Koelnmesse’s Executive Board announced its 2014 turnover totaled EUR231.2 million, or about EUR8 million more than was forecast at the beginning of the year, with an annual net loss of EUR3.3 million.
“In spite of the net loss, 2014 was an outstanding business year,” said Gerald Böse, President and Chief Executive Officer of Koelnmesse. “We have achieved a turnaround, we have grown in Germany and abroad, and we have formulated clear goals and perspectives for the future.”
This assessment is shared by the Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Mayor Jürgen Roters. “Koelnmesse has realigned its operations to make itself sustainably profitable. We can look forward to the future with pleasant anticipation,” he said. This year, Koelnmesse expects to once again set new records in its company history and generate more than EUR300 million in turnover. Provided that economic development remains stable, Koelnmesse expects to post a cumulative profit of almost EUR60 million over the next five years. The company plans to reinvest the entire amount in its own development.
In 2014 a total of 81 trade fairs and exhibitions attracted more than 34,000 companies from 96 countries as well as over 2.1 million visitors from 198 countries. Koelnmesse held 23 of its own events and 26 guest events in Cologne as well as 32 trade fairs outside of Germany.
Koelnmesse took several important steps in 2014. With the unanimous consent of the shareholders, the company launched its Koelnmesse 3.0 investment program so that it can remain one of the top trade fair locations in the future, according to Mayor Roters. Koelnmesse 3.0 is a three-stage project that will focus on modernizing the Southern Halls, improving the traffic and parking situation, making the halls more attractive, and improving the transportation routes.
The project, which will run until 2030, also involves the construction of the new Hall 1plus, which will offer 10,000 square meters of additional exhibition space to offset the temporary construction activities. Additional measures include the construction of the CONFEX® Hall for new formats that combine conferences with exhibitions and the creation of a new entry terminal for the Southern Halls that will also serve as a functional and appealing east-west boulevard. The Supervisory Board has already approved an investment volume of over €200 million for the first phase of the project, which will run until 2020.
Böse emphasizes that Koelnmesse will do all of this work completely without subsidies. He pointed out that Koelnmesse is “a member of the small and exclusive group of German trade fair companies that can be profitable in the long run, in terms of their operations as well as their investments, without any financial support from their shareholders.”