Expos A 'Bright Spot' in Dim Year for VNU

VNU Expositions' operating income increased by 6 percent in 2003, helping its parent company combat declines in its other businesses.

The Dutch media giant VNU reported a 23-percent decrease in earnings last year, driven primarily by reorganization in its marketing information and directories businesses and a loss on the sale of its Claritas Europe marketing division.

In VNU's business information division, advertising revenue declines caused management to shutter unprofitable trade magazines and lay off employees. But revenue increased by 2 percent in 2003 for the expositions unit, which is also part of the business information division. Almost all of the division's operating income was generated in the United States. Of that, 81 percent came from VNU Expositions.

Management termed the expositions unit, which produces more than 50 events each year, "recession-resilient" and "a continuing bright spot." According to VNU's annual executive summary, "Exposition activities are less cyclical than the group's publishing activities, due to renewable registrations and guaranteed exhibitor fees for its events."

VNU Exhibitions Europe, a new division formed late last year from three VNU events subsidiaries, also reported higher revenue and profit in 2003. The division, which produces 50 trade fairs per year, in July launched a French version of the U.S. Action Sports Retailer event with promising results.

VNU's European fair-organizing operations, based in Utrecht, Netherlands, are comprised of subsidiaries Jaarbeurs Exhibitions & Media, British Imark Communications and Italy's Bias Group. VNU Exhibitions Asia will also become part of the new division, expected to generate additional revenue from acquisitions and expanding operations in China.

VNU Europe expects the company's growth to initially stem from trade fairs in Asia, Britain and Italy, but not the Netherlands – since the number of square meters of exhibition space there is expected to decline slightly. Shanghai, meanwhile, has turned in 10-percent annual growth for several years. VNU has plans to both expand existing shows and launch new shows there.