The Messe Frankfurt Group will once again end financial year 2016 with a high level of sales and a very profitable result compared with the rest of the sector. For the second time in a row, Messe Frankfurt Group sales are set to exceed the €640 million mark and will be comparable with the previous year’s level.
Presenting the Group’s preliminary key figures for 2016, Wolfgang Marzin, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Messe Frankfurt, emphasised: “Messe Frankfurt is the world’s highest-grossing organiser with its own exhibition grounds.”
The company will reach yet another excellent result – probably in the region of €60 million – which is a marked improvement on the previous year. This year’s EBITDA will also be better than last year’s figure and set a new record.
Marzin said: “This means that we have established an excellent basis and can continue to invest in the infrastructure at our Frankfurt base, in our brands and in digital processes.”
Market position strengthened worldwide
Detlef Braun, member of the Executive Board of Messe Frankfurt, summed up the event year as follows: “We are setting new records with our event portfolio. In 2016, a total of 138 trade fairs and exhibitions were held worldwide under the Messe Frankfurt umbrella, featuring some 92,300 exhibitors – more than ever before.”
The event attracted more than 3.5 million visitors. Messe Frankfurt’s activities outside Germany recorded dynamic growth. New records were also set here with 87 events and more than 49,000 exhibitors and 1.9 million visitors.
Braun further said: “We created a strategic framework and are using our sector expertise to expand the global trade fair map with new events, for example in Vietnam and Ethiopia.”
The international component on the Frankfurt exhibition grounds continued to increase, with three-quarters of all exhibitors and more than half of trade buyers at the company’s events hailing from outside Germany.
Messe Frankfurt is very actively involved in events in topic clusters relating to Industry 4.0. Uwe Behm, member of the Executive Board of Messe Frankfurt, stressed: “SPS IPC Drives, which is held in Nuremberg, is the most important platform for the automation sector – the most powerful driving force behind the fourth industrial revolution. And Formnext powered by tct in Frankfurt will be showing the next generation of industrial production.”
After last year’s successful debut, the event is well on the way to establishing itself as the flagship event for the international additive technology and 3-D printing sector.
Sustainable growth through investments
As regards Messe Frankfurt’s strategic direction, Wolfgang Marzin explained: “Our key growth areas are in good health and so are the factors that drive this growth, and we are tapping into new market share, in some cases by joining forces with other market players.”
For example, a strategic marketing partnership has been arranged with the US Food Processing Suppliers Association (FPSA) with joint activities planned worldwide. Following the successful premiere of the Intersec Forum at Light + Building, the conference will be held next year parallel to ISH. No fewer than 13 events were scheduled to make their debut around the world in financial year 2016.
So far, the company has planned ten new events to be held by 2018. Speaking about Messe Frankfurt’s future plans, Wolfgang Marzin emphasised: “We will continue to invest in line with our customers’ expectations and have the necessary capital to fulfil the goals of Messe Frankfurt, both now and in the future. For financial year 2017, we have our sights set on surpassing the €650 million sales mark.”