Messe Frankfurt, the company which stages Prolight + Sound and the annual
accompanying Musikmesse, is continuing to grow. The company is the leading
international trade fair organiser with its own exhibition grounds. On presenting the
Group’s preliminary key figures for 2015, Wolfgang Marzin, President and Chief
Executive Officer of Messe Frankfurt, summed up: “We expect to generate sales of
around €645 million – a new record for our company’. Earnings before tax will be
well over the €40 million mark. Marzin: “But we are expecting our result to be as
high as it was in the past year.’ The figure then was €47 million. Adjusted for
depreciation costs and financing costs, current EBITDA (earnings before interest,
taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is €98 million. Consolidated annual net
income will once again be more than €30 million.
Domestic sales have grown and consolidated sales are in the region of €400 million.
This means that 57 percent of Group sales – some €370 million in all – can be
attributed to the company’s Frankfurt base. Operating business outside Germany
has increased to €246 million. As Wolfgang Marzin explains: “By expanding business
substantially in our relevant growth markets, we now generate 38 percent of our
sales revenue outside Germany.’
At the end of the year, Messe Frankfurt will have 2,297 active employees. The
company’s operating business was exceptionally dynamic, in part due to the rotation
of events. As Detlef Braun, Member of the Executive Board of Messe Frankfurt,
explains: “Many new records were set on our highly successful platforms during the
event year’. No fewer than 132 trade fairs and exhibitions were held worldwide,
playing host to around 89,800 companies and more than four million visitors – more
than ever before. A total of 86 events were held outside Germany, setting new
records with around 48,000 exhibitors and over 1.7 million visitors. Braun: “In the
future, we will continue to concentrate on what we know and what makes us
successful: our core areas of expertise.’
