[28] Equity
Subscribed capital and capital reserves
As at December 31, 2021, the Company’s share capital amounted to €131.2 million, which was unchanged on the figure a year earlier and was fully paid up. It was divided into 131,198,647 no-par-value shares.
With the consent of the Supervisory Board, the Executive Board of KION GROUP AG had decided on November 18, 2020 to utilize the remaining authorized capital created by the 2017 Annual General Meeting and most of the authorized capital created by the 2020 Annual General Meeting. The share capital was increased against cash contributions by issuing 13,108,647 new no-par-value bearer shares. The gross proceeds from the capital increase came to €813.3 million. An amount of €800.2 million was paid into the capital reserves. The capital increase was entered in the commercial register on December 7, 2020. Consequently, the Executive Board is currently authorized by the Annual General Meeting held on July 16, 2020 to increase the Company’s share capital by up to €0.3 million by issuing up to 279,353 new no-par-value bearer shares for cash (2020 Authorized Capital).
The total number of shares outstanding as at December 31, 2021 was 131,102,423 no-par-value shares (December 31, 2020: 131,086,470 no-par-value shares). Due to the issue of 15,953 bonus shares under KEEP 2018 (KEEP 2017: 11,129 bonus shares), KION GROUP AG held 96,224 treasury shares at the reporting date (December 31, 2020: 112,177). These treasury shares are not dividend-bearing and do not confer any voting rights. Further details on the KEEP Employee Equity Program can be found in note [46].
Retained earnings
The changes in retained earnings are shown in the > table ‘Consolidated statement of changes in equity’. The retained earnings comprise the net income (loss) for the current period and past contributions to earnings by the consolidated entities, provided they have not been distributed.
The distribution of a dividend of €0.41 per share to the shareholders of KION GROUP AG resulted in an outflow of funds of €53.7 million in May 2021. In 2020, a dividend of €0.04 per dividend-bearing share – a total of €4.7 million – had been decided upon in light of the coronavirus pandemic and the unpredictability of its likely impact at that time. This dividend was paid in July 2020.
Appropriation of profit
The Executive Board and the Supervisory Board will propose to the Annual General Meeting to be held on May 11, 2022 that the distributable profit of KION GROUP AG for the 2021 financial year amounting to €197.1 million be used for the distribution of a dividend of €196.7 million. This equates to €1.50 per dividend-bearing share, representing a dividend payout rate of around 35 percent of net income. It is also proposed that €0.4 million be carried forward to the next accounting period.
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) and non-controlling interests
The overall composition of, and changes in, equity are shown in the > table ‘Consolidated statement of changes in equity’.
The currency translation adjustment contains the exchange differences arising from the financial statements prepared in a foreign currency of foreign subsidiaries, associates, and joint ventures.
The gains / losses on the defined benefit obligation are the result of remeasuring defined benefit pension obligations (see also note [29]).
The gains / losses on hedge reserves are the effective portion of the changes in the fair value of hedging instruments in formally documented hedges. The gains / losses on financial investments relate to the remeasurement of the equity investments Shanghai Quicktron Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd, Zhejiang EP Equipment Co., Ltd., and Balyo SA at fair value (FVOCI category under IFRS 9).
The gains / losses from equity-accounted investments contain the share of other comprehensive income (loss) from associates and joint ventures accounted for under the equity method.