Deutsche Messe has continued to build on past successes.

Trade fair company Deutsche Messe AG says it has delivered its second-best result since 2001, with 2013 consolidated revenues exceeding EUR312 million (USD422.5 million) and a net profit of EUR13.4 million (USD18.2 million).

"In other words, Deutsche Messe has continued to build on the successes of the past few years," says board chairman Wolfram von Fritsch.

The increase in revenues for last year contributed to a net profit of EUR13.4 million (USD18.2 million), compared with a net loss of EUR19.8 million (USD26.8 million) for 2012. Net cash flow grew from EUR1.1 million (USD1.5 million) in 2012 to EUR34.1 million (USD46.2 million) in 2013 and was thus also significantly up on the EUR31.6 million (USD42.8 million) generated in the comparison year of 2011.

"This markedly positive development over the two-year cycle from 2011 to 2013 is the result of a major strengthening of our business base," von Fritsch says.

He emphasises that Deutsche Messe was on track to achieve the profitability target set under the HERMES+ strategic initiative launched in 2009. Under the initiative, the company aims to achieve a positive result on a four-year cumulative basis from 2011 to 2014.

"The pleasing result for 2013 stands us in good stead for attaining our medium-term goal of sustained profitability," he says.

Von Fritsch says that in 2013, the company reached an agreement with the German Machine Tool Builders' Association (VDW), the organiser of the EMO machine tools exhibition, that would see EMO staged at the Hannover Exhibition Centre for many years to come.

The company had in 2013 also expanded its foreign trade fair business, including targeting equity investments. In Canada, it acquired a 75% stake in the CanWEA wind energy fair, and in China had acquired the rights to operate the Industrial Automation Shenzhen show.

Similarly, in Turkey, Deutsche Messe has acquired an 80% holding in Sectorel, the company that organises Turkey's ICCI energy trade fair; and, in Brazil, has taken over the remaining shares in Hannover Fairs Sulamérica Ltda.

In 2013, Deutsche Messe AG and its subsidiaries launched nine new trade fairs outside Germany, including six in the fast-growing BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) economies.

Deutsche Messe ran 56 trade fairs, exhibitions and events in Germany last year, which attracted over 2.1 million visitors, including over 300,000 from outside Germany, and featured 24,300 exhibitors, including 10,300 from beyond Germany. That year, the company's 63 foreign-based trade fairs had 16,700 exhibitors and attracted a total of 1.9 million visitors.

Von Fritsch notes the strong performance of the company's first- and second-quarter events of 2014, but predicts the year will close with a loss in the low double-digit millions, "in line with the typically weaker performance of the even-year part of the company's normal two-year business cycle".

He says it is difficult at this stage to know what effect the current exchange-rate volatility and political instability in parts of Eastern Europe might have on the company's bottom line for 2014.

The company's supervisory board met last week and approved Deutsche Messe's 2013 financial statements. At the meeting, the board appointed Minister of Economics of the German state of Lower Saxony, Olaf Lies, as its new chairman after Marc Hansmann, the City Treasurer of Hannover, reached the end of his term of office. Also elected was the Lord Mayor of Hannover, Stefan Schostok as the board's deputy chairman and executive committee chairman. Dr Dietmar Harting, a prominent figure in German business circles, stepped down from the supervisory board and was succeeded by Friedhelm Loh, chairman and CEO of the Friedhelm Loh Group.