EQS-News: KION with strong financial year 2024 – efficiency program resolved to strengthen resilience

KION with strong financial year 2024 – efficiency program resolved to strengthen resilience

• Preliminary and unaudited group results for the financial year 2024 published – significant increase in profitability
• Executive Board resolves efficiency program to maintain headroom for future investments

Frankfurt am Main, February 4, 2025 – The KION Group finished the financial year 2024 with strong results: With slightly improved revenue of € 11.5 billion (2023: € 11.4 billion), adjusted EBIT significantly increased to € 917 million (2023: € 791 million). The adjusted EBIT margin was at 8.0 percent (2023: 6.9 percent), free cash flow at € 702 million (2023: € 715 million). In order to secure this momentum and to maintain the company’s headroom for investments, the Executive Board of KION GROUP AG today resolved an efficiency program. In a fast-changing macroeconomic and geopolitical environment, KION is committed to extend its leading role in the market.

“KION is at a pivotal moment in its history. Our preliminary results of the financial year 2024 prove that in a challenging environment we can deliver a strong performance,” said Rob Smith, CEO of KION GROUP AG. “KION is a recognized leader in its markets, strongly valued across our customer base and by our partners. We are the first in the industry to work with NVIDIA’s physical AI, creating the warehouse of the future and reshaping our industry. To further drive our development of solutions in both segments to cover future requirements from our customers, we will develop an even more resilient and agile company.” 

Structural measures to optimize KION’s efficiency

The efficiency program is addressing developments in the macroeconomic environment. European economies are struggling to gain momentum – this affects key customer industries in the Industrial Trucks & Services segment, where Chinese competitors have been improving their market position in the aftermaths of the recent pandemics. While internal programs to continuously improve product, production and services costs were already up and running throughout 2024 and will continue, further structural measures will address a more efficient setup for KION in Europe. This is expected to have an impact on personnel requirements subject to consultations with the respective employee representative bodies as required by local laws.

The efficiency program aims to achieve sustainable cost savings of around € 140 million to € 160 million per year, fully effective in the 2026 financial year. For the implementation of the cost saving measures one-off expenses in the amount of approximately € 240 million to € 260 million are expected in the financial year 2025. The vast majority is expected to be cash-effective in the financial year 2025 as well.

Christian Harm, CFO of KION GROUP AG, adds: “In order to maintain headroom for investments ensuring our future, to further strengthen our competitiveness and our resilience, we must manage our cost base. This requires structural and sustainable measures.”

The preliminary and unaudited results for the group and the segments for the FY 2024 and Q4 2024 are as follows:

KION GROUP AG will publish the final results for the fourth quarter and the financial year 2024 and the detailed outlook for the financial year 2025 as planned on 27 February 2025.

The Company

The KION Group is one of the world’s leading providers of industrial trucks and supply chain solutions. Its full spectrum of services includes industrial trucks, such as forklift trucks and warehouse trucks, as well as integrated automation technologies and software solutions for the optimization of supply chains—including all related services. The KION Group’s solutions ensure the smooth flow of materials and information in customers’ warehouses, production plants, and distribution centers in over 100 countries.

The MDAX listed group is the largest manufacturer of industrial trucks in the EMEA region based on the number of units sold in 2022. Based on revenue for the year 2023, the KION Group is the leading overseas manufacturer in China, and including domestic manufacturers, the third-largest supplier there. The KION Group is also one of the world’s leading warehouse automation providers, based on 2023 revenue.

At the end of 2023, more than 1.8 million industrial trucks of the KION Group were in use by customers from all manner of sectors and of varying sizes on six continents. The group currently has more than 42,000 employees and generated revenue of approx. € 11.4 billion in the 2023 financial year.

You can access up-to-date image material for the KION Group via our image database https://kion-mediacenter.canto.global/v/MediaCenter/ as well as on our respective brands’ websites.

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Disclaimer 

This release and the information contained herein are for information purposes only and do not constitute a prospectus or an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in the United States or in any other jurisdiction.

This release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Future results could differ significantly from the results that are currently expected due to various risk factors and uncertainties such as changes in economic or industry-specific conditions, changes in the market environment or political situation, changes in domestic or international legislation, interest rate or exchange rate fluctuations, legal disputes and investigations, and the availability of financial resources. We do not assume any responsibility for updating the forward-looking statements in this release.

Further information for media representatives

Dr. Christopher Spies
Director Group Communications
Cell +49 151 14 06 52 27
christopher.spies@kiongroup.com

Further Information for Investors

Raj Junginger
Senior Manager Investor Relations
Phone +49 (0)69 201 107 942
raj.junginger@kiongroup.com

Website: www.kiongroup.com/media

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