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AG Hallenstadion Zürich can present a good business result, posting a profit of CHF 1.109 million for the 2016 financial year. The new StarLounge concept has been launched to meet new customer needs.
Other important investments such as the refurbishment of the VIP areas and the only arena in Europe to install LED lights serve to maintain and improve the competitive position of the Hallenstadion as an internationally renowned concert arena and attractive business location.
AG Hallenstadion Zürich presented its business results on the occasion of its Annual General Meeting. The company reports revenue of CHF 21.644 million and a profit of CHF 1.109 million for the 2016 financial year. With a total of 137 event days, the arena's capacity utilisation was well above the average for the previous years. In spite of the growing volatility of the event and live entertainment business, a total of 1.012 million people attended the various events in 2016, the second best number of visitors ever recorded by the Hallenstadion. Hallenstadion Zürich remains the world's number one among arenas with a capacity of 10,000 to 15,000 spectators. At the same time, the number of people who attend concerts and shows is trending downwards – a development that has been ongoing for several years and which is explained by the flood of live events on the market.
Felix Frei, Director of AG Hallenstadion: "The company continues to do very well. However, competition in the live entertainment sector in general and the Swiss location market specifically will stiffen even more with the opening of the Samsung Hall and Halle 622 and the future addition of the new Kongresshaus, the Circle and the renovated St. Jakobshalle in Basel. We cannot rest on our laurels, and this year alone we will invest CHF 3 million in the renovation and improvement of our infrastructure."
The cash flow situation of AG Hallenstadion remains very encouraging. The company once again raised considerable reserves for future investments, maintenance work and major repairs. Thanks to this solid foundation and the stable outlook for the future, the Board of Directors will ask the General Meeting to approve a dividend of CHF 5 per share (par value CHF 100).
All members of the Board of Directors remain available for the new term of office until 2020. These are Dr Balz Hösly (Chairman), Dario Bonomo, Klaus-Peter Schulenberg, Henri Wüger and the delegates of the City of Zurich, city councillors Gerold Lauber and Urs Schmidig. The Board of Directors also proposes that Nadja Schildknecht, co-founder and manager of the Zurich Film Festival, be elected to the board.
AG Hallenstadion finalised the project to renovate and expand its box area in summer 2016. Five individual boxes were combined into one big "StarLounge", allowing the Hallenstadion to expand its successful premium segment offering private lounges with a modern concept that meets the changing social needs of companies and private individuals. The StarLounge is available for rent to companies, groups and private individuals for single events or as part of a Club membership.
Frontline, the Hallenstadion's largest restaurant, will be refurbished in summer 2017. It will be presented in a new light and with a new look and feel after the summer vacation. This will add an attractive culinary dimension to the experience of attending an event at the Hallenstadion. Together with Swisscom and Huawei, AG Hallenstadion will install state-of-the-art LAN and WLAN infrastructure systems in summer 2017. In the coming years, maximum connectivity will play an important role in the further digitization of products and services, not only for the productions, but also for the customer experience. AG Hallenstadion will invest a total of around CHF 3 million in renovating and improving its infrastructure this year.
Balz Hösly, Chairman of the Board of Directors of AG Hallenstadion: "The Hallenstadion should remain the flagship for live entertainment and large corporate events in our country. We want to counter the ever bigger and faster changes in the world of live entertainment and the upcoming departure of the ZSC Lions with innovative and creative measures. Twelve years after the reopening of the Hallenstadion, we are therefore comprehensively reviewing our strategy to ensure that we can initiate the measures to secure our future positioning in a timely manner. As for any company, the key questions are what our customers will pay us for in five or ten years and what we have to invest in this today." (Stadiaworld, 18.05.2017)
