Despite a stuttering start to the 2013/14 Barclays Premier League campaign, the growth of Manchester United shows no sign of abating as the club announced record revenues of £98.5 million for the first quarter of the 2014 fiscal year this week.

The Premier League champions, owned by the US-based Glazer family, have revealed that total revenue was up 29.9% from 2013, while first quarter sponsorship revenue has increase by 62.6%. The growth is fuelled by these sponsorship deals, with the club agreeing lucrative deals with the likes of Aeroflot, Bulova, Pepsi, Commercial Bank Quatar and MBNA among others.

For the three months period that closed on 30 September, United’s sponsorship deals brought in revenue of £44.5 million, an increase of almost 63% from the same period in 2012. Commercial revenue has also increasing by 39.3% to £10.7 million while retail, merchandising and product licensing revenue is also up by 13.8%.

United have also benefitted from the Premier League’s improved domestic and international TV rights deal, which handed the club a 40.9% rise in broadcast revenues. The club will also gain from the latest bumper broadcast deal that has seen BT Sport pay nearly £900 million to broadcast three years of live Champions League and Europa League matches.

Interestingly, matchday revenue at Old Trafford for the fiscal quarter was down slightly to £19.3 million from £19.6 million in 2012, when United received one-off payments for hosting seven Olympic Games football matches. The first quarter of the 2014 fiscal year included money earned from participating in the Community Shield against Wigan Athletic at Wembley Stadium.

The club’s predicted revenue for the full fiscal year is set between £420-430 million, an amount that would see United close in on the world’s wealthiest clubs, Spain’s Real Madrid and Barcelona.

United’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward said in an official club statement: “Our unique approach to the commercial business will continue to drive future growth. We are also excited by the continuing rise in the value of sports content, evidenced, amongst other things, by the recently announced BT deal for the UK rights to broadcast the Champions League and Europa League matches for three seasons from 2015/16.

“This deal represents a meaningful increase over the current arrangement, which should translate into higher broadcasting revenues for the participating clubs.”

United’s total operating expenditure for the first quarter was £90.2 million, a 20.6% increase from £69.6 million last year. This figure includes a 31.3% increase in staff costs from £40.3 million to £52.9 million during the first fiscal quarter of 2014. The lower staff costs from the previous fiscal year can be partly explained by a payment £1.3 million received to cover players away on international duty at the 2012 European Championships in Poland and the Ukraine.

The record revenue figures released by the club are in stark contrast to United’s faltering start to the 2013/14 Premier League campaign, where the side have largely underwhelmed under new manager David Moyes. Share prices initially fell in the wake of Sir Alex Ferguson’s decision to call time on his 26 year reign at the club, however, they are now on the rise again and saw a 2.5% rise this week.

The continued ability of Manchester United to increase its portfolio of deals is testament to the power of the club brand, which Forbes recently valued at $433 million. That valuation saw United placed third among the world’s most valuable sports brands – behind La Liga giants Real Madrid and Major League Baseball outfit, the New York Yankees.

With off-field progression continuing at increased levels, Manchester United and the Glazer family will now hope for a return to the on-field dominance they enjoyed under the remarkable reign of Sir Alex Ferguson – especially as their mega rich neighbours City continue the meteoric rise across Manchester at Eastlands.