Global event organiser and venue management group, GL events' Board of Directors has reported, as of 30 September, 2022, its revenue for the first nine months grew 84% to €804.8m.
The figures confirm a strong recovery in business approaching pre-crisis levels. And the group says that, despite the difficult context in Asia and particularly in China, its international development remains “solidly on track with growth of 92% in the period”.
GL events' reports its Q3 2022 revenue increased by 23% to €280m, 10% higher than in 2019. Excluding business in China in 2019 and 2022, revenue as of 30 September 2022 is now at the same level as in 2019, even though January and February in Europe continued to be adversely impacted by the Omicron wave.
Olivier Ginon, chairman-CEO of GL events Group, commented: “The Group’s growth momentum remained on track in the 2022 third quarter, confirming the rebound of its activities. On this basis, quarterly revenue once again outperformed the pre-crisis level of 2019. This rebound is a testimony to our exceptional capacity to adapt, to the need for stakeholders to join forces and the strength of the Group’s business model. And although market conditions in China are taking time to stabilise, we expect to resume our exhibition activities by the end of the year. With the exception of this destination, business trends are now positive in all countries with international markets accounting for 49% of total revenue at the end of September 2022.”
The chairman added that the Group was now expecting growth in revenue of more than 55% (with robust activity by the Live and Venues divisions) and operating cash flow of more than €100m, while continuing to reduce its debt.
In terms of revenues by division, business levels in both the Live and Venues divisions show positive growth momentum overall. The adverse impact on the Exhibitions division was largely due to the situation in China and an unfavourable biennial effect, the Group said.
Revenue at 30 September Q1 2022 for the Exhibitions division was €40.4m, ad €32.3 for Q2 and €26m for Q3.
The €26m in revenue in Q3 2022 for the Exhibitions division represented a drop of 51.3%. For the first nine months, the division's revenue on a reported basis contracted 5.9% from 2021 to €98.8m, largely reflecting the absence of exhibitions in China, and like-for-like was down 9.8%. Excluding China, the division's revenue was up 50%, driven by the public’s broad-based return to regional and national exhibitions, whereas major international exhibitions were still in the process of recovery.
GL events’ Venues division registered growth of 35.4% in the Q3 of 2022 compared to the same period of the previous year, with revenue of €70m. The rebound of this division was driven by a large number of events of various formats and sizes (exhibitions, conventions, seminars, concerts and festivals) both in France and international markets. In the first nine months of 2022, revenue rose to €220.2m, up 179.3% compared with 2021 (181.1% LFL).
GL events also reported progress in developing its energy conservation plan designed to limit the Group’s use of air conditioning and heating. To finance its development plan, GL events issued a €49.9m 8-year Recovery Bond (Obligations Relance) with an annual coupon of 5.2%. This is the first time that the Group has explicitly chosen to include ESG criteria in its financing.
The Group has reinforced its presence in the Paris region by securing a 10-year lease for the Montreuil event venue starting 1 September, 2022. This 15,000sqm space completes the Group’s offering in a region where the demand for organising events is particularly strong. Once up and running at full capacity, this venue is expected to generate annual revenue of approximately €5m.
In its Outlook, the Group is raising its annual targets to achieve a growth in annual revenue of more than 55% in 2022, generate more than €100m in operating cash flow; and continue to reduce debt.
The Live division is expecting significant activity in connection with the World Cup in Qatar and the COP27 (the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference) in Egypt.
