.Dr. von Fritsch emphasized 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 said. Addressing the business fundamentals underlying the initiative, von Fritsch noted that in 2013 the company reached an agreement with the German Machine Tool Builders’ Association (VDW), the organizer of the EMO machine tools exhibition, that would see EMO staged at the Hannover Exhibition Center for many years to come. The company had in 2013 also expanded its foreign trade fair business by various means, including targeted equity investments. In Canada, for instance, it had acquired a 75 percent 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 had acquired an 80 percent holding in Sectorel, the company that organizes Turkey’s ICCI energy trade fair; and in Brazil had taken over the remaining shares in Hannover Fairs Sulamérica Ltda. (HFSA). In 2013, Deutsche Messe AG and its subsidiaries had, he said, launched nine new trade fairs outside Germany, including six in the fast-growing BRIC economies (Brazil, Russia, India and China).
At its meeting on Tuesday, the Supervisory Board also attended to a number of routine changes in its membership. Marc Hansmann, the City Treasurer of Hannover, stepped down as Chairman of the Supervisory Board at the end of his term of office. Olaf Lies, the Minister of Economics for the German state of Lower Saxony, was elected as the new Chairman in accordance with the Supervisory Board’s standing orders. The new Lord Mayor of Hannover, Stefan Schostok, was elected to the Supervisory Board and was also appointed Chairman of the Supervisory Board’s Executive Committee. Dr. Dietmar Harting, a prominent and respected figure in German business circles, stepped down from the Supervisory Board in connection with pursuing his retirement. His successor is Friedhelm Loh, Chairman and CEO of the Friedhelm Loh Group.
2013 also saw the launch of Deutsche Messe’s market-driven infrastructure development plan. The plan is a strategic roadmap for building developments at the Hannover Exhibition Center over the next 20 years. Implementation of the plan got underway towards the end of the year with the laying of the foundation stone for a new multifunctional exhibition hall (Hall 19/20). Construction is proceeding smoothly, and the new hall will be ready for use in the spring of 2015. The new hall complex will enable Deutsche Messe to further grow its corporate-events segment and extend the scope and number of niche supporting events it can offer on the periphery of its flagship trade fairs. The corporate-events segment is just starting to take off, with major market players Volkswagen AG and MAN SE staging their AGMs at the Hannover Exhibition Center for the very first time in May last year.
Source: Deutshe Messe
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