Financial performance

Overall assessment of the economic situation

The KION Group has started 2016 with increases in revenue and earnings.

Order intake was higher than in the first quarter of 2015, with the KION Group benefiting from the healthy level of demand in Europe. Moreover, the number of orders received by the Group in Asia improved year on year, which meant that it outperformed the global market. This can be attributed to resolutely pursuing the multi-brand strategy and progressively supplementing the premium product range with platforms for the volume and economy segments. As a result, Baoli has strengthened its position in the global economy segment, generating particularly good growth in North America and eastern Europe.

Despite negative currency effects stemming from the appreciation of the euro, consolidated revenue rose by 4.8 per cent year on year. Of particular note was the sharp increase in revenue from sales of new electric forklift trucks and IC trucks. The proportion of revenue attributable to the service business was up compared with the prior-year period thanks to Egemin Automation.

There was a year-on-year increase in adjusted EBIT and the EBIT margin. By contrast, net income was considerably lower than in the first quarter of last year due to one-off financial expenses in connection with the renewing and optimisation of the Group’s funding in the reporting period. However, lower interest expenses will have a positive effect in the quarters to come. Earnings per share stood at €0.33 (Q1 2015: €0.41).

Level of orders

In the first three months of 2016, order intake advanced by 3.9 per cent or €48.8 million to €1,296.7 million. Egemin Automation contributed orders of €35.1 million in the first quarter of 2016. However, there were negative currency effects of €21.6 million.

The number of trucks ordered increased to approximately 43.6 thousand, which was 4.9 per cent higher than in the first quarter of 2015. The strongest growth was in electric forklift trucks, followed by warehouse trucks. The number of IC trucks ordered was down on the same period of last year, which can partly be attributed to the shift in demand towards electric forklift trucks. The total value of the order book amounted to €921.5 million, an increase of 6.6 per cent on the value at the end of last year (31 December 2015: €864.0 million).