Cologne�s Mayor Fritz Schramma, the Chairman of the Koelnmesse Supervisory Board, and Jochen Witt, President and CEO of Koelnmesse, have announced to journalists, exhibitors and visitors in Cologne that a �quantum leap in quality� is in store for the trade fairs to be held in the coming years. The new-look Koelnmesse exhibition center will be opened �punctually and as planned� on January 16, 2006, the first day of imm cologne � the International Furniture Fair. It took just 16 months to build four new halls and completely modernize the entire trade fair grounds on the right-hand bank of the Rhine. All signs indicate that the new center will get off to a positive start. According to Witt, �2005 was good, and 2006 will be even better.�

�Cologne�s great advantages as a trade fair venue�
The outlook for a successful 2006, in which the company looks set to break records in virtually all areas, is closely linked with the features of the new exhibition grounds and, Schramma states, �Cologne�s great advantages as a trade fair venue.� Four new halls offering 80,000 m� of exhibition space have been built in the northern part of the grounds to replace the former Rhineside Halls, fromwhere RTL will be broadcasting as of 2008. This area also includes an attractive entrance and outstanding transportation connections, as well as a Congress Center for up to 3,000 participants and a new Press Center. The entire complex has been modernized and the quality of guests� stay � one of the key success factors for trade fair venues � has been enhanced. Activities in this regard included restructuring the visitor orientation system, traffic routes, catering services and logistics. Thanks to its compact, clearly structured layout, everything at the new site is close at hand. What�s more, the 284,000 m� of gross hall space corresponds almost exactly to the amount available previously. �Our efforts have been focused exclusively on improving quality, not quantity,� says Schramma. �We now aim to fill them with life � and that means trade fairs.�

�The star of this show is not the exhibition grounds � it�s our customers�
According to Witt, �The star of this show is not the exhibition grounds � it�s our customers.� He regards the new premises as just one of several factors that will help Koelnmesse to boost customer satisfaction and loyalty. The others include the comprehensive upgrading of services, the rounding out of the event portfolio, the effective use of IT and the measures taken to increase the international scope of Koelnmesse�s business operations. More than ten percent of Koelnmesse�s employees now work outside of Germany at the various subsidiaries. In 2005, the company increased the number of trade fairs held abroad to 19. �Competition in the trade fair sector is now on a global scale,� says Witt. He adds that the sector is keeping a close eye on China and eastern and southern Europe as regions that harbor particular potential for the future.

Expectations exceeded in 2005: Turnover of �181.5 million, operating loss of �6 million
Koelnmesse also presented the key figures from 2005 and its outlook for 2006. As is always the case in odd-numbered years, the number of events held in 2005 was lower than the year before, totaling 61 fairs and exhibitions. Of these, Cologne hosted 22 events staged by Koelnmesse GmbH and five organized by Koelnmesse Ausstellungen GmbH. Added to them were 25 guests events and nine trade fairs held abroad.

Despite the relatively small number of trade fairs in 2005, the number of visitors exceeded 1.5 million, the second-highest figure ever. This is an increase of over five percent compared to the total number that attended the same trade fairs the previous time. What�s more, the number of visitors from outside Germany rose by over ten percent to around 616,000. The exhibiting companies numbered more than 30,000 in 2005, rivaling the outstanding totals of the previous years.

The Koelnmesse Group posted a turnover of approximately �181.5 million, exceeding its target figure. Koelnmesse GmbH was responsible for �124 million of this total. The company expects to post a loss of approximately �6 million in its annual financial statement, which will be released in the summer of 2006. According to Witt, �This result is better than we planned, and is essentially due to the cost of implementing our Master Plan 2006.� Investments amounted to �25 million, and amortization totaled �18 million.

2006 will be a good year
All the signs indicate that Koelnmesse will hold the largest number of events and post the highest turnover of its history in 2006. Visitor and exhibitor numbers are also expected to be higher than ever before. This is due not only to the positive development many fairs are experiencing, but also to the favorable constellation of the different trade fair cycles. For example, some of the events that are only held every three years, such as ENTSORGA-ENTECO and IMB, will be taking place in 2006. As a result, turnover for 2006 is expected to approach �220 million. The company expects to welcome more than 34,000 exhibitors and over two million visitors. The amount of gross occupied exhibition space will top three million m�, which is the equivalent of ten complete occupations of the exhibition grounds. The program comprises 76 events in all, including 32 of Koelnmesse�s own trade fairs in Cologne and 18 abroad. While the spectrum of fairs concentrated largely on consumer goods in the past, a number of events showcasing industrial goods will be introduced. In 2006 these will include the first-ever Pacovent, a packaging trade fair that deals with investment goods; ProSweets, the supplier fair for the confectionery industry; and PowerGen Europe, the leading international fair for the construction and operation of power plants.

Koelnmesse expects its overall results to be roughly balanced in 2006. According to Witt, the guiding principle remains, �Every penny is being spent for our customers� benefit.� He continues, �This entire region, which is receiving healthy indirect investment returns thanks to the activities of Koelnmesse, will continue to profit from our expenditures in the future.� The Master Plan 2006 will be concluded as planned in the fall, by which time the Trade Fair Boulevard will have been extended from the northern part of the grounds to the Southern Halls. There it will meet the Piazza, a central meeting place in the southern section of the exhibition premises. The Entrance South will also be completed by the fall, linking the trade fair premises to the K�ln Messe/Deutz railroad station and the InterCity Express terminal � one of the most important access points to Cologne for visitors from all over the world. The City of Cologne will draw up a plan for the area currently known as the Barmer-Viertel, to ensure that it acquires the necessary appeal.