Italian Exhibition S p A : 267 MILLION EUROS IN 2027, IEG ANNOUNCES THE GROUP´S STRATEGIC PLAN

Tuesday, 19 July 2022

• A marked approach to development: revenues at + 49.2% compared to 2019
• The role of community catalyst
• Global expansion between Asia, South and North America
• Investments in maintenance, expansion and acquisitions

Rimini (Italy), 19th July 2022 - A turnover of €267.2 million and an adjusted EBITDA1 which, in the ambitions of IEG - Italian Exhibition Group, will rise from €13 million in 2022 to €69 million in 2027.
IEG´s 2022/2027 Strategic Plan, which is being announced to the financial community today and was unanimously approved yesterday by the joint-stock company´s Board of Directors, consists of a strong approach to development, with recovery as early as 2023/2024, based on a distinctly organisational spirit that aims to reach +49.2% compared to 2019.
Listed on the stock exchange since 2019, IEG achieved its best performance in that year (a production value of 179M euros). In 2020, the pandemic and a substantial halt in business (80M euros in revenues). In 2021, despite ongoing restrictions, revenues rose to 103M thanks also to receiving relief funds.
Now the 2022-2027 Strategic Plan outlines the growth perspective with an Italy - Foreign strategy that aims to position the Group as a global player in order to arrive at the profitability of the world´s top players, generating value for all stakeholders. Dividends are expected to be distributed once more as early as 2024.

The strategic drivers of the ´Community Catalyst´ Plan for organised events
IEG has set itself the target of becoming the community catalyst for the industries it represents at its events. In this strategy, organised trade shows become an element of steady support for the community throughout the year through the integrated use of regional and international events that accompany the main event held in Italy, investments into making processes digital and upgrading the infrastructures that host IEG´s leading trade shows, as well as through the development of vertical content for the various supply chains of reference. Due to their lure and appeal, the events organised will spawn further appointments in new and highly attractive locations. Italian Exhibition Group will work on new agreements and alliances with other operators and trade associations in order to increase the visitor pool at leading trade shows and their accreditation. As far as services are concerned, IEG will increase those with high added value for exhibitors and visitors in order to procure constant engagement. Communication strategies will also be a central driver for exhibition and event brand positioning. The Plan also aims at new exhibition clusters by integrating segments and product categories into the main events.

Internationality
IEG, which oversees and develops events in China, Mexico, the United States and the United Arab Emirates, is looking to accelerate internationalisation in high-potential, non-European markets. The Group aspires to duplicate and create spin-offs of its top events in the most interesting areas for the various products. It has set up a new Group company in Brazil with the intention of organising at least five new events. International reinforcement will also generate new opportunities for domestic events.

Business Supports
In terms of conferences, IEG plans to focus on international events. For hosted events, the strategic guidelines of the Plan centre on customer portfolio loyalty as well as streamlining, optimising and monitoring M&A opportunities for related services. As regards sports events, the Plan aims at intercepting appointments that will increase those already in portfolio. While for publishing, IEG is looking at new magazines linked to major trade shows as a further showcase for the Group´s customers.

Investments
The 2022-2027 Plan envisages investments of Euro 134.9 million divided between maintenance, expansion and acquisitions, the latter concerning Italy, Asia, North America and South America.
Expansion investments relating to the construction of the hall in Vicenza will be concentrated between 2024 and 2026 and are enabling factors for achieving the objectives of the 2022-2027 plan. Expansion of the Rimini Expo Centre, which is necessary for consolidating results and profitability, will begin in 2026 and be completed at the end of 2027. In order to guarantee space for growing events, temporary structures will be erected from 2025 to 2027.

FOCUS ON ITALIAN EXHIBITION GROUP
Italian Exhibition Group S.p.A., a joint stock company listed on Euronext Milan, a regulated market organised and managed by Borsa Italiana S.p.A., has, with its facilities in Rimini and Vicenza, achieved national leadership over the years in the organisation of trade shows and conferences. The development of activities abroad - also through joint-ventures with global or local organisers, in the United States, United Arab Emirates, China, Mexico, Brazil and India, for example - now sees the company positioned among the top European operators in the sector.

PRESS CONTACT [e-mail]

This press release contains forecast elements and estimates that reflect the management´s current opinions (´forward-looking statements´), particularly regarding future management performance, realization of investments, cash flow trends and the evolution of the financial structure. For their very nature, forward-looking statements have a component of risk and uncertainty, as they depend on the occurrence of future events. The effective results may differ (even significantly) from those announced, due to numerous factors, including, only by way of example: food service market and tourist flow trends in Italy, gold and jewellery market trends, green economy market trends; the evolution of raw material prices; general macroeconomic conditions; geopolitical factors and evolutions in the legislative framework. Moreover, the information contained in this release does not claim to be complete, and has not been verified by independent third parties. Forecasts, estimates and objectives contained herein are based on the information available to the Company as at the date of this release.

1 EBITDA is the operating result before depreciation and amortisation. EBITDA is a measure defined and used by the Group to monitor and evaluate the Group´s operating performance although it is not defined within the bounds of the IFRS. Therefore, it should not be considered as an alternative measure for assessing the Group´s operative result. The Company believes that EBITDA is an important parameter for measuring the Group´s performance as it allows the Group´s margins to be analysed, eliminating the effects of non-recurring economic elements. Since EBITDA is not a measure whose determination is regulated by the accounting standards of reference for the preparation of the Group´s consolidated financial statements, the criterion applied to determine EBITDA may not be homogenous with that adopted by other groups, and therefore may not be comparable.