In its half-year report, the publicly traded company MCH Group reported operating revenue of CHF 249 million, up from CHF 222 million in the same period last year. At the same time, half-year profit quadrupled from CHF 4.4 million to CHF 18.4 million. However, the increase was attributable entirely to the Community Platforms division, which includes the art fairs. Here, revenue rose to CHF 155 million (2025: CHF 118 million), while operating profit (EBIT) increased from CHF 12.4 million to CHF 22.6 million.
The strongest market by revenue was North and South America (up from CHF 79 million to CHF 94 million), while Switzerland fell back (from CHF 83 million to CHF 63 million). Asia/Pacific/Africa also overtook Switzerland, rising from CHF 50 million to CHF 72 million. In the rest of Europe, operating revenue nearly doubled, from just over CHF 10 million to just under CHF 20 million.
The group attributes the increase in revenue over the previous-year period primarily to the inaugural edition of Art Basel Qatar, as well as two construction-industry trade fairs in Switzerland and the U.S. The group’s own trade-fair construction subsidiary Expomobilia remains a source of concern, having already cut around a quarter of its positions in Switzerland last year. The Art Basel fairs are not reported separately, meaning that conclusions about their performance are only possible to a limited extent.
Art Basel locations outside Basel gain ground
MCH is also planning to launch a new specialist trade fair for jewelry and watches, Basilia Jewellery & Watch Fair, together with the British trade-fair and events group Informa Markets, which is particularly active in Asia. The fair will make its debut in Basel in spring 2027. In 2020, MCH was forced to discontinue Baselworld, until then the leading watch fair, following the withdrawal of the major brands. The Swiss group is now attempting to regain lost ground after losing its former cash cow, not least because of management mistakes and excessive prices both at the fair itself and in Basel’s hospitality industry. The latter may sound familiar to art-market participants.
For now, the Basel-based group still seems to enjoy the greatest prestige for its art fair in Basel. But the other locations are gaining ground. And the fair management’s ties to the region may be limited. Both principal shareholder James Murdoch and Art Basel CEO Noah Horowitz are based in New York. Art Basel in Basel is now just one product in a conglomerate in whose empire the sun never sets. That is the price of the Art Basel success model’s global expansion.