GERMANY - Koelnmesse ended fiscal 2019 with record sales of over 400 million euro and an annual net profit of over 30 million euro.

"We set ourselves ambitious goals for 2019 which we have now delivered on. This is a new record for our company. We plan to defend the 400 million euro mark beyond 2020, as well," says President and Chief Executive Officer Gerald Böse. "We can assert ourselves as one of the world's leading trade fair companies."

According to Böse, the sustained success is also a result of the company's long-term strategy with central point on internationalization, digitalization and location development. Looking forward, the organization wants to focus particularly on its portfolio of strengthening existing and establishing new trade fairs. This will be the task of new Chief Operating Officer Oliver Frese, who joined the Koelnmesse management board at the start of January.

A record number of around 45,000 exhibiting companies from 120 countries and approximately 2.3 million visitors from 218 nations attended the 76 trade fairs and exhibitions worldwide in 2019.

Koelnmesse continued to strengthen and grow its international business in 2019 with 25 foreign events - or an average of one foreign trade fair a fortnight. At over
40 million euro in 2019, foreign turnover generated by trade fairs, exhibitions and participations rose almost 10 percent compared to 2018, and even over 35 percent compared to 2017. In our industry, Koelnmesse is the force behind interzum, interzum Guangzhou, interzum Bogotá (antes Feria M&M), ZOW, Orgatec, imm and LivingKitchen.