Emerald, which produces 140 annual trade shows and conferences annually, reported that overall revenues for the second quarter (Q2) were essentially flat, but the company saw an uptick of 3.3% in organic revenues over the same period last year. 

On Aug. 7, Emerald reported Q2 total revenues of $86.0 million, a decrease of $0.5 million, or 0.6% over Q2 2023, primarily due to several small, discontinued events that were not contributing to profitability and scheduling differences, according to a release by Emerald.

Here’s a deeper dive into the company’s financial performance.

By the numbers: The company reported organic revenues—which takes into account the impact of acquisitions, scheduling adjustments, and discontinued events—of $82.1 million in Q2, an increase of $2.6 million year over year. Emerald had a net loss of $2.8 million and adjusted EBITDA of $15.3 million in Q2, compared to a net loss of $8.1 million and $14.6 million respectively in the same period last year.

Context: In Q2, Emerald produced a number of trade shows, including Outdoor Retailer in June in Salt Lake City, Couture in May in Las Vegas, Advertising Week Europe in May in London, Overland Expo West in May in Flagstaff, Ariz., and the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICCF) in May in New York—to name a few. The company also launched ClimaTech LIVE in June in Boston.

Need to know: Emerald’s board of directors approved to restart a regular quarterly dividend, beginning with a dividend of $0.015 per share for the quarter ending Sept. 30. “We are reinstituting a regular quarterly dividend policy that was suspended during the pandemic and which was approved by our board of directors to reward shareholders with a tangible return of capital,” Emerald President and CEO Hervé Sedky said. “This decision reflects the strong, reliable, cash flow-generating nature of our business and our visibility into continued earnings growth as we look ahead.”

Related: Earnings: Emerald Delivers Double-Digit Organic Revenue Growth in Q1 

What they’re saying: “We are pleased to report another quarter of solid growth in organic revenue and adjusted EBITDA, despite it being our seasonally smaller second quarter,” said Sedky. “The continued positive trends indicate that our customers continue to value the high return on investment of live events, evidenced by higher re-bookings along with sustained strength in pricing as we move through the year. We remain focused on transforming Emerald into a powerful, diverse and scalable platform with strong momentum. It is also part of our balanced capital allocation framework, which combines a disciplined M&A strategy with prudent leverage and investments back into our core business.”

Deeper dive: “Our outlook continues to reflect the sustained, positive trends we’ve been seeing in the business since the COVID-19 recovery began,” said Emerald CFO David Doft. “We continue to expect meaningful year-over-year revenue growth, as reflected in our full-year guidance, along with improving margins as we leverage our operating cost base. Our forward visibility into trade show bookings, including into the first half of 2025, as well as the critical place of trade shows in companies’ marketing budgets, gives us confidence in our ability to drive continued year-over-year growth for the foreseeable future.”

Looking ahead: For the full year 2024, Emerald expects to generate revenues within the originally communicated guidance of $415 million to $425 million in revenue and between $110 million and $115 million of Adjusted EBITDA. In November, Emerald is launching PizzaCon, a one-day experiential event in Philadelphia to complement its annual Pizza Expo in Las Vegas.

Related: Earnings: Emerald Reports Double-Digit Growth in Year-Over-Year Revenue For 2023