Business performance

On 15 April 2014, the KION Group repaid early and in full the fixed-rate tranche of the corporate bond issued in 2011, which was due to mature in 2018 and had a volume of €325.0 million, and the floating-rate tranche of the corporate bond issued in 2013, which was due to mature in 2020 and had a volume of €200.0 million. An amount of €8.4 million representing the pro-rata deferred borrowing costs and a payment of €14.8 million representing early repayment charges were recognised as financial expenses. The funds used for the repayment mainly originated from a revolving loan facility, which has a term to maturity of five years after the IPO in June 2013. This loan facility currently has lower interest rates than the two corporate bonds.

Against this background, the revolving credit facility was increased by €198.0 million to a total of €1,243.0 million in April 2014 on the basis of bilateral lending agreements with a group of banks. These additional loans mature in April 2019 and have a variable interest rate.

On 7 April 2014, Moody’s raised the rating of the KION Group and the bonds from Ba3 to Ba2 with a stable outlook. Then, on 15 April 2014, S&P raised its rating for the KION Group from BB– to BB, retaining the positive outlook.