MANCHESTER United showed it was capable of getting results in the boardroom as well as on the football field as it announced a rise in pre-tax profits of 22 per cent to £39.3m in the past year.

Announcing its first set of financial results since the departure of chief executive Peter Kenyon for Premiership rivals Chelsea, the club also unveiled a special dividend of 1.5p a share.

That will be paid alongside a total basic dividend of 2.5p - the 12th consecutive year of higher payouts for shareholders.

In recent weeks, the company has been at the centre of speculation regarding a potential takeover by US billionaire Philip Anschutz, who also owns the Tampa Bay Buccaneers American football team.

The club, which has played down the speculation about Mr Anschutz, replaced Mr Kenyon with fellow board director David Gill.

He said: "These results reflect the significant success that Manchester United has achieved both on and off the field."

The figures also showed that turnover rose 18 per cent to £173m, and was boosted by higher television revenues.

The closely-watched player trading profit was £12.9m, down from £17.4m last year. The major element of this was the £15.9m the club received for England captain David Beckham from Real Madrid.

This profit, together with additional receipts for the sale of Andrew Cole and Dwight Yorke to Blackburn, helped offset the £4.5m loss on the sale of Juan Sebastian Veron to Chelsea. It also benefited from the start of a new partnership with shirt manufacturer Nike and strong contributions from the UEFA Champions League final, which was played at Old Trafford, as well as a pre-season tour to the US. Manchester United, whose shares have almost doubled in the past year on speculation about a takeover bid, said its relationship with Nike had seen the launch of its new home shirt in 58 countries.