Koelnmesse's business results for 2014 were much better than planned. At the company's annual press conference, the Executive Board announced to the media that turnover totaled 231.2 million Euro, or about 8 million Euro more than was forecast at the beginning of the year. The company's annual net loss of 3.3 million Euro was even 16 million Euro better than expected. “In spite of the net loss, 2014 was an outstanding business year,“ says Gerald Böse, President and Chief Executive Officer of Koelnmesse. “We have achieved a turnaround, we have grown in Germany and abroad, and we have formulated clear goals and perspectives for the future.“ In 2014 a total of 81 trade fairs and exhibitions attracted more than 34,000 companies from 96 countries as well as over 2.1 million visitors from 198 countries. Koelnmesse held 23 of its own events and 26 guest events in Cologne as well as 32 trade fairs outside of Germany. The great improvement in Koelnmesse's results was largely due to the good development of several of the leading trade fairs in the company's program. According to the trade fair industry's umbrella organization, AUMA, the total number of trade fair visitors and exhibitors in Germany rose by one percent each in 2014 and the total size of the total stand area remained constant. By contrast, the figures for the Cologne trade fair program increased by an average of six percent compared to the respective previous events, and the cumulative result for the last four years rose by more than 30 percent. This applies to trade fairs for future-oriented digital topics such as dmexco and gamescom, to traditional events such as imm cologne, ORGATEC, EISENWARENMESSE - International Hardware Fair Cologne, ISM, and ART COLOGNE, and to trade fairs such as h+h cologne and Kind + Jugend. The events and guest events served by the subsidiary Koelnmesse Ausstellungen GmbH contributed considerably to the Koelnmesse consolidated companies' business success. The 26 guest events held in 2014 were attended by almost 7,600 exhibitors and around 390,000 visitors. They generated 15.6 million Euro in turnover last year as well as a 6.6 million Euro surplus before the profit transfer. Among the various business activities outside Germany, the events held in China, India, other Asian countries, and the Arab region developed well. This group was recently joined by Turkey with ANUFOOD Eurasia and by the South American market. In 2014 Koelnmesse established a new subsidiary in Brazil, where it organizes ANUTEC - INTERNATIONAL FOODTEC BRAZIL and UrbanTec Brasil. Koelnmesse took several important steps in 2014. With the unanimous consent of the shareholders, the company launched its Koelnmesse 3.0 investment program so that it can remain one of the top trade fair locations in the future, according to Mayor Roters. Koelnmesse 3.0 is a three-stage project that will focus on modernizing the Southern Halls, improving the traffic and parking situation, making the halls more attractive, and improving the transportation routes. Böse emphasizes that Koelnmesse will do all of this work completely without subsidies. He pointed out that Koelnmesse is “a member of the small and exclusive group of German trade fair companies that can be profitable in the long run, in terms of their operations as well as their investments, without any financial support from their shareholders.“ The preconditions have been met: Koelnmesse can invest its own capital in addition to the necessary external funding. Koelnmesse has paid off almost all of its old debts. In 2014 its equity amounted to 106.8 million Euro and its equity ratio was a respectable 42.1 percent. The company's liquidity is extremely good, partly because of a positive cash flow from its ongoing business operations.