay-per-view basis.

Gill said the club would inform investors of its internet strategy 'in due course' possibly when the full-year results are announced in October.

The company revealed a 10% increase in interim pretax profits to £12.2 million on sales of £64 million, 13% higher. The interim dividend is up 5% to 0.58p.

The company said it is still losing money on its MUTV joint venture with BSkyB and Granada but that its exposure was capped at £1 million. Chairman Sir Roland Smith said: 'We are continuing to work at improving the content of the channel with our partners...while containing costs.

'All the partners are confident that if the channel can secure first-team highlights then subscriber numbers should grow rapidly.'

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