News
Organisers report
financial hit
ecent financial
updates from some
of the world’s largest
exhibition organisers
show they continue to be pro-active
in cutting costs and raising funds,
but inevitably are taking a hit from
the ongoing pandemic.
UK-based organiser Hyve Group
reported, in a market update
29 July, trading in line with its
‘downside’ scenario despite cost
savings exceeding target and
interim insurance payments of
£12m, as well as a rights issue of
£126m secured in May.
The Group said it had taken “swift
and decisive action” and remained
“encouraged” that a number of
markets in which it operates are
beginning to open.
Hyve described the overall
situation as “fluid”.
Hyve’s initial postponement plan
had anticipated events scheduled
from August 2020, but there have
been subsequent cancellations, with
only a small number of events still
scheduled to take place in FY20,
predominantly in China, Russia,
Turkey and Ukraine.
Hyve has reported delivering net
additional savings of £25m, on top
of £9m initially planned, following
venue negotiations, the acceleration
of redundancy plans and taking
advantage of the UK furlough
scheme.
The Group says it has sufficient
cash reserves to fund operations for
at least the next 12 months at the
current cash burn rate.
CEO Mark Shashoua said: “We
have delivered cost savings above
our projections and have secured
interim insurance payments
alongside a successful rights
issue, providing a strong financial
platform to weather Covid-19.
“While the situation remains
fluid, markets across the world
are beginning to reopen albeit we
remain mindful it may take time for
customer confidence to follow.”
GL events, meanwhile, has been
seeking loans as first half revenues
dropped 55% and a net loss of €30m
was announced for the first half in
July.
Group revenue in the 2020
second quarter amounted to just
€53.6m, down 79% on the 2019
figure.
Olivier Ginon, GL events Group’s
chairman said: “Activity has been
picking up very gradually in most
countries where we operate, in
strict compliance with rigorous
public health guidelines. Despite
this, visibility for our industry
remains low.
“The Group has been
renegotiating all its contracts
in France and international
markets with all local authorities.
We are in discussions with our
banking partners to secure
additional resources in the form
of government-backed loans and
waivers for 2020.”
Mark
Shashoua,
Hyve CEO
The GL events Exhibitions
division reported revenue of
€45m, down 69.4%. with business
in the first half impacted by the
rescheduling of exhibitions in
Asia, Europe and Latin America.
One example of its move to digital
events was Global Industrie
Connect in June. The four-day
digital event presented 300 speakers
and 46 webinars and was followed
by more than 6,100 professionals.
In the second half, 2020, the
division expects a gradual recovery,
with timelines varying according
to region. In China, all exhibitions
scheduled for the second half
are expected to be held, with the
exception of those of Beijing.
The Group is awaiting
authorisations in France for the
reopening of the exhibition centres
starting 1 September 2020.
There was an ‘uncertain’ outlook
from Daily Mail and General Trust
(DMGT), according to its ninemonth
trading update to the end of
June 2020.
Revenues dropped 23% in
the third quarter of the Group’s
financial year and figures for the
events business were worse than
those for the Group overall, with
underlying growth in the nine
months to 30 June 2020 down 11%
and in the last three months of that
period, it plummeted 30%.
The Group reported holding no
events since February 2020.
In the final quarter almost all
events have been cancelled or
postponed due to Covid-19. Gastech,
which was scheduled to be held in
Singapore in September 2020, has
been postponed to September 2021.
For FY 2021, the scheduling of
events has also been affected. Big
5 Dubai has been postponed to
September 2021 from November
2020 and the ADIPEC exhibition will
not be held in FY 2021.
DMGT said it expects to recover
US$20m in respect of FY 2020 event
cancellations and postponements
from its insurance cover.
6 Issue 4 2020 www.exhibitionworld.co.uk