Comdex under threat as organiser buckles

WHILE CHIPMAKERS make chips, but sell fewer of them, and while financiers fiddle their books to justify the hype, the slowdown in the high tech sector continues to claim casualties.

Today we see once-mighty publishing empires like Spliff Davis contemplating Skateboarding magazines as a more viable alternative to PC Direct, and now Key3Media, organiser of Condex and myriad other "information technology tradeshows and conferences" has run aground.

The company has issued a statement declaring it is to undertake, "a strategic review of its operations in response to the sustained economic downturns being experienced in the information technology, networking and trade show industries".

The company says it will continue to produce all of its major events while it undertakes a serious review of itself, before deciding who to axe and who to keep, which shows to run and which to drop.

The annoucement came as the New York Stock Exchange suspended trading of Key3Media's common stock today because of its "abnormally low" selling price recently. The Stock Exchange is to seek to delist the company's stock.

For an insight into the quandary the company is in, have a scan of the "forward-looking statements" rider attached to the release here.

It's a masterpiece:

Certain matters discussed in this release are "forward-looking statements," including statements about Key3Media's future results, plans and goals and other events which have not yet occurred. These statements are intended to qualify for the safe harbors from liability provided by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can find many (but not all) of these statements by looking for words like "will", "may", "believes", "expects", "anticipates", "plans" and "estimates" and for similar expressions. Because forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, there are many factors that could cause Key3Media's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in this release. These include, but are not limited to, economic conditions generally and in the information technology industry in particular; the timing of Key3Media's events and their popularity with exhibitors, sponsors and attendees; technological changes and developments; intellectual property rights; competition; capital expenditures; and factors impacting Key3Media's international operations. In addition, the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 have adversely affected the economy generally and significantly decreased air travel in particular and the IT industry has experienced a significant downturn since the middle of 2001. These developments have and will continue to adversely affect participation and attendance at Key3Media's events, although the Company is not able to quantify or reliably estimate the future impact that these matters may have on its businesses, results of operations or financial condition. The sections entitled "Item 1. Business - Certain Factors That May Affect our Businesses" and "Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2001 filed by Key3Media with the SEC contain important cautionary statements and a discussion of many of the factors that could materially affect the accuracy of Key3Media's forward-looking statements and/or adversely affect its business, results of operations and financial position. These statements and discussions, as well as any and all of Key3Media's other SEC filings, are incorporated herein by reference. Key3Media does not plan to update any forward-looking statements. µ