Upheaval at exhibition operator MCH will be more expensive than planned

The year 2018 will be even worse than expected for MCH. A negative result before special measures of at least 14 million francs is now expected, as the company announced on Monday. Previously, a minus in the single-digit million range had been assumed. The bottom line is thus likely to be a loss of around 170 million francs, spokesman Christian Jecker told news agency AWP. Previously, a loss of "up to three-digit millions" had been envisaged.

Trade fairs went badly

The declines at the Züspa and Comptoir Suisse public exhibitions and the fact that the Grand Basel results were once again below expectations had led to poorer contributions to the result than had been expected in September when the half-year figures were published, according to the reasons given. As part of the restructuring and transformation process that has been initiated, the MCH Group is also reckoning with provisions of 30 to 40 million Swiss francs in the 2018 financial year. Value adjustment on exhibition halls As already announced at the beginning of September, the exhibition operator will also have to make further special write-downs for the value adjustment of the exhibition halls in Basel in the three-digit million range. The background to this was the cancellation of the largest exhibitor Swatch for the watch and jewelry fair Baselworld 2019. In addition to Swatch, Raymond Weil and Corum had also announced their withdrawal from Baselworld. This year's edition of the watch and jewelry show had already seen the number of exhibitors halved to around 650. As a result of this loss of importance, MCH had already had to write off over 100 million francs on the exhibition buildings in 2017.

Trade fairs cancelled

The transformation of the company also leads to cancellations in the trade show calendar. Interim head Hans-Kristian Hoejsgaard, who took the helm after René Kamm resigned in August, undertook a fundamental strategy review. Then, in November, the end of the consumer goods fairs Comptoir Suisse in Lausanne and Züspa in Zurich was announced. In May, MCH had already announced the end of the Mustermesse Basel after the February 2019 edition. The show for classic and collector cars "Grand Basel", which was held for the first time at the beginning of September, will now also not be repeated. "Due to the high deficit, it will not be relaunched," the company spokesman said. "Revenues did not meet expectations, and costs were significantly higher than expected due to start-up costs," Jecker said. "We lost significant money." The event drew nearly 12,000 visitors. The planned "Grand Basel" show in Miami in February was also canceled.

Event instead of consumption

The trade fair operator now wants to position itself better with new concepts. The company is working on new, innovative formats that could replace Züspa or Comptoir Suisse from 2020. The aim is to combine a physical experience with digital offerings, as the company announced in November, but without giving any further details.

However, the changes do not only affect the events themselves. Costs are also to be saved by changing the organization and structures. These include, for example, the merging of group-wide services such as accounting and marketing. In addition, the stakes in Art Düsseldorf and India Art Fair, which were acquired only a few years ago, are to be sold. The cooperation with Art SG in Singapore will also be discontinued. On the stock exchange, the larger loss now expected is not going down well, and MCH shares are losing 5.2 percent to 23.90 Swiss francs in a clearly positive overall market. Since the beginning of the year, the shares have thus lost around 64 percent in value. (SDA)