GL events — Earnings Release 2019

Oct 14, 2020

2019 REVENUE: €1.173 BILLION STRONG GROWTH: + 12.7 %

GL EVENTS (ISIN: FR0000066672 - TICKER: GLO), THE INTEGRATED EVENT INDUSTRY GROUP, REPORTS ITS ANNUAL CONSOLIDATED REVENUE FOR THE YEAR ENDING 31 DECEMBER 2019.

GL events reported consolidated revenue for FY 2019 of €1.173 billion, exceeding expectations with strong growth of 12.7%. This performance reflects both the Group's solid organic growth of 6.5% as well as contributions from acquisitions in Asia (+6.5%) in line with the strategy for conquering new markets and accelerating development. The currency effect for the period was limited (-0.3%).

Olivier Ginon, GL events Group's Chairman commented: "GL events delivered strong growth in 2019 of 12.7%, exceeding expectations. This momentum was driven by continuing growth of the Group's historical operations, with excellent performances by all three business divisions, plus contributions from the Chinese companies acquired at the beginning of the year. We also confirm our target for an improvement in profitability in the period and a reduction in the financial leverage ratio at the end of 2019. These performances highlight the relevance of our strategy for development. All our teams actively contributed to maintaining this strong momentum and I wish to thank them for their engagement."

Revenue (€m)	2019 Reported basis	2018 Reported basis	2017 Reported basis	Change 19/18	Change 19/17
Q1	340.3	286.0	283.2	19.0%	20.2%
Q2	255.6	259.0	212.9	-1.3%	20.1%
Q3	253.7	224.7	193.0	12.9%	31.5%
Q4	323.3	270.8	264.8	19.4%	22.1%
Consolidated total	1,172.9	1,040.5	953.8	12.7%	23.0%

The Group reported revenue of €323.3 million for the 2019 fourth quarter, up 19.4% and 13.6% like-for-like (LFL¹ ).

2019 SALES BY DIVISION

All three of the Group's business divisions delivered strong growth in 2019.

GL events Exhibitions registered the strongest gains with a 48.3% increase in revenue, including 16.1% LFL. In addition to the positive biennial effect and the growth of its existing portfolio of exhibitions, this division also benefited from the contributions of exhibitions recently acquired in China.

GL EVENTS / 2019 ANNUAL CONSOLIDATED REVENUE / PAGE 1/3

¹ : refer to the section entitled "definitions" at the end of the press release.

Revenue (€m)	2019 Reported basis	2018 Reported basis	2017 Reported basis	Change 19/18	Change 19/17
GL events Live	600.1	563.5	471.9	6.5%	27.2%
GL events Exhibitions	231.4	156.0	165.2	48.3%	40.1%
GL events Venues	341.4	321.0	316.7	6.4%	7.8%
Consolidated total	1,172.9	1,040.5	953.8	12.7%	23.0%

GL EVENTS LIVE had revenue of €600.1 million with growth of 6.5% (+2.3% LFL). Revenue in the Q4 2019 amounted to €179.7 million (+22.1% from Q4 2018).

In this last quarter, GL events provided services for a number of international events including the otorhinolaryngology and radiology convention in Turkey, the Southeast Asian Games in the Philippines and the F1 Grand Prix in Brazil. In China, GL events contributed to the WTA (Women's Tennis Association) Finals of Shenzhen, through its Chinese subsidiary, ZZX. In France, business momentum was also robust, with notably Equita Lyon, the Sommet de l'Elevage livestock show in Clermont Ferrand and MIPCOM, the world's entertainment content market in Cannes.

For COP25 ultimately held in Madrid, the Group's teams successfully delivered all the States' pavilions in addition to providing a portion of the audio-visual equipment required. In record time, GL events in this way demonstrated its ability to rapidly and efficiently adapt to changing needs of organisers. The Group also recognised services corresponding to amounts received in Chile for work to prepare for COP25 of Santiago that was finally cancelled.

GL events Exhibitions had annual revenue of €231.4 million, up 48.3%. This excellent performance was driven not only by contributions from new exhibitions acquired in Asia but also the strength of its historical activities. On a like-for-like basis, revenue grew 16.1%. Revenue in Q4 registered strong growth of 59.1% to reach €36.5 million.

In France, the activity of this division was particularly robust with dynamic exhibitions such as Sepem Industries Anger or Paysalia and Rocalia Lyon. The fall edition of the Fashion Source exhibition in Shenzhen (China) was a remarkable success with 1,136 exhibitors and 35,000 attendees. The quarter also benefited from the biennial effect of Europack Euromanut CFIA in Lyon, Welcome Tomorrow in Brazil, ExpoEdifica (construction industry exhibition) in Chile and the London edition of Denim Premiere Vision.

GL EVENTS VENUES had annual revenue of 341.4 million at 31 December 2019, up 6.4% in relation to 2018 (+7.0% LFL). Revenue in the fourth quarter grew 6.4% to €107.1 million.

In Q4, Sao Paulo Expo's commercial momentum remained strong with the hosting of flagship events including the Two-Wheeled Vehicles Fair, Comic Con Experience and Fenatran Sao Paulo (the international transport industry exhibition). The CCIB in Barcelona (Spain) hosted several significant events, and notably the Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo. As of November 2021, the "Fira de Barcelona" Group will take over the management of this venue. Within this framework, GL events and Fira de Barcelona signed a partnership agreement providing for the development of synergies for a period of five years including for marketing the site and the provision of services This agreement also provides for taking advantage of new opportunities for strategic collaboration between the two groups to pursue international development. At Lyon-Eurexpo, the 15th edition of Solutrans represented the largest European gathering of industrial and urban electric vehicles.

These annual performances highlight GL events' ability to increase its market share while efficiently integrating and developing newly acquired companies.

Based on these achievements, the Group confirms its guidance for an improvement in profitability in 2019 and estimates that its leverage ratio (excluding IFRS 16 debt) will be less than 2.9 at 31 December 2019.

NEXT PRESS RELEASE:

ANNUAL RESULTS: 4 MARCH 2020 AFTER THE CLOSE OF TRADING

DEFINITIONS

• LFL: like-for-like defined as at constant structure and exchange rates (see the definitions above for "constant structure" and "constant exchange rates")
• Constant exchange rates: average exchange rate of N applied to the previous period (N-1)
• Constant structure:
  • o For acquisitions of the period: by adding to revenue of prior periods the sales of the acquired company
  • o For disposals of the period: by subtracting from revenue of prior periods the sales of the company sold

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About GL events: The Group is a world-class provider of integrated solutions and services for events operating across the three main market segments: conventions, conferences, congresses; cultural, sports and political events; trade shows / B2B and B2C exhibitions and consumer fairs. GL events' activities are organised into three major business divisions. GL events Live offers expertise covering all business line specialisations and services for corporate, institutional and sports events to provide turnkey solutions from consulting and design to staging the event itself. GL events Exhibitions manages and coordinates the Group's

portfolio of more than 300 proprietary trade fairs covering a wide range of sectors: food industry, culture, textiles/fashion, manufacturing… GL events Venues manages a network of 50 venues (convention and exhibition centres, concert halls and multi-purpose facilities) in France and international destinations.

Present on five continents with operations in more than 20 countries, GL events has 5,000 employees. The Group is listed on Euronext Paris, Compartment B (mid caps).

INVESTOR RELATIONS MEDIA RELATIONS

Sylvain Bechet Tel.: +33 (0)4 72 31 54 20 infos.finance@gl-events.com

Stéphanie Stahr Tel.: +33 (0)1 53 48 80 57 stephanie.stahr@cic.fr

ISIN FR0000066672 - BLOOMBERG GLO FP - REUTERS GLTN.PA - FTSE 581 LEI 9695002PXZMQNBPY2P44