The future of Vicenzaoro & C. in the plans of Ieg, the company that organizes the main event related to jewelry, but also Oroarezzo, T / Gold and many other fairs in Italy and abroad. Italian Exhibition Group has developed the strategic plan called Community Catalyst. Objective: to reach 267.2 million euros in turnover in five years and with an adjusted Ebitda (gross margin) that rises from the 13 million euros forecast for 2022 to 69 million in 2027.
After the lean years for the entire exhibition sector, in Italy and in the world, caused by the pandemic, now the sector can look to the future with greater confidence. Visitors may be wearing masks, but travel has resumed, even though Ukraine and Russia are out-of-the-way markets. And partly, due to the intermittent blockades, China too. In any case, IEG sees pink already for 2023-2024 with a growth of 49.2% on 2019, i.e. in the pre-covid era. To be precise, it should be added that the expected consolidated turnover also includes the revenues of 50% of the activities in the USA and Mexico just acquired by Deutsche Messe.
In any case, progress is significant, considering that in 2021, even with the pandemic limitations, the turnover had risen to 103 million in revenues, also thanks to the contributions made by the government. The strategic plan just approved by the board turns the page and foresees global growth. From 2024 the distribution of dividends to shareholders is scheduled again. The idea is that the trade fairs are a sort of community catalyst of the industries represented through the integrated use of regional and international events that complement the main event held in Italy. This is a bit like what is already happening for Vicenzaoro, which crossed the Red Sea to land in Dubai.
Furthermore, Ieg has as its objective agreements and alliances with other operators and trade associations to increase the visitor base of leading trade fairs. There is no lack of emphasis on communication strategies. But, above all, the company hints at “new exhibition clusters”, which integrate segments and product categories in the main events. It is not clear, however, what this means in practice.
Abroad, after landing in the Emirates and the acquisition of overseas, Ieg aims to duplicate and create spin-offs of its most relevant events in the areas most interesting for the various products. In Brazil, for example, he set up a new company with the aim of organizing at least five new events. The Plan also mentions the loyalty of the customer portfolio, the efficiency, optimization and monitoring of M&A opportunities for related services and even new magazines linked to the main exhibitions, a further showcase for the Group’s customers.
All with investments in five years of 134.9 million euros divided between maintenance, expansion and acquisitions, the latter concerning Italy, Asia, North America and South America, the construction of the Vicenza pavilion and the expansion of the Rimini district. To guarantee space for the growing events, from 2025 to 2027 IEG will rely on temporary structures.
