Italian Exhibition Group´s board of directors approves the consolidated Financial Statement as at 31st December 2018

Italian Exhibition Group´s board of directors approves the consolidated Financial Statement as at 31st December 2018:
- Consolidated net profit was 10.8 million euros (compared to 9.2 in 2017)
revenue and operating profitability also increased
- Total consolidated revenue was 159.7 million euros (130.7 in 2017)
- Consolidated EBITDA1 was 30.8 million euros (23.2m in 2017)

A gross dividend of 18 euro cents per share was proposed

Rimini, 21st March 2019 – Today, the Board of Directors of Italian Exhibition Group SpA (IEG) approved the consolidated Financial Statement and the draft 2018 Financial Statement, which will be submitted to the Shareholders´ Meeting on 30th April.

The main consolidated results of the 2018 fiscal year

IEG´s consolidated turnover as at 31st December 2018 was 159.7 million euros (22.2% more than the 130.7m of 2017). Operating profitability also rose, with a Gross Operating Margin (EBITDA1) of 30.8m (32.6% more than the 23.2m of 2017).
The Net consolidated profit was 10.8m (17.9% up on the 9.2m of 2017, which had benefited from a favourable fiscal impact).
As at 31st December 2018, the Net Financial Position of the Group was 68.9 million euros, compared to 51.3 in 2017. The increase in the debt burden, although lower than expected, was due to acquisitions made in the stand fitting sector in Italy and in the United States and the inclusion in the NFP of potential debts for put options connected with these acquisitions. The relationship between Net Financial Position and EBITDA (2.2) is exactly the same as the previous year, and fully sustainable.
Consolidated net assets as at 31st December 2018 were 114.6 million euros - indicated gross of the negative reserve due to the aforementioned debt for put options (8% up on the 106.1m euros of 2017).
Comparison with the previous year´s figures must take into consideration some changes in the corporate structure (in March 2018, FB International Inc. became part of the IEG group, as did Prostand Srl and Colorcom Allestimenti Fieristici Srl, from September 2018) and the absence, in 2017, of two biennial expos which are only held on ´even´ years: Tecnargilla and IBE-International Bus Expo. On the other hand, 2017 benefited from the A.B. Tech Expo, held in Rimini every three years, and Koinè, held every two years in Vicenza.

Results of Group Leader S.p.A. and dividend proposal

The Group Leader ended the fiscal year with a total revenue of 119.8 million euros (9.5% more than the 109.4m of 2017), an EBITDA1 of 26.0m (18% up on the 22.0m of 2017 and after having paid all the costs incurred for the extraordinary transactions connected with the project of stock exchange listing) and a net profit of 9.9m (12.8% more than the 8.7m of 2017).
The Board of Directors will propose to the Shareholders Meeting on 30th April the distribution of a gross dividend per share (DPS) of 18 euro cents – for a total of approximately 5.5 million euros of net profit proposed for distribution – against an EPS of 32.2 euro cents.

Results according to business sector in the 2018 fiscal year

The results achieved in 2018 confirm IEG´s leading role in the management of expos organized directly and consequently for business profitability. In 2018, IEG hosted an overall total of 53 exhibitions and 181 conferences and events in its expo and conference facilities in Rimini and Vicenza.
Revenue from business regarding trade fair events represented approximately 62% of the consolidated total (over 98% from events organized directly), an increase of 12% on the previous year. Revenue from conference events was substantially steady (representing over 8% of the consolidated revenue). The revenue from related Services, such as stand fitting, catering and cleaning was approximately 40.1 million euros (a large increase on the previous year, mainly due to the aforementioned acquisitions). Lastly, revenue from Publishing, Sport and other business also increased considerably, accounting for approximately 4% of the IEG Group´s total revenue.

Foreseeable business evolution

IEG management - in this respect supported by the positive results of 2019´s first quarter - is confident that it will also achieve in the current year the ambitious growth and profitability targets forecast by the budget.



FOCUS ON ITALIAN EXHIBITION GROUP SPA
Italian Exhibition Group (IEG) is the Italian leader in the organization of expos and one of the main players in Europe in the expo and conference sector, with its venues in Rimini and Vicenza. The IEG Group stands out for the organization of events in five categories: Food & Beverage; Jewellery & Fashion; Tourism, Hospitality & Lifestyle; Wellness and Leisure; Green & Technology. In recent years, IEG has launched an important process of foreign expansion, also by means of joint ventures inked with local players (e.g. in the United States, Arab Emirates and China). IEG ended the 2018 financial year with a total consolidated turnover of 159.7 million euros, an EBITDA of 30.8 million and a net consolidated profit of 10.8 million euros. In 2018, IEG hosted an overall total of 53 exhibitions organized or hosted and 181 conferences and events in its expo and conference facilities in Rimini and Vicenza. www.iegexpo.it



1 The EBITDA is represented by the operating results (earnings) before interests, taxes, depreciation and amortization. EBITDA is an indicator defined and used by the Group to monitor and assess the Group´s operating performance, but is not defined in this context by the IFRS; so it must not be considered as an alternative indicator for the assessment of the performance of the Group´s operating result. The company considers the EBITDA to be an important parameter for assessment of the Group´s performance, as it enables to analyze its marginality, eliminating the effects due to non-recurrent economic elements. Since the EBITDA is not an indicator whose determination is regulated by the reference accounting standards for drawing up the Group´s consolidated financial statement, the criterion applied for the calculation of the EBITDA might not be homogeneous with that adopted by other groups, so might therefore not be comparable.





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