ITALIAN EXHIBITION GROUP SPA: 2017 TURNOVER AT 129 MILLION (+3.4% ON 2016)

- The IEG Board of Directors has assessed the 2017 balance closure forecasts;
- EBITDA1 will exceed 23 million, +5.5% on the 2016 proforma2 balance;
- Result forecasts exceed the 2017 budget;
- IEG is Italy´s leading trade show hub in terms of earning capacity and products in portfolio;
- A turnover of 159 million and an EBITDA1 of 27 million expected in 2018;
- Chairman Lorenzo Cagnoni illustrated the IEG 2018-2022 Industrial Plan guidelines.


Rimini, 16th January 2018 - The Board of Directors at Italian Exhibition Group SpA (IEG) has assessed the 2017 balance closure forecasts, the first that completely express the value of the merger between Rimini Fiera and Fiera di Vicenza which - in 2016 - generated Italy´s leading trade show player in terms of directly organized shows.

The figures in the preliminary balance for 2017 - illustrated today by IEG President and Chairman, Lorenzo Cagnoni - put the Company in first place among Italian trade show organizers in terms of earning capacity and second in terms of turnover volume. In fact, IEG closes 2017 with a preliminary turnover of 129 million Euros (124.8 million in 2016), an EBITDA1 of over 23 million (+5.5% on the proforma2 2016) and an expected consolidated net result of more than 8 million. IEG also registers an increase in earnings from congress events with the Events&Conferences Division showing a rise in turnover to 14.6 million.
These figures not only regard an increase compared to 2016 but also exceed the 2017 budget, which foresaw a year-end closure of 123.6 million and an EBITDA1 of 21.8 million.

In 2017, IEG, with 60 shows and 280 congresses and events in its calendar, registered: 15,649 exhibitors (14.593 in 2016) and 2,648,675 visitors (2.5 million in 2016).
The Group´s net financial position is decidedly higher than expectations: 50.5 million, compared to the 40,4 million at the beginning of the year, with 10 million Euros distributed in dividends and investments, like the expansion of the Rimini Expo Centre (21.5 million) which took the exhibition space to 129,000 square metres.
IEG´s positive 2017 performance, after the already brilliant results of 2016, confirm the positive outcome of the merger between Rimini and Vicenza, showing the results of an activity that also benefits the territory of reference.

For 2018, the IEG budget foresees highly significant figures: a turnover of 159 million and an EBITDA1 of over 27 million.

Chairman Cagnoni then outlined some of the points in the 2018-2022 Industrial Plan: ´Ambitious and achievable, in perfect coherence with our company. We will speed up our performances by acting on the digital aspect, the service areas, fittings and catering. What matters to us is shareholder satisfaction, the growth of allied activities within the territories as well as supporting businesses in their efforts to re-launch domestic consumption and their internationalization process. The future on the Stock Exchange is included in our programmes but the aims of the Plan do not depend on this step, but could actually be achieved through extraordinary operations. To become an international player in competition with the big global actors, the dimension to reach foresees continuing on the road to potential integrations. As everyone knows, we have our preferences, but there are no exceptions, not in Italy nor abroad.´

Cagnoni confirmed the 2018 debut of the joint venture in China for two tourism trade shows, the effective agreement of an exhibition outfitting company in the USA and the acquisition of a share in CAST Alimenti, the higher education school in the food sector, founded by Maestro Iginio Massari.

´IEG is preparing,´ Cagnoni concluded, ´for a second internationally active year: on Friday VICENZAORO January will open in Vicenza with Under Secretary Ivan Scalfarotto and Saturday will see Sigep inaugurated in Rimini with Minister Franceschini. Between the two shows, we are expecting 200,000 buyers from all over the world with 3,000 companies exhibiting in the two Expo Centres. The Rimini Show will feature the debut of the newly extended halls, all occupied during the show with a synchronism between job creation and business activities that I have no hesitation in defining as extraordinary.´


ITALIAN EXHIBITION GROUP SPA: FOCUS ON
Italian Exhibition Group Spa, the company created by the merger of Rimini Fiera and Fiera di Vicenza, is presided over by Lorenzo Cagnoni, with Matteo Marzotto as Executive Vice President, Corrado Facco as Managing Director and Carlo Costa as Vice President. .
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IEG is currently Italy´s second largest trade show organizer in terms of turnover volume, with 60 products in its portfolio (including the Food & Beverage, Green, Technology, Entertainment, Tourism, Transport, Wellness, Jewellery and Fashion, Lifestyle & Innovation sectors) and boasts over 200 events and congresses. The Group, which has a workforce of 280 experts, also has branches in Milan, Turin, Dubai and São Paolo.
The Company´s priority is to promote the internationalisation of these sectors and help them fly the flag for beautiful and well-made products around the world. The group already has a solid base in the international market, with a joint venture in the United Arab Emirates, notable presence in the USA, China and India and South America. IEG is also the leading Italian company in the conference and congress sector.


1 EBITDA is the operative result gross of amortizations. EBITDA is a measurement defined and used by the Group to monitor and evaluate the Group´s operative trend although it is not defined in the IFRS International Accounting Standards. It is therefore not to be considered as an alternative measurement for evaluating the Group´s operative result trend. The Company considers EBITDA as an important parameter for measuring its performance as it helps to analyze the Company´s margins by eliminating the effects deriving from non-recurring economic elements. Since EBITDA is not a measurement whose calculation is governed by the accounting standards of reference used in drafting the Group´s consolidated balances, the criterion applied for calculating EBITDA may not be homogeneous with that implemented by other groups. Therefore it may not be comparable.

2 Proforma balance refers to Italian Exhibition Group S.p.A.´s 2016 balance drafted as if the merger between Rimini Fiera and Fiera di Vicenza had taken effect as of 1st January 2016 and, therefore, as if the balance expressed in the Profit and Loss Account referred to the entire year´s activity carried out by the two companies throughout 2016.





PRESS CONTACTS
head of national Media & corporate communication: Elisabetta Vitali;
Head of International Media & Corporate Communication: Patrizia Rovaris
Rimini office: Press Office Coordinator: Marco Forcellini;
Communication specialists: Silvia Giorgi; Nicoletta Evangelisti Mancini, Alessandro Caprio, Jacopo Frenquellucci
+39 0541 744510 mediarimini@iegexpo.it



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