Overview

The growth strategy of the Finnish Fair Corporation Group is centred on creating growth through encounters as well as on customer focus. Our objective is to be the leading trade fair and event organiser in the Nordic countries and the first choice for our customers in every encounter. In addition to Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre, the Group includes the trade fair organiser Expomark Oy and the AV technology company Suomen Videoviestintä SVV Oy.

The Finnish Fair Corporation implemented its growth strategy successfully in 2025, as reflected in a strong financial performance and growth in the key metrics of the growth strategy. Turnover increased to EUR 60.5 million (2024: EUR 58.4 million), representing year-on-year growth of 3.6% and exceeding the Group’s previous all-time record year of 2019. Customer satisfaction, measured by the Net Promoter Score (NPS), also improved, reaching 53 (2024: 45).

In 2025, the Group organised a total of 37 (2024: 36) trade fair events. The number of exhibitors at these events was 6,637 (2024: 6,883), and a total of 256,932 square metres of exhibition space was sold (2024: 187,280 m²).

In addition to self-produced trade fair events, Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre hosted 25 (2024: 25) guest events and 371 (2024: 450) meetings, congresses, celebrations, entertainment productions and special events in 2025. A total of 10 international congresses were held (2024: 8), with 28,622 participants. The income and employment impact of the congresses amounted to EUR 57.4 million.

Several events at Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre set new visitor records, including the I love me fair with 66,898 visitors, as well as the Helsinki Book Fair and the concurrently held Wine & Food event, which together achieved their all-time visitor record by attracting a total of 104,516 visitors. Among professional events, visitor numbers increased at, among others, Cyber Security Nordic, Educa and Maxpo. The total number of visitors to Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre exceeded the one-million mark for the first time since the pandemic years, reaching 1,004,912. Total attendance across the Group’s events amounted to 1,019,624 (2024: 898,993), representing year-on-year growth of 13.4%.

The development of the event portfolio continued at a strong pace. During the year, the Exhibitions business unit launched three new events: the professional events Click Commerce and Sähkö–Electricity, both to be held for the first time in spring 2026, as well as the consumer event Arctic Lights Comic Con. In addition, subsidiary Expomark Oy assumed responsibility for organizing Nordic Hydrogen Week to be held in Oulu in 2026, with the organising responsibility transferred to Expomark.

In 2025, an investment decision exceeding EUR 20 million was also made to construct Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre’s future event venue, Solar. This investment, one of the largest undertaken by the Group in recent decades, will strengthen Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre’s position as an international event venue. Designed to flexibly accommodate a wide range of events—from seminars to celebrations and product launches—construction of Solar will begin in spring 2026, with the venue scheduled to open in autumn 2027.

A movable 5,000-seat Messukeskus Arena grandstand, bringing greater flexibility to the use of Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre’s largest halls, was introduced at the Nordic Business Forum.

Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre was selected Finland’s best trade fair and event organiser in Taloustutkimus’s Työelämän päättäjät – TEP 2025 survey. In the comparison, Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre received the highest scores for the functionality of its trade fair and exhibition facilities, its diverse range of services, the professionalism of its personnel, the breadth of its ancillary services and its ability to renew, as well as the highest NPS score in the industry.

Sustainability

Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre assumes responsibility for the environment, people and economic sustainability. Sustainability performance is reported in accordance with the ESG framework and with due consideration of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Work on the key sustainability themes aligned with the strategy continued:

• Attractive and safe events that enable encounters, developed together with customers
  • The objectives are reliable and ethically sustainable services, as well as event safety and accessibility. Key metrics include income and employment impact, media visibility of events, NPS scores, and the renewal of the SHORE certification.
  • The goal is to increase the income and employment impact of events to over EUR 400 million by 2030.
• Sustainable events
  • The objective is to reduce the environmental impacts of events. Key metrics include recycling rate, carbon footprint (Scope 1 and 2), and energy consumption.
  • The long-term target is to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030.
• Well-being of employees and partners, and a safe working environment
  • The objectives are the well-being of personnel and partners, personnel development, and the promotion of diversity, equality and inclusion within the workplace. Key metrics include eNPS, personnel turnover, and the number of training days.

At the beginning of the year, Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre launched partnerships related to social responsibility with HelsinkiMissio and the Finnish Red Cross. Throughout the year, the partner organisations were present at numerous events held at Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre.

During the reporting year, Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre renewed its energy efficiency agreement for the period 2026–2035 and committed to reducing energy consumption by 10% from the 2024 level by 2035. This commitment supports the long-term sustainability objective of becoming a 100% carbon-neutral event venue by 2030.

In addition, Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre continued to develop event-specific carbon footprint calculations and renewed the Sustainable Travel Finland label awarded by Visit Finland.

 

*Marked-based CO₂ calculation

Personnel

At the end of 2025, the number of permanent employees under an employment contract totalled 174 (2024: 177). In addition, the Finnish Fair Corporation employed an average of 7 interns (2024: 9) in 2025 in marketing and communications, IT, and HR roles. The Finnish Fair Corporation offers internship positions to students on an annual basis, with the aim of providing meaningful work experience and a genuine learning environment across various event production functions. The company enjoys a strong employer reputation, and its open positions attract a high number of qualified applicants.

The Finnish Fair Corporation operates under an organisational model designed to accommodate the rapid resource fluctuations inherent in project-based business. In addition to permanent employees, specialist and resource pools established across different functions are utilised during peak periods. The use of these pools continued throughout 2025.

During the spring, change negotiations were conducted at the Finnish Fair Corporation Ltd and its subsidiary SVV Oy for production-related reasons. The objective was to allocate resources more efficiently and flexibly while taking into account the seasonal fluctuations of the business. Job descriptions were revised and the organisation was restructured. As a result of these changes, the total number of positions within the Group decreased by 13. The changes are expected to enhance the Group’s competitiveness and improve the customer experience.

Regular measurement of employee satisfaction continued and remained at a good level. The employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) of the Finnish Fair Corporation Group was 21 (2024: 40).

Owners

As of 31 December 2025, the Finnish Fair Corporation Ltd has 196 shareholders, including numerous companies, the City of Helsinki, and the Finnish Fair Foundation. The largest and long-standing shareholder continues to be the Finnish Fair Foundation, which holds an 89% ownership interest and therefore exercises control over the Finnish Fair Corporation Ltd. The company has a total of 44,278 shares outstanding, and there is only one class of shares. If a company share is transferred to a new external owner, the transfer must be reported without delay to the Board of Directors. The company has a primary and the shareholders a secondary right of redemption to acquire shares transferred to a new shareholder, in accordance with the terms set out in the Articles of Association.

Financial Performance

Turnover and Result

In 2025, the Finnish Fair Corporation Group comprised the Finnish Fair Corporation Ltd and its wholly owned subsidiaries Expomark Oy and Suomen Videoviestintä SVV Oy.

The Group’s turnover amounted to EUR 60.5 million (2024: EUR 58.4 million), representing growth of 3.6% compared with the previous year (2024: 13.9%).

Of the subsidiaries, Expomark Oy reported turnover of EUR 2.3 million (2024: EUR 2.9 million) and an operating loss of EUR 70 thousand (2024: operating profit of EUR 499 thousand). Suomen Videoviestintä SVV Oy reported turnover of EUR 7.2 million (2024: EUR 7.6 million) and an operating profit of EUR 1.0 million (2024: EUR 1.4 million).

The Group’s operating expenses totalled EUR 56.7 million (2024: EUR 53.7 million), of which depreciation and amortisation in accordance with plan amounted to EUR 8.2 million (2024: EUR 7.5 million).

The Group’s operating profit was EUR 3.9 million (2024: EUR 4.7 million). The operating margin was +6.4% (2024: +8.0%).

The Group’s profit before appropriations and taxes amounted to EUR 4.3 million (2024: EUR 5.2 million). The Group’s profit for the financial year was EUR 4.4 million (2024: EUR 5.4 million).

Financing

The Group’s cash flow from operating activities amounted to EUR 16.0 million (2024: EUR 13.1 million). Cash flow from investing activities was EUR -13.5 million (2024: EUR -6.4 million).

At the end of the financial year, the Group had no (0) interest-bearing liabilities (2024: 0 none). Total assets amounted to EUR 103.7 million (2024: EUR 100.8 million). The equity ratio was 88.9% (2024: 88.8%).

The debt-to-equity ratio was 0% (2024: 0%). 

Taxes

Taxes recognised by the Group amounted to EUR -0.2 million (2024: EUR 0.2 million).

Investments

The Group’s investments totalled EUR 10.5 million (2024: EUR 6.5 million), corresponding to 17.2% (2024: 11.1%) of turnover.

Investments related to replacement and maintenance of property amounted to EUR 5.0 million (2024: EUR 4.1 million). Investments in information technology and digitalisation totalled EUR 0.5 million (2024: EUR 0.8 million), while investments in rental equipment amounted to EUR 5.0 million (2024: EUR 1.6 million).

Dividend Policy

The objective of the Finnish Fair Corporation Group is to distribute dividends corresponding to approximately one third of its net profit, taking into account the Group’s financial position and strategic objectives.

Outlook for 2026

Finland’s economy is expected to recover moderately in 2026 following a prolonged recession, with gross domestic product projected to grow by 0.8–1.5 per cent. Growth is supported by a recovery in private consumption, a rebound in investment, and increased exports. At the same time, public finances are expected to remain deeply in deficit, and public debt will continue to rise.

The Finnish Fair Corporation will continue to implement its growth strategy. The Messukeskus Arena grandstand complex will be used for the first time at a sporting event at the Helsinki International Horse Show in winter 2026. Construction of Solar, a future-oriented event venue strengthening Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre as an international event destination, will begin in spring 2026. Among new event concepts, Click Commerce, Sähkö–Electricity, and Arctic Lights Comic Con will be held for the first time in spring 2026.

Investments in the property, upgrades to customer rental facilities, AV technology, and marketing and financial information systems—taking AI into account—will continue.

Significant events after the end of the financial year

Veronica Lindholm commenced her role as Chief Executive Officer of the Finnish Fair Corporation Group on 1 January 2026.

On 1 January 2026, the Group company Expomark Oy acquired 100 per cent of the share capital of Media Pro Finland Oy. The company organises handicrafts and wellbeing events in several locations across Finland.

Eeva-Riitta Tuominen, Director of Services and Production at Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre, resigned and left the company on 30 January 2026. Saija Syväjärvi was appointed new Director of Services and Production as of 1 April 2026. Until the commencement of the new director, the position will be held on an interim basis by Veronica Lindholm.

Events held in early 2026 have been implemented in line with plans.

Risks and uncertainties

Despite early signs of economic recovery, delays in Finland’s economic growth and continued consumer caution may still be reflected in the level of investment by both visitors and exhibitors in the events industry. Weaker economic prospects and reduced investment intentions among small and medium-sized enterprises may also have an adverse impact on event-related investments.

Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre’s security capabilities include, among other things, comprehensive security systems, trained personnel, well-maintained property, continuous monitoring, preparedness for cyber security risks, ongoing security planning, and close cooperation with authorities.

Personnel and property-related risks are mitigated through systematic risk management. Comprehensive risk assessments are carried out on a regular basis, and the Group’s preparedness is developed and enhanced accordingly.

Personnel

The Group employed an average of 174 (2024: 171) full-time employees during the financial year. Total wages and salaries, including social security contributions, amounted to EUR 14.5 million (2024: EUR 14.1 million).