How Donald Trump cost Manchester United £48.8m

[PHOTO: COURTESY]

Manchester United have laid the blame for a £21.1m half-year loss at the feet of US president Donald Trump.

Trump cut the US corporate tax rate from 35 per cent to 21 per cent in December last year, forcing the American-owned United - which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange - into a non-cash write off of £48.8m.

The news was revealed in United's financial results which were published on Thursday , when it was announced that they made a £28.7m profit for the second quarter of 2017.

A footnote at the end of the statement read:

"The US federal corporate income tax rate has reduced from 35 per cent to 21 per cent following the substantive enactment of US tax reform on 22 December 2017.

"This necessitated a re-measurement of the existing US deferred tax position in the period to 31 December 2017. As a result the loss for the three and six months ended 31 December 2017 includes a non-cash tax accounting write off of £48.8m."

[PHOTO: COURTESY]

The club's CFO Cliff Baty wasn't concerned about the reforms though, saying that the results: “should be beneficial to the club in the long term... however we are still working through the details.”

United's chief executive Ed Woodward was bullish about the results, saying: “Our solid business model has allowed us to invest in the future of the club with the extension of Jose Mourinho’s contract as manager and the acquisition of Alexis Sanchez.

“We look forward to the remainder of the season with confidence.”