David Beckham�s extraordinary earning power diminished last year for the second year running, new figures suggest. However, the former England football captain is unlikely to be too worried, following his subsequent megabucks transfer to US soccer.

David Beckham's extraordinary earning power diminished last year for the second year running, new figures suggest.

However, the former England football captain is unlikely to be too worried, following his subsequent megabucks transfer to US soccer.

Footwork Productions, the private company through which Beckham channels his off-the-field income, grossed £11.1m in profits last year - less than the £15.5m he earned in 2005 but still more than £30,000 a day.

The company employed an average of just four staff last year, including Beckham's father-in-law, Tony Adams, who is a director. Yet Footwork still paid out total wages of £10.1m - though at £194,000 a week this was well down on the £380,000 a week paid out in 2005.

Last year Footwork, essentially a storefront for Beckham's image rights and sponsorship deals, topped a league table of companies with the biggest share of profit as a proportion of sales.

For every £100 taken in the Beckham "shop till", £77.50 is profit, it found.

Footwork's earnings are not thought to include Beckham's salary last year as a footballer at Real Madrid, which is estimated to have brought in another £4m-plus annually.

Just after the last accounting year-end, Beckham agreed the most lucrative football transfer deal in the history of the game.

The 32-year-old player left Real Madrid at the end of the season to join Major League Soccer side LA Galaxy after agreeing a five-year deal reportedly worth £128m, which will see him earn more than £70,000 a day.

Writing in the annual report, Footwork's directors said they were "pleased" with last year's results, while admitting a reduction in turnover was attributable to certain contracts having expired during the course of the year.

It was reported in 2006 that Beckham's sponsorship deals with Vodafone, Marks & Spencer and Police had come to an end, by mutual agreement, as the star, advised by 19 Entertainment, restructured his deals to concentrate on global agreements.

The directors added: "(We) are continuing to negotiate new contracts within an extended market following the recent move of David Beckham to the USA and expect the level of activity of the company to continue."

Beckham reactivated his England career this year before falling victim to injury. He arrived back in the UK yesterday to be at the hospital bedside of his father, who has suffered a heart attack.