Times are tough for event specialists. Hit hard by the health crisis, the French number one in the GL Events sector suffered a loss of 75 million euros last year while its turnover fell by nearly 60%. To bounce back, the Lyon group relies on its strong point, the major sporting events. The first on the calendar is the Tokyo Olympics (July 23-August 8). Known in Japan thanks to the Nagoya exhibition center to which it contributed, GL Events was selected by the organizing committee of the Olympic Games (Tocog) to build venues, stands and reception areas for around ten events ( cycling, fencing, judo, canoeing…) Everything was going well until the arrival of the Covid. The 2020 Games having been postponed for a year, GL Events had to review its copy. Dismantle certain structures, secure others for technical or physical reasons, in particular the risk of typhoons, and even transport certain equipment out of Japan for storage on a site in Dubai. The French group also found itself facing a legal problem. Initially, the contracts ran until the end of 2020. They therefore had to be renegotiated. “If Tocog had not paid part of our costs incurred
before the postponement of the Games, we could have found ourselves in a delicate financial situation “, indicates Guillaume Massard, general manager of GL Events Japan.
For the group, the Tokyo experience constitutes accelerated learning that could open other doors for it. Those for example of the Osaka World Expo in 2025 and the Asian Games in 2026. The experience of the Olympic Games could also allow GL Events to develop its Exhibition division (trade shows) in Japan. A sector where the Archipelago is notoriously undersized.
The French number one in events suffered on the stock market in 2020 before recovering.
(SOURCE: BOURSORAMA)
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