Weekly Newsletter
Hong Kong, 28th September: The Hong Kong Government has announced that it will officially begin its “Convention and Exhibition Industry Subsidy Scheme” on 3rd October 2020. It will offer support of up to HK$1.02 billion (US$131 million) over the next twelve months.
Read MoreIndia, 5th October: The Ministry of Home Affairs has announced that the organisation of B2B exhibitions will be allowed re-start as of 15th October, after a hiatus of six months. The Ministry of Commerce has been requested to suggest Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for organising safe exhibitions.
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Read MoreThe parent company of Reed Exhibitions, RELX, has announced that Paul Walker will take over from Sir Anthony Habgood as chair of the group. Walker is expected to officially become chair in the first half of 2021. Walker has held leadership roles at a long list of public companies.
The world’s largest exhibition organiser, Informa Markets, is persevering in this very challenging time for live events. Recently, the group held exhibitions in China, Thailand and Japan.
It is not often these days that any press release refers to “soaring” figures. Macau’s Statistics Service noted that visitor arrivals “soared by 206.9% month-to-month.” That is comparing August 2020 to July 2020. Unfortunately, the next sentence noted that the August figure represented a 94% decline year-on-year.
Malaysia, 24th September: The Malaysian government has announced plans to spend RM 2.4 billion (US$577 million) as part of its second wage subsidy scheme to assist companies that continue to be affected by the on-going COVID-19 pandemic.
Companies that have recorded a 30% or more decrease in revenues will be eligible to apply for the subsidies. The monthly wage subsidy will be RM 600 per employee for up to 200 employees for three months. New applicants, who have not received assistance earlier for the first wage subsidy programme, will be eligible to receive wage subsidies of up to six months.
London, 23rd September: Earlier this week, London-listed Hyve Group, released its trading update for the year ending 30th September 2020. The company expects revenues for the financial 2019-2020 to be £105 million (US$134 million), compared with revenues of £221 million (US$282 million) in the previous year. That represents a 52% drop in revenues.
Hyve organised 12 face-to-face events in the fourth quarter of its financial year and generated estimated revenues of £9 million (US$11 million) in the quarter. According to the company, it remains in a “resilient financial position.” In June, the company completed a £126 million (US$161 million) rights issue, and Hyve reports that it has also been successful in collecting insurance claim settlements. Finally, the company has also implemented significant cost saving measures. Net debt is expected to be less than £80 million (US$102 million) as of 30th September.
London, 21st September: Informa PLC has released its financial results for the six months ended 30th June 2020. Revenues in the first half were £814.4 million (approximately US$1.04 billion) – representing an underlying decrease of 26%. While adjusted operating profit was £118.6 million (US$146 million). That is a 54% drop compared with the same period last year.
Informa Markets, which is the group’s event business, posted revenues of £284.7 million (US$350 million) in the first half of 2020, representing an underlying decline of 45% and adjusted operating profit was down 92%, falling to £12 million (US$15 million).
Paris, 22nd September: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and devastating effect it has had on the global events industry, Comexposium, a global events organiser based in France, has been unable to organise events for more than six months in some of its key markets. As a result, several of Comexposium’s holding companies have opted to enter into a “procédure de sauvegarde” with Commercial Court of Nanterre.
Although it is not a bankruptcy process, procédure de sauvegarde does suspend the payment of debts and allow the company to protect itself from its creditors. The process will also allow for a reorganisation of liabilities and provide Comexposium with a grace period of non-payment.
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)
IMG, the owner of New York Fashion Week, has announced plans to partner with Alibaba Group’s Tmall to live stream all IMG’s September shows and digital content in China. This seems to be the future of live events – at least for the time being.
This does not allow trade show attendees to by-pass local quarantine requirements, but it is an important step towards recognising the vital role that trade shows play in restarting economic activity.
Since March 2018, Uber has owned 27.5% of Grab. Alibaba may spend some of its proposed US$3 billion investment in Grab to buy shares from Uber. Alibaba will apparently be the sole investor in this funding round.
Bangkok, 10th September: Last week, Pico Thailand, the Thai-listed subsidiary of Pico Far East Holdings, released its financial results for the quarter ended 31st July 2020. Revenues in the quarter were US$3.9 million, dropping 51% compared to the same quarter in 2019. The company recorded a loss of US$421,000, compared with a profit of US$151,000 in the previous year.
Read MoreSingapore, 9th September: Groups360, a cloud-based technology solutions company operating in the meetings and events space, has announced the acquisition of IDEM Hospitality.
Read MoreBangkok, 9th September: The Thai Exhibition Association (TEA) has announced plans to partner with VNU Asia Pacific to organise a series of webinars designed to connect Thai exhibition organisers and related parties.
Read MoreAustralia, 10th September: The Australian government announced plans to inject A$50 million (US$36 million) into its business events industry. The Business Events Council of Australia (BECA) welcomed the announcement, which it said would support the restart of business events across the country.
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Read MoreThe U.S. and Taiwan are talking up the opportunity to decouple from China and move supply chains away from China. Given that the U.S.-China trade is valued at US$740 billion, that is going to be a monumental task.
Cosmoprof will go all-digital next month. Apparently, Alibaba has been selected as the digital partner of “WeCosmoprof.”
TCEB has unveiled a new support scheme to help organisers of international tradeshows in Thailand get back to business “in the wake of COVID-19.” Not sure that it is behind us yet, but BSG applaud’s TCEB enthusiasm and optimism.
Hong Kong, 3rd September: The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) announced its Hong Kong Book Fair, and Hong Kong Sports & Leisure Expo will be rescheduled. The new dates are 16th to 22nd December 2020 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC).
The Book Fair and the Sports & Leisure Expo were originally scheduled from 15th to 21st July. The events were postponed due to the so-called third wave of COVID-19 infections in Hong Kong. Local exhibitors’ participation fees will be fully subsidised up to HK$100,000 per local exhibitor at the rescheduled fairs, and the HKTDC will support exhibitors through various other discounts.
Singapore, 7th September: The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) announced that it would allow business events of up to 250 attendees. The STB will begin accepting applications from organisers as of 1st October 2020.
In addition to limiting events to 250 attendees, organisers will have to demonstrate their ability to implement safe management measures that meet the required STB health and safety outcomes.
China, 1st September: In more positive news, Tarsus Group, an international B2B media group, has recently concluded six exhibitions in China, featuring almost 4,000 exhibitors and more than 220,000 visitors.
The six exhibitions were: Automotive Aftermarket Industry and Tuning Fair (AAITF), SIUF The International Brand Underwear Fair, the Zhengzhou Medical and Dental Fair, the West China Dental Show, Hometex, the Home Furnishing Expo and, Guangzhou Prolight + Sound, occupied an exhibition area of 380,000 m2.
Hong Kong, 9th September: This week, Global Sources announced the cancellation of the Global Sources 2020 Fall Show series due to the travel and quarantine issues restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The shows that have been cancelled include: Global Sources Consumer Electronics, Global Sources Mobile Electronics, Global Sources Smart Home & Appliances, Global Sources Home & Kitchen, Tech Gifts Show, and Global Sources Lifestyle x Fashion. As a result of this development, Global Sources is upgrading and modifying its website, Global Sources Online.
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