CCID posts loss in first half

Beijing, 7th August: Last week, CCID Consulting, a research and information service provider in China, announced its financial results for the first half of 2020. Revenue dropped 54% year-on-year, down to US$5.7 million. The company posted a loss of US$1.5 million in the six-month period compared with a profit of US$1.1 million in the first half of 2019.

CCID’s largest business segment, management & strategy consultancy services, generated about 48% of total revenues amounting to US$2.7 million. This business segment decreased by 63% year-on-year. The second largest business segment was its information engineering supervision services, which generated revenues of US$1.9 million, accounting for 34% of total revenues and representing a drop of 51%. The remaining revenues were from its market consultancy services (US$1.01 million), which increased by 2.6%.

Sino Splendid’s revenues drop 59% in first half

Hong Kong, 10th August: Earlier this week, Hong Kong-listed Sino Splendid (formerly China.com) released its results for the six-month period ended 30th June 2020. Revenues in the first half were US$2.5 million, a year-on-year decrease of 59%. The company recorded a loss of US$1.3 million, compared with a loss of US$638,000 in the same period in 2019.

More than 58% of its total revenues were generated from its travel media business segment, amounting to US$1.5 million. This represents a decrease of 68% compared with last year’s figure. Its financial magazine business generated revenues of US$932,000, accounting for approximately 37% of total revenues. The financial magazine business fell 25% in the period. Remaining revenues were generated from its money lending business (US$99,000) and its new virtual reality business (US$23,000).

Global Sources launches online shows

Hong Kong, 5th August: Hong Kong-based Global Sources launched its Global Sources Online Show (GSOS) on 29th July aiming to connect its suppliers with global trade buyers. With a question mark over the outlook for physical events in Hong Kong for the rest of 2020, these online events are Global Sources’ best option to keep their suppliers and buyers engaged and to generate some revenues.

The first week of the online show, which concluded on 4th August, featured products from the medical & healthcare and study & work from home sectors. The second week, running from 3rd to 9th August, focused on products in the home & hardware sectors.

SaigonTex 2020 “postponed” to 2021

Ho Chi Minh City, 7th August: In a bit of discouraging news, Hong Kong-based organiser, CP Exhibition has decided to effectively cancel the 2020 edition of SaigonTex, one of its key shows in Vietnam. This comes despite the fact that Vietnam has managed the COVID-19 outbreak remarkably well.

A leading event in the textile and garment industry in Vietnam, the 2020 edition of SaigonTex – Vietnam Saigon Textile & Garment Industry Expo / SaigonFabric – Vietnam Saigon Fabric & Garment Accessories Expo will be “postponed” (i.e. cancelled) and “combined” with the 2021 edition, running from 7th to 10th April 2021 at the Saigon Exhibition & Convention Center (SECC) in Ho Chi Minh City.

Quick takes

Pico getting some business to build temporary hospitals

Two brief articles (with a few good photos) showing how Pico has transformed halls at AsiaWorld-Expo in Hong Kong and SINGEX in Singapore into temporary hospitals for COVID-19 patients. AWE has 400 beds available now.

Confusion and political tension over state borders in Australia

“There now appears a genuine disconnect around how various governments are approaching what one hopes is a future pathway to reopening our internal borders.” That is true worldwide as governments take very different approaches to the pandemic.

Bids for Japan’s IR projects seem to be losing interest

Las Vegas Sands withdrew from Japan completely in May. Wynn Resorts closed its Yokohama office.  Caesars pulled out last year. MGM is “expressing hesitancy,” but Hong Kong-based Galaxy Entertainment Group and Macau-based Melco are still interested. If any of these IRs are actually built, it will eventually add significant exhibition and conference capacity to the Japanese market.

Diversified cancels November event in Singapore

This is not a good sign for the outlook of events in Singapore through to the end of 2020, but it is worth noting that Diversified was the first and only organiser to cancel a B2B exhibition in Hong Kong due to the protests in 2019.

Quick takes

Global Sources kicks-off July online events

Like all organisers around the world, Global Sources’ physical events have been hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, but few organisers are as well-positioned and as experienced online as is Global Sources.

Messe Frankfurt gets restarted in Shenzhen

Over 1,000 exhibitors were onsite at Messe Frankfurt’s Intertextile Shenzhen which kicked off at Shenzhen World on 15th July.

Dyandra Promosindo plans large exhibition in October

Perhaps somewhat optimistically, Dyandra Promosindo, a large exhibition organiser in Indonesia has announced that it will go ahead with three large co-located events in October in Jakarta.

Chengdu Motor Show 2020 features 1,500 cars

Chengdu, 2nd August: Hannover Milano Fairs Shanghai, a subsidiary of Deutsche Messe in China, recently opened its first major event since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak – the 23rd edition of Chengdu Motor Show, which was held at the Western China International Expo City. Running from 25th July to 2nd August, the exhibition featured over 120 car brands and showcased more than 1,500 cars. The event occupied a total exhibition area of 160,000 m2.

According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, car sales increased 10.4% in the second quarter of 2020 compared with the same quarter last year, reflecting the increasing demand for new car purchases and vehicle replacement after the pandemic was brought under control in China.

Meorient’s revenues plummet 89% in first half

Shanghai, 30th July: Last week, Shenzhen-listed, exhibition organiser, Meorient released its results for the six months ended 30th June 2020. The group’s revenues in the first half of 2020 were just US$2.6 million – representing a massive 89% decline compared with the same period last year. The Hangzhou-based company posted a loss of US$7.6 million in the six-month period, compared with a net profit of US$2.3 million in the first six month of 2019.

As a result of the global pandemic, Meorient postponed its exhibitions in Turkey, Poland, Mexico, and Nigeria in April, May and June resulting in the steep decline in its revenues in the first half. In the same period, the company also reported a substantial increase in its expenses as the group aims to develop “online exhibitions.”

CES Asia terminated, CES 2021 goes online

Shanghai, 28th July: The U.S.-based Consumer Technology Association (CTA) has decided to cancel CES Asia 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This also marks the end of the event - as it will not be revived after the pandemic is over.

In addition, the CTA cancelled the physical version of CES 2021, which was scheduled to be held Las Vegas in January. Instead, CTA will organise an all-digital version of CES 2021.

Quick takes

UFI elects Hong Kong’s Monica Lee-Müller as president

Monica Lee-Müller, managing director of the HKCEC venue in Hong Kong, has been elected as president of UFI, the global association of the exhibition industry, for the 2021/22 term.

Reed Australia discontinues fitness expos

Following the discontinuation of CES Asia (see above article), Reed Exhibitions Australia has decided to cancel its fitness exhibitions. This is just the beginning of a long, difficult process for the industry. As the pandemic rolls on, exhibition organisers around the world will review their portfolios and cut shows unlikely to recover or expected to recover too slowly.

South China Morning Post reverts to paywall

A good summary of the SCMP’s decision to revert to a subscription model four years after Alibaba’s acquisition of the Hong Kong-based newspaper.

Indian court issues summons to Jack Ma and Alibaba

First came the U.S.-China TikTok political dust-up. Now it seems Alibaba is getting dragged into India-China trade politics. The international political landscape is getting increasingly difficult and complex for tech players.

Casinos still facing dark days ahead

Similar to the business events industry, the gaming industry is facing difficult months ahead. MGM announces that furloughed staff who have not been recalled by 31st August will be laid off permanently. And Las Vegas Sands offers free rent to retail tenants in Macau and Singapore. LVS cannot have malls with no shops when punters eventually return.

Share price movement in B2B media companies involved in Asia

Figure 1: BSG B2B Media Index vs. All Tracked B2B Stocks (price movement over past 12 months)

Figure 2: BSG B2B Media Index vs. All Tracked B2B Stocks (price movement since January 2020)

Quick takes

LVS revenues plummet in Q2

Las Vegas Sands Corporation saw its second quarter revenues fall 97% from US$3.33 billion in 2019 to a mere US$98 million in Q2 2019. Its net loss was US$985 million compared with Q2 2019 when its net profit was US$1.11 billion. It seems likely that in 2020, most global exhibition organisers will record a drop in revenues closer to that of LVS than the rather optimistic 75% drop that appeared in the results of UFI’s latest Global Exhibition Barometer survey.

Virtual events will fade with the COVID crisis

Eddie Choi thinks event organisers will abandon virtual events as soon as the pandemic is over.

Alibaba’s Ant Group to list in Shanghai and Hong Kong

Ant Group, which operates Alipay, is preparing for an IPO which will value the business at US$200 billion – roughly the same as Bank of America. Ant has an incredible 900 million active users in China. Alibaba owns one third of Ant.

Exhibitions happening in China

In happier news, Informa Markets had a good result at its China Beauty Expo in Shanghai, as did Reed Exhibitions with its gift trade show in Shenzhen – and auto exhibitions are pressing ahead across the country.

Messe Frankfurt successfully restarts in China

Shenzhen, 20th July: Messe Frankfurt, an international event organiser, has held its first large-scale exhibitions in China following months of postponed and cancelled events due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Intertextile Shenzhen Apparel Fabrics and the Yarn Expo were co-located running from 15th to 17th July at Shenzhen World Exhibition & Convention Center. Intertextile Shenzhen Apparel Fabrics featured 886 exhibitors, while the Yarn Expo showcased 125 exhibitors.

New York Times will move digital team out of Hong Kong

New York, 14th July: Recently, The New York Times announced it would relocate its Hong Kong-based digital news operation to Seoul. The shift is as a result of the recently enacted National Security Law (NSL) in Hong Kong, which was in part Beijing’s reaction to the political and social unrest that has affected Hong Kong since June 2019.

According to The New York Times, the national security law passed by China in June has unsettled news organisations and created uncertainty about the city’s prospects as a hub for journalism in Asia. The New York Times will move its digital team to Seoul over the next year, reducing staff levels in Hong Kong by about one-third. The New York Times plans to keep its reporting staff and infrastructure in place in Hong Kong for the time being.