Company profile

We keep the world moving.

The KION Group is a leading global provider of integrated supply chain solutions. The company’s range of services includes industrial trucks, warehouse technology, and supply chain solutions, including related services. Across over 100 countries, the KION Group’s logistics solutions optimise material handling processes and the flow of information at factories, warehouses and distribution centres.

With over 33,000 employees, the company is the largest manufacturer of industrial trucks in Europe and the second-largest worldwide as well as the leading provider of automation technology and software solutions. With a global volume of more than 1.4 million industrial trucks and over 6,000 installed systems, the KION Group’s customer base includes companies in all industries and of all sizes on six continents.

We are moved by sustainability.

The KION Group aspires to understand the needs of its customers like no other company anywhere in the world, and to impress them with customised material handling solutions. Sustainable business practices are the logical consequence of this aspiration. By aligning its actions with environmental, social and economic aspects, the KION Group also supports its customers in implementing their sustainability programmes, thereby meeting a key prerequisite for their own success.

This makes sustainability a task for all employees. Everyone in the company is encouraged to contribute through innovations, ideas and consistent action to ensure the KION Group also fulfils its claim to be a sustainability leader. With a clear sustainability strategy, ambitious objectives and effective measures, the KION Group is on the right track. This report sets out its approach.

Business model and organisation

The KION Group’s business model is geared toward being a single source of the complete spectrum of material handling products and services for customers of all sizes and industries. The KION Group has a comprehensive offering in the market, with a broad technology base, a diversified product portfolio and a global service network.

The KION Group comprises KION GROUP AG, a company incorporated under German law, as the parent company, and its subsidiaries. Through KION GROUP AG as the strategic management holding company, the KION Group is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and is also included in the MDAX, the STOXX Europe 600 and the FTSE Euro Mid Cap indices.

The KION Group is active in the market via its five operating units: LMH EMEA, STILL EMEA, KION APAC, KION Americas and Dematic. While the operating units bear full operational and economic responsibility in their markets, KION GROUP AG is responsible for the Group-wide strategy and central business standards. The internal management of the company is handled by the two segments Industrial Trucks & Services and Supply Chain Solutions, which are the segments in the definition of the International Accounting Standards. The Corporate Services segment comprises the other activities and holding functions of the KION Group.

The Industrial Trucks & Services segment comprises the services of the international Linde, STILL and Baoli brands, the local Fenwick and OM Voltas brands and the financial services business. Under the central Dematic brand, the Supply Chain Solutions segment is one of the world’s leading providers of integrated automation technology, software and services for optimising supply chains.

For a detailed illustration of the KION Group’s organisational structure, its business model and its key markets, see the Annual Report 2018 and the Investor Relations section of the corporate website.

The fiscal year 2018 – Continued growth

In 2018, the KION Group continued its dynamic sales and revenue growth. A new record was achieved with an order intake of €8.7 billion for the year. As at the end of 2018, the Group-wide order book stood at approximately €3.3 billion, more than a quarter up on the previous year. Despite negative currency effects, sales also grew by 5.2 per cent to almost €8 billion (2017: €7.6 billion*). Adjusted EBIT amounted to €789.9 million, slightly higher than the previous-year figure (1.6 per cent).

For a detailed picture of the KION Group’s financial performance and position, see the Annual Report 2018. Regular quarterly reporting complements and updates this picture.

* Revenues for 2017 adjusted due to first-time adoption of IFRS 15 and IFRS 16.