EUROPE – German organiser and venue operator Messe Frankfurt claims to have brought about a “sustainable increase in profitability” with record levels of group and foreign sales for its 2011 financial year.
The final figure for group sales was €467.5m (US$572.6m) for the 2011 reporting year, a figure derived from a total of 100 trade fairs and exhibitions organised by Messe Frankfurt around the world. These events were attended by 3.4 million visitors and featured 68,800 exhibitors. Sixty-three trade fairs and exhibitions were organised outside Germany.
A total of 31 trade fairs and exhibitions took place in the group’s operational base and public-owned venue in Frankfurt, of which 14 were organised by the Messe Frankfurt Group itself. Approximately 18,900 exhibitors and 742,000 visitors attended the home events in all, while six further events were held in other German exhibition venues.
President and CEO of Messe Frankfurt Wolfgang Marzin said that despite 2011 being “by no means an easy year from an economic perspective”, the company has succeeded in further expanding its business activities.
“In the first six months of 2012, we made important strategic decisions for our operating business,” said Marzin, highlighting the construction of the new congress building Kap Europa (pictured) and the premature termination of the group’s cross-border leasing arrangements.
“We benefit from the fact that we serve a healthy mix of sectors with our internationally leading trade fairs,” he added. Messe Frankfurt expects sales to increase to more than €500 million in the 2012 financial year.
Much of the German uber-organiser’s success was derived on home soil. Taking into account the sales revenue attributable to the group’s service subsidiaries Accente Gastronomie Service and Messe Frankfurt Medien und Service, a consistently high proportion of its revenue was generated in Frankfurt at €310.9 million, or 67 per cent.
Away from home, the group’s operating business registered a new sales record with €132.4m. “Wenow generate 28.3 per cent of our sales revenue outside Germany,” commented Marzin, adding that at €81.9m, the Asian subsidiaries belonging to Messe Frankfurt Asia Holding were the main driver of non-German sales. In total the group’s foreign events attracted an estimated 30,650 exhibitors and 1,063 million visitors, more than it has achieved previously.
The group did however incur additional expenditure during the year, largely in connection with improving the quality of the exhibition grounds in Frankfurt. And as with previous years, Messe Frankfurt has found itself in a position to distribute €13m in profits to its shareholders. The group has a total of 1,725 active employees.
Marzin claims that in the coming months and years the group intends to plough the same furrow.
“Over the past months we have sharpened the focus of our activities,” he said. “This includes further optimising our product portfolio and bringing about lasting improvements to our internal processes and structures.”
The newly-formed European Exhibition Industry Alliance (EEIA) recently announced Messe Frankfurt luminary Barbara Weizsacker has been appointed as its general secretary.
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