Cityneon Holdings Ltd said it is aiming for 25 pct annual growth

in earnings over the next three years, supported by the robust growth in the meetings,

incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) industry in Asia and the Middle East.

"The whole MICE industry worldwide is growing. With Singapore becoming a major MICE

hub, it definitely puts us at a very advantageous position to exploit the growth," Ko said. The

government's initiatives to drive growth in the MICE industry here and the upcoming

integrated resorts, which will be operational by 2010, will further fuel the group's growth as

the local market accounts for 40 pct of its revenue, Ko said.

Some major events being handled by Cityneon in Singapore include Asia's largest IT

exhibition CommunicAsia, the Asia Pacific Petroleum Conference (APPEC), and travel

exhibition NATAS, which are yearly events in Singapore that provide repeat orders for

Cityneon. Outside of Singapore, it is participating in events such as Jewellery Arabia in

Bahrain and Formula One (F1) Grand Prix in Bahrain and Malaysia.

Cityneon hopes to clinch more contracts from F1 races in other parts of the world, including

Singapore should the city state clinch the deal to hold races here.

The group is also looking to ramp up its operations in Doha, where it has a representative

office. It secured a contract last year to design and build seven semi-permanent galleries for

the 15th Asian Games held there in December.

In addition, Cityneon is hoping to ink an acquisition in Singapore this year. "We are always

looking at M&A (merger and acquisition) potentials. We have a few M&A targets that we are

working on but nothing has been finalized," Ko said.

These acquisition targets are specialized enterprises in the same industry but have niche

skills that Cityneon is not as strong in as they are, he said.

Despite its expansion and acquisition plans, Ko said the group remains committed to its

dividend policy of paying 35 pct of net profit to shareholders.