Italian Exhibition S p A : Loan agreements supported by SACE guarantee have been signed

press release

Italian Exhibition Group S.p.A.:

loan agreements with Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A. and Cassa Depositi e Prestiti S.p.A. supported by SACE guarantee under the "Garanzia Italia" programme for a total of EUR 50 million have been signed.

Rimini, July 24th, 2020 - Italian Exhibition Group S.p.A. (IEG), a leading company in Italy in the organisation of international trade fairs, announces to have signed two loan agreements assisted by SACE's "Garanzia Italia" programme, one with Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A. for Euro 35 million, with a duration of 60 months, and another with Cassa Depositi e Prestiti S.p.A. for Euro 15 million, with a duration of 72 months..

The overall financing operation is part of the measures taken by the Company to meet the increased financial needs caused by the Covid-19 emergency and is in addition to the actions already undertaken to support the Company's business plan.

"The excellent results of the last few years and the significant growth in the first two months of 2020 have allowed us to face the lock-down with a solid capital structure" - said CEO Corrado Peraboni - "however, we operate in a sector among the most penalized by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic that caused the total blockage of business, a blockage that is still waiting for a partial recovery from the autumn. We would like to thank Intesa Sanpaolo, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, our CFO Carlo Costa and his staff, who promptly took steps to finalise the financing operations in application of the provisions of the so-called Liquidity Decree, operations that will help us to better support our strategy for the period necessary to return the business to pre-pandemic levels".

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FOCUS ON ITALIAN EXHIBITION GROUP

Italian Exhibition Group (IEG), listed on the Screen-based Share Market (MTA) organised and managed by Borsa Italiana S.p.A., is a leader in Italy in the organisation of trade fairs and one of the main operators in the trade fair and conference sector at European level, with structures in Rimini and Vicenza, as well as further sites in Milan and Arezzo. The IEG Group is notable in the organisation of events in five categories: Food & Beverage; Jewellery & Fashion; Tourism, Hospitality and Lifestyle; Wellness, Sport and Leisure; Green & Technology. In the last few years, IEG started a significant expansion process abroad, also through the conclusion of joint ventures with local operators (for example, in the United States, Arab Emirates and in China). IEG closed the 2019 financial year with consolidated total revenues of € 178.6 million, an EBITDA of € 41.9 million and a consolidated net profit of € 12.6 million. In 2019, IEG totalled 48 organised or hosted fairs and 190 conferences. www.iegexpo.it

1 The EBITDA is represented by the operating profit (loss) including depreciation and amortisation expense. The EBITDA is a measure defined and used by the Group to monitor and assess the operating performance of the Group, but it is not defined in the context of IFRS standards; therefore it must not be viewed as an alternative measure for the assessment of the Group's operating result. The Company believes that the EBITDA is an important parameter for the measurement of the Group's performance as it allows to analyse the profitability of the same by eliminating the effects deriving from non-recurrent economic elements. As EBITDA is not a measure whose determination is regulated by reference accounting standards for the preparation of the Group's consolidated financial statements, the criterion applied for the determination of the EBITDA could not be consistent with that adopted by other groups and might, therefore, not be comparable to them.

For further information:

ITALIAN EXHIBITION GROUP S.P.A.

Investor Relator

Roberto Bondioli |[e-mail] | [phone]

Press Contact

Elisabetta Vitali |Head of media relations & corporate communication | [e-mail] | [phone]