Weekly Newsletter
Beijing, 17th February: Last week, Baidu, the leading search engine in China, released its financial results for the year ended 31st December 2020. Revenues in the year were US$16 billion, flat compared with the previous year.
The company’s net income in the year was US$3.4 billion, which represents an increase nine times increase compared with the previous financial year. Diluted earnings per share in 2020 were RMB 64.98 (US$9.96).
Cologne, 9th February: Koelnmesse, a large German international exhibition organiser, released its result for the financial year 2020. The company generated revenues of about €95 million (US$117 million) in the year and it incurred a loss of €115 million (US$141 million).
Read MoreMunich, 9th February: Germany-based Messe München reported projected revenues of €95 million in 2020, which is 70% below its original target, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Messe München cancelled more than 20 major events during the year.
Read MoreHong Kong has had a rough go of it with the 2019 protests and then straight into the COVID-19 pandemic. The recent government budget gave Hong Kong Tourism Board an addition US$120 million to bring the tourists back. It will be worth watching to see what they do with all that cash.
This could translate into a first mover advantage for the Thai tourism sector and its overall economy and it could push other Asian governments to consider a similar move. Mitigate the risks and restart economic activity has to be the way forward.
In addition to the above article, it also appears that Thailand is thinking about business events. TCEB organised the Thailand Virtual MICE Expo this week. In that event, it was stated that Thai officials are close to removing quarantine requirements for vaccinated visitors to business events in Phuket – which could serve as a test case for the rest of the country.
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Read MoreHong Kong, 8th February: The Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) hosted its first trade exhibition since the fourth wave of COVID-19 began in late November 2020. Hong Kong International Dental Expo and Symposium (HKIDEAS) ran from 22nd to 24th January, with an average daily attendance of over 3,000 dental professionals.
HKIDEAS, held annually at the HKCEC, postponed its August 2020 version due to the pandemic. In addition to the exhibition, HKIDEAS also featured 23 parallel sessions and four workshops, which incorporated live video conferencing. Industry professionals from Hong Kong, China, the U.K., USA, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and Lebanon attended the event, sharing the latest clinical insights and market trends.
Paris, 4th February: Earlier this month, UFI, The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, released an updated COVID-19 damage assessment for the global exhibition and trade show industry. Based on the results of the latest edition of its UFI Global Exhibition Barometer, revenues for the global exhibition industry in 2020 dropped 68% compared with 2019.
It is estimated that more than €200 billion (US$224 billion) of total exhibition-related output was lost in 2020, affecting 2.4 million full-time jobs. About €330 billion (US$370 billion) of business volume was lost from exhibiting companies using face-to-face events to generate business.
London, 11th February: Last week, RELX Group plc, parent company of Reed Exhibitions, released its financial results for 2020. Underlying revenues in RELX’s exhibition business dropped 69% to £362 million (US$493 million).
The underlying operating loss for the year was £164 million (US$224 million). According to the company, its exhibition business had a good start to the year, however by mid-March the COVID-19 pandemic closed many exhibition venues globally.
Outside of Asia, no significant face-to-face events have taken place since then. The company has been able to hold physical events in China since June 2020, and in Japan beginning in August. Some events in other countries began in the second half of the year.
Bangkok, 11th February: Business Online (BOL), a leading online information service provider in Thailand, announced that it recorded revenues of US$21 million for the year ended 31st December 2020, representing a 17% year-on-year increase. BOL’s net profit for the year grew 24%, reaching US$6.0 million. Diluted earnings per share in 2020 were THB 0.22 (US$0.0073).
More than 95% of BOL’s revenues were generated from its service business, amounting to US$20 million. This business increased by 17% year-on-year. The remaining revenues were generated from dividend income (US$880,000) and “other income” (US$92,000).
Approximately 20 airlines have agreed with IATA that they will begin using the IATA app that allows passengers to securely store and share their vaccine and test records needed to travel internationally. IATA says it is in talks with 30 to 40 other carriers.
Exhibition World interviews industry veteran Michael Duck. He offers a thorough overview of the state of the industry in Asia. He looks back at the 2003 SARS outbreak and compares it with the current pandemic and sees pent-up demand waiting for us on the other side of COVID-19.
He is not always correct, but Jim Rogers’ views are worth a look. This time he is surprisingly upbeat about India, although he sees decades of doom and gloom for Japan. He also predicts inflation ahead and a stronger U.S. dollar. And perhaps his most audacious (ridiculous) call: he likes Russia in the decade ahead. Good luck with that.
Neither Malaysia nor Indonesia have COVID-19 particularly well under control, but the two countries have decided to press ahead with a travel bubble. The move is being welcomed by local industry associations.
The U.K. is considering deploying rapid COVID-19 testing in order to allow mass gatherings to resume later this year. Hopefully, markets in Asia will take notice of this and consider it as a viable path to return to allowing business events.
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 2021)
Singapore, 1st February: SingEx Holdings Pte. Ltd, a subsidiary of Temasek, and Sphere Exhibits Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of Singapore Press Holdings Limited (SPH), have entered into an agreement to merge and form a new company, SingEx-Sphere Holdings Pte Ltd.
Read MoreParis, 2nd February: UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, has appointed Marie-Laure Bellon as its next Chief Operating Officer, effective 1st March 2021. Bellon will take over the role from Sonia Thomas, who will leave UFI in late March after more than 14 years with the association.
Read MoreHangzhou, 2nd February: Earlier this week, the Alibaba Group, the largest e-commerce company in China, announced its results for the quarter ended 31st December 2020. The company reported total revenues of US$34 billion, up 37% year-on-year. The group’s net income jumped 56%, reaching US$12 billion.
Read MoreKorea, 2nd February: Gangwon, a province in eastern Korea, has revealed plans to build an international convention centre on the site that hosted the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
Read MoreIndia, 28th January: The Government of India relaxed its restrictions under the new COVID-19 guidelines, allowing all kinds of exhibitions to be held anywhere in the country. Prior to this announcement, only B2B exhibitions were permitted.
The new guidelines take effect on 1st February. In addition to exhibitions, the government will also now allow swimming pools and cinemas to operate at 50% capacity.
Tokyo Big Sight hosted two of Informa Markets’ B2B exhibitions in January. In addition, Tokyo issued new anti-COVID guidelines for business event organisers.
Group CEO Daniel Zhang was careful to avoid discussing the company’s regulatory issues, Jack Ma and the delayed Ant Group IPO.
It is going to be another difficult year all across Asia. Thailand’s tourism chief will consider 2021 a success if the country attracts five million tourists. In 2019, nearly 40 million holidaymakers visited the Kingdom.
Singapore recorded just 2.74 million visitors in 2020. That is down 86% compared to the previous year. Notably, the majority of those visitors arrived in January and February 2020. In addition, Singapore has suspended reciprocal green lane arrangements with Malaysia, South Korea and Germany for at least three months.
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Read MoreHong Kong, 26th January: Hong Kong-listed Pico Far East Holdings reported its annual results for the year ended 31st October 2020. The company posted revenues of US$443 million, down 31% year-on-year. In addition, the company’s net profit dropped 79% during the year, down to US$7.2 million. Diluted earnings per share for the year were HK$0.0408 (US$0.0053).
Read MoreMelbourne, 25th January: Talk2Media & Events, organiser of the Asia Pacific Incentive and Meeting Event (AIME), announced the cancellation of the event due to the on-going global COVID-19 pandemic.
Read MoreBusiness Strategies Group is the only market intelligence & strategy consulting firm in Asia with a special focus on business media, information and events. Our services include research, market intelligence, mergers and acquisition support and strategy development.
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