Hyve Group’s revenue climbs by over £100m as Covid rules loosen

Exhibitions organiser Hyve Group has seen annual turnover rebound by just over £100million despite the absence of any events in China.

The London-listed firm achieved revenues of £122.5million for the 12 months ending September, compared to just £21.8million the previous year when coronavirus restrictions meant few conferences could go ahead.

Hyve continued to be affected by strict international travel curbs for much of the year, particularly following the Omicron variant’s emergence last winter, which led to the postponement of some shows.

 Hyve Group said it managed to run a complete schedule of exhibitions outside China, several of whom performed better than they did before the pandemic.

It was also unable to put on a single conference in China due to the country’s  draconian zero-Covid policies forcing tens of millions of people to stay home at certain times.

But the group said it still managed to run a complete schedule of exhibitions outside the country, several of which performed better than they did before the pandemic.

Trading was further boosted by a 14.2 per cent bump in like-for-like spending by customers with increased marketing budgets and higher sales of tech-enabled products.

This helped Hyve reduce its net debts by another £8.9million to £71million, which was towards the bottom end of its guidance range.

The company also said it concluded a transformation programme launched in 2017 that sought to reduce its reliance on emerging markets, create a centralised operational model and produce more high-quality events.

Almost all its exhibitions now only take place across advanced economies after having sold off some global operations, including those in Turkey, Indonesia and Russia over the last year.

Hyve exited the latter territory following thee invasion of Ukraine, even though the country had previously provided approximately half of all revenues.

Up to £72million over a decade is set to be made from selling the subsidiary to Rise Expo, a company incorporated in the United Arab Emirates, though this will still be a significant loss.

The firm was founded as International Trade Exhibitions in 1991 by the Shashoua family, who were looking to capitalise on former Soviet Union states transitioning to market economies, with the first event being a motor show in Moscow.

Chief executive and co-founder Mark Shashoua remarked: ‘Our portfolio of market-leading events is now de-risked, with almost 95 per cent focused on advanced economies with an emphasis on digital-ready growth sectors. 

‘The most significant change to our portfolio during the year was the sale of the Russian business following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. I am pleased that we were able to find an outcome which answered our compliance with sanctions and moral obligations.’

Alongside its disposals, the group has acquired two major businesses – 121 Group and Fintech Meetup – and launched new product extensions, such as Shoptalk Europe and Ahead by Bett.

For the current fiscal year, Hyve noted forward bookings currently total £98million, against £67million across the equivalent portfolio of events in 2021, and anticipates a third successive year of double-digit growth in revenues.

Hyve Group shares were up 1.85 per cent to 71.4p during the late Tuesday morning, although their value has plummeted by about 86 per cent in the past three years.

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk