RELX’s exhibitions business up 30% in 2023

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London, 15th February: Yesterday, the RELX Group, the parent company of RX Global (formerly Reed Exhibitions), released its financial results for the year ended 31st December 2023. Revenue in RELX’s exhibitions business recorded underlying growth of 30% - or £1.1 billion (US$1.4 billion). Adjusted operating profit in the year was £319 million (US$406 million), which doubled the figure of the previous year.

RELX’s group revenue in 2023 was £9.2 billion (US$12 billion), representing an underlying growth of 8%. Adjusted operating profit for the year grew 13%, reaching £3.03 billion (US$3.9 billion).

BOL’s revenues up 12% in 2023

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Bangkok, 13th February: Business Online (BOL), a leading online information service provider in Thailand, has reported its financial results for the year ended 31st December 2023. Revenue for the year was US$23 million, representing year-on-year growth of 12%. BOL’s net profit for the year grew 7.2% reaching US8.4 million. Diluted earnings per share in 2023 was Baht 0.35 (US$0.0103).

More than 92% of BOL’s revenue was generated from its service business, amounting to US$21 million, an increase of 11% year-on-year. The remaining revenue was generated from dividend income (US$1.4 million) and “other income” (US$206,000).

Indonesia offers support to tourism and events

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Indonesia, 13th February: The Indonesian government has announced plans to establish the Indonesia Tourism Fund (ITF) to support the promotion of tourism and “nation branding” through sports, concerts, and business events. Initially, nearly US$130 million will be available through the ITF.

The ITF will be funded and managed from the marketing budget of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy (MoTCE). It will also be used to encourage tourism to destinations such as Lake Toba, Borobudur, Mandalika, Labuan Bajo, and Likupang. Beginning in the second half of 2024, the fund will support bids for international major events in Indonesia.

KLCC set for a strong 2024

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Kuala Lumpur, 14th February: The Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) announced that it has already reached 65% of its revenue target for the year.

The venue has confirmed bookings for 37 conventions and 50 exhibitions in 2024. The numbers are expected to increase due to more national conferences and exhibitions, as well as short lead-time meetings and events that will be held during the year.

Quick takes

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Two bits on Alibaba

TechCrunch reported that Alibaba is starting to attempt to sell-off “non-core” assets. That is going to be an enormous task. Alibaba has acquired dozens and dozens of big and small businesses over the past 15 years. And interesting, Michael Burry (of “The Big Short”) fame is doubling down on his investment in Alibaba and JD.com.

When events go very wrong…

Tatler Asia, a Hong Kong-based publisher, had a great event planned when football stars, Messi, Beckham and their Inter Miami teammates came to Hong Kong. Then politics, egos and emotions got in the way. Messi sat out the match. 40,000 fans were upset and it snowballed from there. According to the Financial Times, Tatler Asia had anticipated making US$1.6 million from its event, but now faces a US$5.5 million loss.

Sri Lanka goes visa-free

Sri Lanka is the latest Asian country to remove visa requirements to boost arrivals. It will be open to visitors from seven countries: India, China, Indonesia, Russia, Thailand, Malaysia and Japan. Sri Lanka had a target of 1.5 million visitors in 2023 which it narrowly missed.