CHICAGO — The first quarter (Q1) earnings report from Viad Corp, GES’ parent company, reflects the robust return of live events in 2023, with revenue and year-over-year growth surpassing that of Q1 2022.
According to the earnings report, the same-show revenues for shows produced by the U.S. exhibitions team grew to 91% of 2019 levels, compared to 73% in Q1 of 2022. For the three months ending on March 31, 2023, GES saw $169.5 million in revenue, compared to $111.8 million in Q1 2022.
These results exceeded expectations for earnings in Q1.
“After nearly three years of travel restrictions, we are seeing pent-up demand for meeting clients face to face and the value proposition that trade shows and other similar events provide,” GES Executive Vice President Jeff Quade said. “As a result of the return of shows, attendance and larger show sizes contributed to the company exceeding expectations.”
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“We are very encouraged by the strong first quarter demand we experienced and our better-than-expected financial performance at both GES and Pursuit. GES continues to see positive momentum in the live events sector with improving revenue and healthy margins,” Viad President and CEO Steve Moster said.
Despite the impressive performance in Q1 and GES’ work on new offerings, expectations for the Q2 2023 results are lower than the Q2 2022 results.
“We expect consolidated results to be below the second quarter of 2022, driven largely by changes in the GES business, including the sale of ON services, the impact of shows shifting back to their normal Q1 timing after being postponed to Q2 last year and some other non-recurring business. GES is able to offset this with new business and increases in net square footage,” Quade said. “We are always working on new offerings and innovation for both our clients and exhibitors. We continue to invest in our wall systems to an improved look and efficiencies at our shows, and we are also working on a few programs to add to our GES Plus Series geared toward the exhibitors, as well as Pro Desk geared toward the EAC community.”
Reach Steve Moster at (602) 207-1000; Jeff Quade at (702) 515-8625 or jquade@ges.com
