Asia Business Media

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Messe Frankfurt partners to host pavilion at Shanghai textile show

News this week: Exhibition organiser Messe Frankfurt and Italian furnishing fabrics show, Proposte, have announced a partnership to host a pavilion at the Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles trade fair. The show will run from 27^th to 29^th August 2013 at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC).

The joint Proposte China Pavilion at Intertextile Shanghai is the second of such partnerships following Messe Frankfurt’s earlier collaboration with Italian organiser Milano Unica at the Intertextile Beijing fabrics expo in March this year. Messe Frankfurt expects around 25 European fabric manufacturers to exhibit their products in the Proposte China Pavilion.

Detlef Braun, an executive board member of Messe Frankfurt, commented, “There is a growing demand for high-grade products in the Asian market. With the Proposte, we will further expand this segment at our fair in Shanghai and thus make it even more attractive for local buyers. We are convinced that all concerned will profit from this partnership and look forward to working with our Italian colleagues”

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TTG revenue up 5% in Q1

News this week: Last week, Hong Kong-listed China.com reported its first quarter results ended 31^st March 2013. TTG Media, a China.com subsidiary focused on the travel media segment, recorded revenues of US$3 million – an increase of 5% compared to the same period in 2012. Management claimed the strong revenues resulted from the company’s events segment, highlighting the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) 2013 in Vientiane, Laos, and its special projects group.

Overall revenues at China.com were US$4.7 million, up 10% compared to the same quarter in 2012. TTG accounted for about 65% of China.com’s revenues in the first quarter, while other revenues were generated from China.com’s Internet portal business.

HC International shows impressive growth in Q1

News this week: Hong Kong-listed HC International reported its first quarter results for 2013. For the three months ended 31^st March, revenues were US$26 million – an increase of 43% compared with the same quarter in 2012. The company recorded profit attributable to equity holders of US$3.3 million, a near four-fold increase over last year’s US$843,000. Diluted earnings per share in the quarter were RMB 0.0337 (US$0.0054).

The largest business segment in the quarter for the Beijing-based company was online services, which generated revenues of US$22 million (84% of total revenues). This represents a year-on-year growth of 61%. The second largest business segment was seminars and other services, up 4.8% to US$2.5 million, accounting for 9.7% of total revenues. The company’s remaining revenues were generated from its trade catalogues and yellow page directories segment. These amounted to US$1.6 million, a drop of 26% from the same quarter last year.

Global Sources revenue down, profit up

News this week: Earlier this week, NASDAQ-listed Global Sources released first quarter results for the period ended 31^st March 2012. Revenues were US$31.3 million, down 20% compared with US$38.9 million recorded in the same quarter last year. However, net income attributable to the company’s shareholders in the period was up 81% from US$3.1 million in the first quarter in 2012 to US$5.6 million this year. Diluted earnings per share in the quarter were US$0.16.

Global Sources’ CFO, Connie Lai, commented on the results, “In the first quarter, we took action to reduce operating expenses. Also, our bottom line benefitted from the sale of an office property in Hong Kong… We intend to continue our efforts to strike the right balance between investing for the future and prudently managing costs.”

The Hong Kong-based company generated revenues of US$25.0 million from its online business – 80% of total revenues – that is a drop of 19% from US$30.9 million recorded last year. Revenues from print businesses accounted for 9.5% of total revenues at US$2.98 million, down 31% year-on-year from the US$4.35 million recorded in the same quarter last year. Exhibition revenues decreased 32% to US$1.5 million from US$2.2 million in 2012, and accounted for 4.8% of the company’s total revenues.

Alibaba buys interest in digital mapping firm

News this week: Last week, China’s largest e-commerce company, the Alibaba Group, announced the purchase of NASDAQ-listed AutoNavi, a digital mapping firm, for US$294 million.

After the transaction, Alibaba will hold a 28% stake in AutoNavi. Alibaba’s Joe Tsai, and Eddie Wu will serve as directors of AutoNavi. The two companies will form a strategic alliance to develop “location based” e-commerce opportunities.

AutoNavi’s digital map service is reportedly a market leader in its industry, which has a market share of 29.8% in the first quarter in 2013. According to the company, it has a more than 100 million users as of January 2013. AutoNavi focuses on three key areas: Internet & mobile internet, navigation and government & enterprise applications.

UBM expects high turnout at inaugural Singapore jewellery fair

News this week: Singapore-based UBM Asia Trade Fairs Pte Ltd has confirmed the attendance of more than 176 exhibitors from 25 countries and regions in the inaugural edition of the Singapore Jewellery & Gem Fair. The fair will run from 12^th to 15^th October 2013 at the Marina Bay Sands’ Expo and Convention Center.

The Singapore Jewellery & Gem Fair is supported by the Singapore Jewellers Association and Diamond Exchange of Singapore among other associations. International exhibitors who have confirmed participation include those originating from Belgium, Germany, Japan, Italy, Switzerland, the U.K. and U.S.

Paul Wan, managing director of UBM Asia Trade Fairs, said, “Singapore is also home to 91,200 high-net-worth individuals… We observe that wealthy Asians have moved away from traditional investments towards ‘passion investments’ such as jewellery. We already have the world’s largest fine jewellery show in Hong Kong and hope to replicate its success in Singapore.”

Friday, May 10, 2013

Melbourne again misses out on expansion funds

Melbourne, 8^th May: In a repeat of last year’s developments, the 2013 state budget of Victoria in Australia has once again excluded funds for the expansion of the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC). Despite efforts from the Exhibition and Events Association of Australasia (EEAA) to persuade the government otherwise, the state outlined the need to manage financial constraints caused by a weaker national economy and international economic uncertainty.

According to the EEAA, over 50% of the new shows planned in Australia for 2013 are set for Melbourne. A next phase expansion was anticipated to take place within a few years after the opening of MCEC in 2009. The redevelopment of the Sydney International Convention, Exhibition and Entertainment Precinct (SICEEP) in New South Wales is scheduled to open in December 2016.

Joyce DiMascio, general manager of EEAA, said, “While the Victorian Government has a history of support for the events sector, it risks compromising the growth of the Victorian industry and its flow-on economic benefits to the State. Many events organised by EEAA members are venue-bound. The size and availability of space has reached capacity and Melbourne risks turning away new business and larger exhibitions.”

Exhibitors at Canton fair shifts focus to domestic market

News this week: Earlier this week, the 113^th Canton Fair (China Import and Export Fair) drew to a close recording a total of 202,766 overseas buyers from 211 countries and region over a three week period.

Liu Jianjun, the Canton Fair’s spokesman and deputy director general of the China Foreign Trade Centre, said “This (overseas buyers) represents a 7% rise from the autumn fair in October but a decrease of 3.8% compared with the same session last year. Total deals amounted to US$35.54 billion, representing an increase of 8.8% from last October’s session and a slight decrease of 1.4% from the last spring fair.”

A number of the exhibitors are reportedly shifting their business from the international export market to focus on the domestic front as a result of lower demand from overseas. The year-on-year number of buyers and transaction value from Europe and the U.S. reported a drop in this edition of the fair. It was also reported the attendance of Japanese buyers was up 38% compared with the October edition.

HKTDC April fairs see record exhibitor and visitor numbers

News this week: Last month, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) organised seven trade fairs, attracting a new show-record of more than 11,000 exhibitors and 210,000 buyers.

According to the HKTDC, 6,466 exhibitors and about 124,000 buyers came from overseas. The Hong Kong Exhibition & Convention Industry Association (HKECIA) estimated the fairs generated more than HK$1.5 billion (US$193 million) to the Hong Kong economy.

The seven trade fairs organised by the HKTDC include: the Hong Kong International Lighting Fair (Spring Edition), the Hong Kong Electronics Fair (Spring Edition), International ICT Expo, the Hong Kong Houseware Fair, the Hong Kong International Home Textiles & Furnishings Fair, the Hong Kong Gifts & Premium Fair and the Hong Kong International Printing & Packaging Fair.

Deutsche Messe to launch new shows

News this week: Germany-based exhibition organiser Deutsche Messe will launch seven new trade shows beginning this year and into 2015. These shows will span across the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries, along with Turkey and within the EU.

In Asia, two new China-based shows Comvac Asia and Industrial Supply ASIA will be launched in Shanghai this October. In India, Deutsche Messe recently formed the new umbrella brand WIN INDIA, which includes five Delhi-based events: MDA INDIA, Industrial Automation INDIA, CeMAT INDIA, Surface Technology INDIA, LASER INDIA, and new addition Industrial Supply and Subcontracting INDIA. WIN INDIA will take place from 17^th to 20^th December at the Pragati Maidan in New Delhi.

In 2012, Deutsche Messe reportedly organised 13 trade fairs totalling 17 events in the countries mentioned above. Based on topics from its HANNOVER MESSE and CeMAT related events, these events hosted 5,117 exhibitors and 420,035 visitors over a total area of 277,583 m².