Keep the dates for UFI Asia Seminar 2010

HKTDC links to BSG news

The Hong Kong Trade Development Council's website is a very rich resource for companies wishing to trade with Asia. As well as listings and company information, it includes all kinds of business and economic research. Some of this is undertaken by the TDC's own, excellent research department and other items come from third party research and consulting firms including BSG.

Thanks to Marsha Ho at Edelman in Hong Kong for pointing out to us this piece which quotes a recent BSG Tracker Service report on the Impact of the Economic crises on the Asia B2B events industry.

New UFI/BSG research reports continued growth in Asia

Trade fair market in Asia grows by 8.7% in 2008 according to UFI report
Issued: Thursday, 30th June, 2009

June 30, 2009 – Paris/Hong Kong: The trade fair industry in Asia expanded by 8.7% in 2008 despite the weakening global economic environment according to the fifth edition of UFI’s annual report on the trade fair market in Asia. Net area sold by organisers in Asia reached a total of 14.3 million m2 The research was once again undertaken for UFI, the global association of the exhibition industry, by Business Strategies Group (BSG) in Hong Kong.

China’s growth continues to outpace the rest of the region. It is the largest market in the region in terms of space sold and industry revenues. Year-on-year, net square metres sold in China grew by 14% outperforming the regional average of 8.7%. Over 7.6 million m2 were sold in China in 2008 – accounting for 53% of 14.3 million m2 sold across Asia. The second largest market, Japan, continues to lose ground to China. The Japanese market shrank by more than 6% last year with 2.0 million m2 sold.

A number of much smaller markets grew faster than China last year. Space sold in Macau expanded by 69% on the back of the opening of the new venue at the Venetian. Taiwan grew by 26% and Vietnam by 24% in terms of square metres sold which was also primarily driven by additional, new capacity in both markets.

Revenues from trade fairs in Asia increased from US$3.25 billion in 2007 to US$3.45 billion last year – an rise of just over 6%, down markedly from the 26% revenue growth recorded in 2007. China outperformed all of the top five largest markets (measured by revenues) by a wide margin posting a 20% increase in revenues for a total of US$1.33 billion.

This report provides detailed information on the development of trade fairs and supporting facilities in 15 markets: China, Hong Kong, Macau, Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. The report also includes analysis on actual market performance in 2008 as well as forecasts and commentary on key trends in each market.

Vincent Gérard, UFI Managing Director, commented, “2008 was another noteworthy year for the exhibition industry in Asia. Despite a challenging economic environment, space sales in the region as a whole grew by close to 9%. Seven different markets posted double digit growth – and of those four grew by more than 20%. Even this difficult year should be no exception with major markets forecast to continue expanding and several exciting new venues coming online by the end of 2009.”

As an added-value service, each UFI member will be entitled to receive a four page executive summary of the research and to purchase the full report at a substantial discount.

The report has again been edited by UFI Asia/Pacific Regional Manager and BSG Principal, Paul Woodward. He commented, “Asia continues to be one of the most vital and exciting exhibition markets in the world. Despite the global economic recession, in 2009 BSG is still forecasting growth in several of the region’s key exhibition markets including China and India. The pace of change here has been nothing short of remarkable. In 2003, there were 101 venues in the region and space sales were just 5.7 million m2. By the end of this year, Asia will be home to 162 venues generating space sales of 14.6 million m2.”


For more information on this study, please contact UFI in Asia at:
UFI Asia/Pacific Office 1101, Wilson House 19, Wyndham Street Central, Hong Kong
Tel : +852 2525 6129
Fax: +852 2525 6171
email: asia@ufi.org

BSG quoted by TCEB

BSG CEO Paul Woodward has been quoted by the Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau, one of BSG's key clients, in a press release about exhibitions in Thailand. When talking about awareness of Thailand in Hong Kong and China, he says:

In Hong Kong there is a pretty high level of awareness of what Thailand has to offer. The levels of knowledge in China are still developing and we are working hard to help people there realize that Thailand is a good business base as well as a leisure travel destination for which it is currently most famous. Once people have seen the quality of the infrastructure in Thailand and international standard services to support it, they are very enthusiastic about the opportunities in the country.

Green shoots in Asia?

UFI Info, the e-newsletter of UFI, the global association of the exhibition industry, has just published an opinion piece by BSG founder Paul Woodward talking about early signs of recovery in Asia's trade fair industry:

I will be really interested to see the results of round
two of UFI’s barometer research. If I were a betting
man (which I am not), I’d place a decent wager on the
general mood being better than when UFI first carried
out this research early in the year.

Yes, the economic news is still quite mixed and au-
gust organisations such as the IMF are warning us
that things may be even worse than they feared.
Worthy journals like the Economist are cautioning us
against being too excited by the 'green shoots' which
people are reporting.

I am not an economist. But every business person I'm
talking to right now is seeing those green shoots.
They accept that 2009 won’t be a great year, but it is
now looking, in Asia at least, as though it just might
not be as bad as they had feared.

There are some encouraging signs emerging. After a
series of very disturbing reports about motor shows
around the world, for example, Auto Shanghai (an
UFI Approved Event) reported numbers up on all
measures and attracted huge international attention.
This is partly because China's car market is now big-
ger than that of the US. Porsche used the event to
launch a car for the first time outside Germany or the
US. The CEOs of many of the world's car companies
were there. For those of us in the trade fair business,
we were not surprised to see that the car industry
chose an exhibition as it tried to restart its economic
engines.

In Hong Kong, the large Spring sourcing shows
have been better than expected. The January
fairs were relatively quiet, but the early April
events, to the surprise of some, were bigger
and, for at least some of the events, visitor num-
bers were up by 10%. Although some of the
other big sourcing fairs in the region were still
struggling to attract visitors in the usual num-
bers, factory owners in South China are report-
ing that orders are beginning to pick back up.
The buyers clearly need good quality trade fairs
to locate next season’s products.

In Asia at least, the general economic news is
looking up. Just last week, two respected banks
(there are still a few) upgraded their forecasts
for China. They are now expecting 7.5 to 8%
GDP growth this year. Korea just reported first
quarter growth, albeit very slim growth, when all
had expected recession. Taiwan’s March ex-
ports were down, but much less than the pundits
had been expecting.

The good news for UFI members is that the fairs
supporting these mini revivals which are doing
best are those which lead their field. There is a
clear flight to quality and events which are new
or number 3 or 4 in their field continue to strug-
gle. UFI Approved Events by definition are well-
established and are usually the leaders in their
field. Now, more than ever, the UFI Approved
Events are proving their worth in this difficult, but
not impossible market.

BSG manages the Asia/Pacific office of UFI.

BSG issues report on crisis and B2B in Asia

PRESS RELEASE

Impact of global economic crisis on Asia’s B2B media industry: Online revenues holding up well, exhibitions and publishing weakening

Hong Kong, 30th March: Business Strategies Group (BSG), the only consultancy in Asia specialising in B2B media and events, has released a new report analysing the impact of the global economic crisis on the Asian B2B media industry.

Key players including Alibaba.com, Global Sources and CMP Asia have all weathered the economic crisis quite well so far. Alibaba.com’s 2008 revenues increased 39% year-on-year. Global Sources’ revenues came within guidance increasing by 14% and CMP Asia’s revenues jumped by 19% in 2008.

The leading companies have reacted to the economic crisis with a variety of initiatives and strategies, but there are some common themes.

There is an emphasis on new markets to generate alternative sources of growth. Both Global Sources and Alibaba.com allocated additional resources to India in 2008. Alibaba.com is also making a concerted effort to diversify its paid supplier base outside of China – including more markets in Europe.

Both Alibaba.com and Global Sources have restructured their core online offerings to create lower cost products. Global Sources has discontinued a non-core business and has focused more resources on big buyers services (i.e. Private Sourcing Events).

In a show of confidence, both Global Sources and Alibaba.com have repurchased shares. Alibaba.com has board approval to repurchase up to US$258 million worth of shares on the open market. Global Sources bought back US$50 million worth of shares through a tender offer.

Business events, primarily sourcing exhibitions, have held up well until now, but most organisers are expecting 2009 to result in a significant drop in business. Consequently, governments around the region have launched a number of initiatives and schemes to boost the sector.

The Hong Kong government earmarked HK$150 million (US$19.4 million) to promote Hong Kong’s conventions and exhibitions business overseas and is also considering significantly expanding the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai. The Hong Kong Tourism Board set up a new team, “Meetings & Exhibitions Hong Kong” (MEHK), to support the industry.

Singapore has established a US$60 million fund to boost tourism including the MICE and business travel sectors. The Singapore Expo venue is undergoing a facility upgrade. The Media Development Authority in Singapore has committed US$60 million to support its media sector.

Taiwan, Korea, Thailand and Malaysia have launched comparable efforts to support their MICE industry through subsidies, promotional activities and venues expansion projects.

BSG Principal, Paul Woodward, commented, “We are anticipating a challenging, but eventful year in Asia’s B2B media industry. 2009 will undoubtedly be a down year for the exhibition business, but the impact on the B2B online sector is still an unknown. Global Sources’ 2008 online revenues increased by 24% and Alibaba.com’s by 39%, but the key question is: how will their revamped online products will hold up this year.”

This BSG report was distributed on 26th March to BSG subscribers of its Asian Business Media Tracker service. The report features over 30 pages of information and analysis covering the impact of the economic crisis on key B2B media companies including Global Sources, CMP Asia (now UBM Asia), Alibaba.com and the HKTDC as well as a detailed review of the activities of governments across Asia. The report is also available for purchase on a stand-alone basis.

For information, please contact:

Paul Woodward, Principal, Business Strategies Group Ltd.
Tel: +852 2525 6163
e-mail: paul at bsgasia.com

Distributed through Edelman on behalf of Business Strategies Group Ltd.

Marsha Ho
Edelman
Telephone: 852 2837 4705
Fax: 852 2804 1303
Email: marsha.ho at edelman.com

ABM quotes BSG on Asia

ABM, the Global Association of Business Information Companies (née American Business Media) has published some thoughts on Asia and the crisis from BSG's Paul Woodward in its Global Industry Insights e-newsletter. We say:

Given the number of resumés arriving in Hong Kong from the US, it would appear that there is some optimism that Asia can provide some reprieve from the worst of the downturn. The truth is more mixed. Research Business Strategies Group (BSG) has been preparing suggests that, while the region has certainly not escaped the downturn, there are some bright spots.

In the same edition, Neal Vitale of 1105 Media talks about China. he says:

In the January edition of ABM's Global Industry Insights, Tom Gorman of Fortune China noted that China will offer "solid, if slower, growth for well-managed media businesses with strong brands." At 1105 Media, we couldn't agree more.

ABM is gearing up for what it is calling its first Global B2B Day during its spring meeting at Amelia Island in Florida in early May.

Twittering

One of our jobs is to track trends which may affect the businesses of our clients in B2B media companies in the next year or so. It is clear that Twitter, love it or hate it, has reached a critical mass in the past few months and engaged the consciousness of business people and particularly media business people.

Once dear old Gary Trudeau of Doonesbury picks up on a tech trend - he's no spring chicken you know - you know its so mainstream that it may almost be over. However, we press on.

The only way to work out what all this means is to use it. So, I have started twittering at pwoodwardhk. Do follow me there if you're interested. I'm learning that people are increasingly using it less to post on the colour of their socks (mine are red by the way), but to provide links to tidbits of news and insight relevant to their particular interests.

I just posted on Jack Ma's interview with the New York Times:

#Alibaba's Jack Ma tells New York Times that recession will last 3 - 5 years: http://tiny.cc/vdN2M

I can't promise that some of it won't be trivial, but I can promise that I'm trying to work out whether this does any more for a business than burn up staff time.

UFI Open Seminar in Asia 2009 opens in KL with record crowd

This event is managed on behalf of UFI by the Business Strategies Group team:

UFI Open Seminar in Kuala Lumpur – A record audience

Paris/Kuala Lumpur, 12 February 2009: A record 208 delegates from 26 countries and regions have gathered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, this week for UFI’s annual Open Seminar in Asia. The focus of the meeting, hosted by the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, is "Ten Steps to Better Exhibitions" with a group of experts from around the world providing practical tips on how to run exhibitions in a time of crisis.

UFI Managing Director, Vincent Gérard, speaking in Malaysia, said “we are more than delighted that, in this challenging economic time, such a strong group of our UFI members as well as non-members from around the region has chosen to come together in Kuala Lumpur to exchange ideas on how they can protect and continue to build-up their businesses. It’s a real affirmation of the value UFI can provide in sharing information and networking opportunities to the industry. At the same time, a successful gathering like this really promotes the value of face-to-face events”.

Peter Brokenshire, General Manager of the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, said “The Centre is honoured to be the host venue for the UFI Open Seminar in Asia 2009. With strong support from Malaysian organisations, this event marks an excellent opportunity for industry professionals to experience first-hand what Kuala Lumpur city has to offer and the Centre’s world-class facilities, the team’s professional and friendly service and of course, the gastronomic delights specially prepared by our culinary brigade of 51 chefs during the event”.

The UFI Open Seminar in Asia 2009 is strongly supported by a number of important Malaysian organisations which include Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB), AOS Convention & Exhibition Sdn Bhd, the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE), Kuala Lumpur Tourism Action Council, Pico International (M) Pte Ltd, and the host, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.

Day one speakers at the event include Byung-Kwan Bae, President & CEO, COEX, Korea, Stanley Chu, Chairman, Adsale Exhibition Services Ltd and UFI Asia Pacific Chapter First Vice Chairman from Hong Kong, Peter Brokenshire, Nat Wang, President, Agility Fairs & Events Logistics Pte Ltd, Singapore, and, bringing a perspective on sales from outside the industry, Anthony Solimini, Author of "Trust, Comfort, Confidence - Three words that will change the way you sell".

Following an evening reception jointly hosted by Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau
(MyCEB) and Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, day two speakers include Gunnar Heinrich, Managing Partner, adventics GmbH, Germany, Glenn Hansen, President and CEO, BPA Worldwide, and Skip Cox, President and CEO, Exhibit Surveys, Inc, USA, Michael Duck, Senior Vice President, CMP Asia Ltd and Hanson Toh, Han-Son, Malaysia Country Consultant, Google, Inc., Malaysia. The final session will bring together a panel of exhibitors to discuss what they need from the exhibitions they use today and tomorrow.

Other networking sessions include a lunch on Friday 13th sponsored by MATRADE, while a post-seminar guided tour of Kuala Lumpur is sponsored by AOS Conventions & Events Sdn Bhd.

Next year’s UFI Open Seminar in Asia 2010, to be hosted by TAITRA, will take place at the Taipei World Trade Centre on March 4 - 5.

The impact of recession

BSG Principal Paul Woodward is quoted today in Telecom Asia piece about the impact of the economic slowdown on conferences and other business events:

Paul Woodward, Asia-Pacific manager of exhibitions industry group UFI, said economic downturns usually hit smaller and niche events the hardest.

“What we normally see during a crisis is that big, major events hold up reasonably well. That applies across most sectors,” he said.

“People tend to pull their marketing and travel budgets from smaller events that are a bit more marginal.”

He said events in Asian consumer businesses, such as toys and consumer electronics, looked to be feeling the biggest impact of the recession.

UFI Open Seminar in Asia 2009 to be held in Malaysia

Paris, 15 December 2008: UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, will hold the fourth UFI Open Seminar in Asia in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 12-13 February 2009. The theme of this seminar focuses on "Ten Steps to Better Exhibitions - Practical tips on how to run an exhibition in a time of crisis".

As in the past, the UFI Open Seminar in Asia 2009 welcomes all UFI members and non-members to participate. Registration is now open with early bird rates available until 31 December 2008.

The seminar will be hosted by Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, one of UFI's members in Malaysia. UFI Asia/Pacific Regional Manager Paul Woodward commented "we decided to hold the 2009 seminar with a very practical focus on ten interesting topics about how to run exhibitions beginning from planning to looking at your future business. We're delighted to be working with the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre on this project".

According to Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre's General Manager, Peter Brokenshire, "The Centre is honoured to be the host venue for the UFI Open Seminar 2009. This is an excellent platform for the local and international exhibition professionals to have a quality knowledge exchange and networking opportunities. The need to meet and connect with their counterparts is even more crucial in the current economic environment.

"In addition, we hope the delegates will also enjoy a first-hand experience of the space and flexibility at our venue, the team's professional and friendly service and of course, the gastronomic offerings specially prepared by our culinary brigade of 51 chefs during the event."

A group of experienced executives from the exhibitions industry as well as a group of major exhibitors and some outside experts will share their expertise in Kuala Lumpur. They will provide delegates with real-world stories and practical tips for running better exhibitions.

The UFI Open Seminar in Asia 2009 is strongly supported by a number of important Malaysian organizations and include Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB), AOS Convention & Exhibition Sdn Bhd, the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE), Kuala Lumpur Tourism Action Council, Pico International (M) Pte Ltd, and the host, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.

A group of presenters in the following list has been assembled for the programme with others to be confirmed.
- Stanley Chu, Chairman, Adsale Exhibition Services Ltd and UFI Asia Pacific Chapter First Vice Chairman, Hong Kong SAR.
- Peter Brokenshire, General Manager, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, Malaysia.
- Nat Wong, President, Agility Fairs & Events Logistics Pte Ltd, Singapore.
- Glenn Hansen, President and CEO, BPA Worldwide, USA.
- Skip Cox, Exhibit Surveys, USA
- Michael Duck, Senior Vice President, CMP Asia Ltd, Hong Kong SAR

The Seminar runs from 1:30 - 5:45PM on Thursday 12th February and 9:00AM - 1:00PM on Friday 13th February followed by Seminar Lunch at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. Seminar programme and registration info are available at www.ufi.org/kualalumpur2009.

For additional information please contact: UFI
Ms Lili Eigl, Manager Communications
35bis, rue Jouffroy-d'Abbans
75017 Paris, France
Phone: (33) 1 4267 9912
Email: lili@ufi.org

Seasons greetings from the BSG team

Projecting resilience

BSG CEO Paul Woodward is quoted in this article on the impact of the economic crisis on the MICE industry. The basic theme is that "conventions and exhibitions in the region will weather the global financial storm, despite a drop in delegate attendance". Corporate meetings and incentive travel are expected to be hit harder.

Woodward is quoted as saying "We can safely assume that the third and fourth quarters of this year will be pretty weak compared to previous years, as companies cut back on international travel in the face of future uncertainty. There are mixed reports coming from the major trade fairs under way now. Some are reporting flat visitor figures while others are conceding a 15-20 per cent reduction in international participation. The expectation is certainly that participation in Asian events from North America and Europe will be lower.”

China National Commitee meets in Ningbo

I was honoured to be able to attend the meeting this week of China's National Technical Committee on Exhibition & Convention Standardization in Ningbo. OK, it may not be a title to get the pulse racing, but it is actually the only official, national level committee of any kind for the exhibitions industry in China. It is chaired by Chen Xianjin from the Shanghai World Expo Group who is also the chair of UFI's Asia/Pacific Chapter. The 20 or so key members are a real who's who of the industry in China.

I gave an overview of developments with the ISO's new standard and in UFI's own standardisation efforts. Pictured here, next to Woodward are Chen Xianjin (L) and, next to him, the Head of Ningbo city government's Convention & Exhibition office.


Other leaders of China's exhibition industry in the picture (and taking leading roles in the Committee) include (from the left) Tang Guifa from Shanghai, and Chen Fang and Li Kai from Beijing. Not pictured included old friends from the industry in China such as Wang Mingliang of CMP Sinoexpo, Mike Jiang of Reed's Shenzhen Sinoexpo business and many others.

Blogging has resumed

After a long-ish summer break, regular blogging has resumed on our Asia Business Media blog. We explain where we've been and what we are now looking at in our first post.

UFI/BSG report records 18% growth in Asian exhibitions

PRESS RELEASE

Trade fair market in Asia grows by 18% in 2007 according to UFI market report


Paris/Hong Kong, June 24, 2008: The trade fair industry in Asia expanded strongly again in 2007.Net area sold by organisers in Asia grew by nearly 18% reaching a total of 13.2 million m2 according to the fourth edition of UFI’s annual report on the trade fair market in Asia. The research and analysis was once again undertaken for UFI, the global association of the exhibition industry, by Business Strategies Group (BSG) in Hong Kong.

The report shows that China remains the largest trade fair market by a substantial margin. Year-onyear, net square metres sold in China grew by 21% outperforming the regional average of 14%. India was, however, Asia’s fastest –growing market in 2007, up 50% followed by South Korea which grew by 32%. Over 6.7 million m2 were sold in China in 2007 – accounting for 51% of the total across Asia. The second largest market, Japan, grew by just 1% last year with sales of 2.2 million m2. Revenues from trade fairs in Asia increased from US$2.57 billion in 2006 to US$3.25 billion in 2007 – an increase of 26.5%. China continued to extend its lead over other markets in 2007. Last year, trade fair revenues in China were nearly US$1.12 billion. This is a massive increase of 47% over the US$760 million recorded in 2006.

This annual industry report provides detailed information on the development of trade fairs and supporting facilities in 15 markets: China, Hong Kong, Macau, Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. The report also includes analysis on actual market performance in 2007 as well as forecasts and commentary on key trends in each market.

Vincent Gérard, UFI Managing Director, commented, “The publication of the fourth edition of this report is an important contribution to UFI’s global research efforts. It shows that Asia remains one of the most dynamic areas for growth in our industry. It is exciting to see the predicted takeoff in India becoming a reality along with the many other exciting markets in the region”. As an added-value service, each UFI member will be entitled to receive a six page executive summary of the research and to purchase the full report at a substantial discount.

The report has again been edited by UFI Asia/Pacific Regional Manager and BSG Principal, Paul Woodward. He commented, “In the last five years, we have seen the trade fair industry undergo a remarkable transformation. In 2003, the region recorded space sales of 5.7 million m2 at 101 venues. Last year, the number of venues had surged by more than 50% to 156 venues and sales had more than doubled to 13.2 million m2.”

Featured in TradeShow Week Power Pack

BSG founder Paul Woodward is featured in TradeShow Week's Power Pack 100 listing of the "most influential people in the exhibition business". Very kind, thank you guys. They say:

From his perch in Hong Kong, for years Woodward has had his hand on the pulse of the Asian tradeshow industry, churning out detailed reports on all aspects of the continent's business. He seems to know as much about what's going on in the relatively low-profile countries of southeast Asia as he does about the enormous industry in China. Woodward also runs UFI's Asia/Pacific office...

They go on to credit me with writing UFI's new global venues report. That was actually produced by Christian Druart in UFI's head office with Asia input from BSG.

In Thailand

I was invited to Bangkok last week to join in a press conference organised by my friends at the Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau. They were announcing a new initiative to support exhibitions in Thailand which included the launch of an Approved Event by TCEB scheme. Drawing on UFI's international standards, this will require data to be audited and international participation levels.

It's a good initiative which can help cement Thailand's strong position. According to our data, it is already the leading host of trade fairs in south-east Asia. I'm a big fan of promoting higher professional standards in the events industry.

Here I am with TCEB Exhibitions Director Supawan Teerarat and CMP Thailand's Nucharin Paradeevisut. You can read more of the news here but your Thai will have to be pretty good!

BSG quoted in reports on Alibaba, Microsoft & Yahoo!

We may be somewhat inaccurately described as an IT consulting firm here (we focus on business media, information and events), but thanks anyway to the XFN for including our comments in this piece on the impact of Microsoft's break-up with Yahoo! on Alibaba:

"I believe the slump in its share price today has more to do with worries about its first-quarter earnings more than Microsoft's decision to drop its takeover bid for Yahoo," said Paul Woodward, principal at information technology consulting firm Business Strategies Group.

"I doubt if there is any direct link between its share price and the proposed Microsoft deal," he said.

"Alibaba.com's earnings depend to a large extent on world trade and with the slowing of the global economy it's understandable for investors to worry about its earnings," he said.

Tracker newsletter adds PE analysis

We have been tracking the stocks of Asian listed B2B media companies since 2001. Today, we added to our Asian Business Media Tracker service a new feature; a weekly report on PE ratios of the companies listed in Asia which we follow.

This is published in the subscriber version of our weekly newsletter. A free version of the newsletter, without the PE tables and many other important features, can be obtained with a sign-up form on our website (at the bottom of the Tracker page....yes, it needs a clearer link....work in progress).

Results of the first week's analysis show that the highest PE of the companies we track is Info Communication (the parent company of Paper Communication Exhibitions) at 137.3. This makes 5th placed Alibaba look quite modest at a mere 66.3. The 'cheapest' stock in our table is Tokyo-listed Xinhua Finance at a bargain 3.1.

Of the 23 stocks we track, 9 have no real PE as they are loss-making.