After record sales and profits in previous years, the company made a loss of 122 million euros last year. And the management also expects a loss for 2021, because beyond the festival hall, which houses the vaccination center, there has been hardly any activity on the exhibition grounds for more than a year. In 2019, the company, which is 60 percent owned by the city of Frankfurt and 40 percent by the state of Hesse, made a profit of around 50 million euros. Despite the difficult situation, the company was able to do without redundancies and even invested thanks to shareholder loans and credits, reported trade fair boss Wolfgang Marzin on Monday at the presentation of the annual balance sheet for 2020. The current financial year will also lead to an economic decline.The fair does not expect sales of EUR 500 million again until 2022.
Patricia Andreae
Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.
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Both digital and hybrid as well as face-to-face fairs are planned for the third and fourth quarters of this year.
The premiere of the Frankfurt Fashion Week next week, FFW-Studio, will largely take place digitally.
Automechanika is scheduled to take place in September with a hybrid concept and a small physical exhibition and visitors.
Even abroad, where the Frankfurt company, which is considered to be the largest of its kind in the world, usually organizes dozens of events, only a fraction of the events could take place.