The trade fair-congress sector is back at the heart of companies’ promotional investment choices and heads back towards pre-pandemic levels
- Consolidated total revenues come to 72.7 million euros, compared with 7.0 million in the first half of 2021,
- EBITDA1 comes to 3.4 million euros, an improvement of 17.5 million euros on the first half of 2021. Adjusted EBITDA2 comes to 5.7 million euros, an improvement of 19.3 million on 2021
- Net result pertaining to the Parent Company’s shareholders comes to -5.2 million euros as compared with the loss of 25.0 million in the same period of 2021.
- Net financial position of 117.3 million euros
Gian Luca Brasini co-opted to the Italian Exhibition Group Board of Directors Starting 1st September, Lucia Cicognani will be the Manager responsible for preparing the company’s financial documents and Martina Malorni will take on the role of Investor Relator
The Board of Directors of Italian Exhibition Group S.p.A. (IEG), a company with shares listed on Euronext Milan, a market regulated and managed by Borsa Italiana S.p.A., today approved the Half-Yearly Financial Report at 30 June 2022.
Main consolidated results of H1 2022
Total Group revenues came to 72.7 million euros, up 65.6 million on the 7 million euros of H1 2021, during which COVID-19 pandemic restrictions had very much limited business.
First half EBITDA is positive for 3.4 million euros, up 17.5 million euros on the same period of the previous year, when a loss was recorded of 14.1 million euros.
Adjusted EBITDA, which corresponds to EBITDA stripped of the effects of certain specific non-recurring items, in the first half came to 5.7 million euros, an improvement of 19.3 million euros as compared with the equivalent figure of the first half of 2021.
EBIT amounted to -5.7 million euros, an improvement of 18.9 million on the same period of the previous year. The pre-tax result benefited from positive financial operations and was -5.1 million euros, an improvement of approximately 20.9 million compared to the first half of 2021.
The IEG Group’s result for the first half of 2022 was a loss of 5.6 million euros, an improvement of 20.6 million euros compared to the same period of the previous year. The result for the period attributable to the Parent Company’s shareholders amounted to a loss of 5.2 million euros compared to a loss of 25.0 million euros in the first half of 2021, improving by 19.8 million euros.
The Net Financial Position at 30 June 2022 amounts to 117.3 million euros, climbing by 11.7 million euros compared to 31 December 2021. The “monetary” NFP – which therefore does not consider the debt of 28.1 euros deriving from the application of IFRS 16, any financial payables for future put options in the amount of 5.7 million euros and the mark to market of derivatives for 0.1 million euros – came to 83.4 million euros, resulting in a 13.8 million increase in debt compared with the end of FY 2021.
The Group currently has liquidity stocks and unused credit lines totalling not less than 45 million euros. Consolidated shareholders’ equity at 30 June 2022 amounts to approximately 88.8 million euros, down on the 31 December 2021 figure, which was 93.4 million euros.
Results by business area in the first half of 2022
The period value of production rose by a total of 72.7 million euros. The change recorded in the period is the result of the Restart effect in the exhibition and congress sector, which affected all business lines and was positive to the tune of 62.5 million euros. To mention just a few, leading events were held for the Group, such as Vincenzaoro January, along with Tgold, Sigep and Rimini Wellness at the same time, were held, with a consequent positive impact on the Related Services line too. There was a growth of 2.7 million (+4.1%) in the number of activities that took place in both years, referred to as the “Organic” effect, attributable mainly to the results of the food serving and stand fitting sector. The impact of non-recurring events has been termed the “One-off” effect and resulted in a rise of 0.7 million euros (+1.0%). Finally, there is a “Calendar” effect of -0.2 million euros (-0.2%) due to the absence, as compared with the first half of 2021, of the event “Ginnastica in Festa – Summer Edition”, which in 2022 had been held in July and in 2021 in June.
Revenues from events organised in the first half of 2022 amount to 32.6 million euros, up 31.2 million on the same period of the previous year, when only digital events were held. There were nine hosted events during the half-year, which recorded 3.2 million euros in revenues, up 2.4 million on the half-year. The change is partly due to the return to the traditional dates of the main events Macfrut and Expodental – which obtained excellent performance – and partly to the acquisition of new events, carried out both at Rimini Fiera and Fiera di Vicenza.
The Congress Eventsinclude the results deriving from the management of the structures of the Palacongressi of Rimini and the Vicenza Convention Centre (VICC). During the first half of 2022, 51 conferences were held, booking revenues of 5.8 million euros, showing a recovery of 5.5 million euros on the same period of 2021.
Revenues from Related Services came to 29.9 million, up 26.8 million on H1 2022. The business volume exceeded expectations, both as concerns stand fitting services and food serving services, which, in addition to benefiting from the recovery of congress trade fair activities in the districts served, also showed growing volumes for other activities held in other locations (stadiums, canteens, car racing circuits and catering points). The increase is due to the “restart” effect for 23.5 million euros and for 2.5 million to the “Organic” effect, while around 0.7 million euros were due to the “one-off” effect.
Post-reporting events and business outlook
The participation recorded during the events of the first half and the results achieved, both in terms of volumes and, above all, maintenance of the pricing applied, suggest that the darkest period of this pandemic can be considered as definitively behind us. Confirmations of the positive sensations on the recovery of the domestic market come from the visibility on sales of events of the second half: all second half events were confirmed and the space booking levels are, to date, higher than the levels recorded in the previous year and in line or even exceeding expectations.
As regards the continuation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the instability that it is generating in Europe in terms of the procurement of raw materials and energy and price instability, the Group is operating with the aim of adjusting the tariffs to fit with the altered economic scenario.
The next few months will see a continuation of events present in the IEG Group portfolio, including the twoyearly events Tecnargilla and IBE.
On 18 July 2022, the parent company’s BoD approved the “Strategic Plan 2022-2027”. The key points of the plan were presented to analysts and investors the next day and are currently published on the company’s website, in the Investor Relations section.
In light of these considerations, the Company has confirmed its expectations in respect of Turnover and Adjusted EBITDA2 , respectively as 139 and 13 million euros.
