Hyve Group pandemic recovery ‘considerably’ ahead of expectation

The organiser of trade fairs Pure London and Moda said Monday the recovery of its in-person events from the pandemic is “considerably ahead of anticipated levels”.

In the three months to June 24, Hyve Group said all nine of its scheduled in-person events took place, with the exception of three events in Ukraine.

It said the first half of the 2022 financial year saw “faster than anticipated revenue recovery”, helped by Q3 which was the second busiest quarter for the group's streamlined portfolio structure, following the sale of its Russian business in May.

“Total revenue for the period demonstrated a full recovery on a pro-forma basis, underpinned by the continued strong customer demand for market-leading in-person events, despite on-going macro challenges,” the group said.

Events taking place included some of its major brands, including Mining Indaba, CWIEME Berlin and Breakbulk Europe, which all delivered increases in like-for-like customer spend compared with their previous editions.

Hyve Group also launched the inaugural edition of Shoptalk Europe in June, which it said almost doubled expectations, attracting over 3,000 attendees from more than 50 countries.

The group has now held 30 events this year.

It said forward bookings for the full year are currently 122.3 million pounds, which excludes 6.5 million pounds of bookings for the August Chinese events, as well as revenue for events in Ukraine which continue to be postponed.

“While there continues to be uncertainty around running events in China in the near term, the group notes the beginning of a relaxation of Covid-19-related restrictions in certain regions, however this situation remains fluid,” Hyve said.

The group’s CEO Mark Shashoua said in a release: "I am pleased to report another quarter of strong trading.

"The trends we saw emerge post-pandemic continue to hold true - in particular, our customers continue to spend more with us than before, demonstrating the huge value which in-person events offer and proving that our strategy of focusing on only market-leading events is paying off.”