[2] Basis of preparation

The consolidated financial statements of the KION Group for the financial year ended 31 December 2019 have been prepared in accordance with section 315e of the German Commercial Code (HGB) in conjunction with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) applicable as at the reporting date as well as the associated interpretations (IFRICs) of the IFRS Interpretations Committee (IFRS IC) as adopted by the European Union in accordance with Regulation (EC) No. 1606/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the application of international accounting standards. All of the IFRSs and IFRICs that had been enacted by the reporting date and that were required to be applied in the 2019 financial year have been applied in preparing the consolidated financial statements.

In order to improve the clarity of presentation, certain items are aggregated in the statement of financial position and the income statement. The items concerned are disclosed and explained separately in the notes. Assets and liabilities are broken down into current and non-current items in accordance with IAS 1.60. The consolidated income statement is prepared in accordance with the cost of sales (function-of-expense) method.

The consolidated financial statements are prepared in euros, which is the Group’s presentation currency. All amounts are disclosed in millions of euros (€ million) unless stated otherwise. Due to rounding effects, addition of the individual amounts shown may result in minor rounding differences to the totals. The percentages shown are calculated on the basis of the respective amounts, rounded to the nearest thousand euros. All of the separate financial statements of the subsidiaries included in the consolidation were prepared as at the same reporting date as the annual financial statements of KION GROUP AG. The comparative figures for the prior year were determined on the same basis.

Financial reporting standards to be adopted for the first time in the current financial year

The following financial reporting standards were adopted for the first time in 2019:

• Amendments to IFRS 9 ‘Financial Instruments’: amendments relating to the classification of particular prepayable financial assets
• Amendments to IAS 19 ‘Employee Benefits’: amendments in connection with the remeasurement of net defined benefit liabilities resulting from plan amendments, curtailments or settlements
• Amendments to IAS 28 ‘Investments in Associates and Joint Ventures’: clarification relating to the accounting treatment of long-term interests that form part of the net investment in an entity accounted for under the equity method
• IFRIC 23 ‘Uncertainty over Income Tax Treatments’
• Annual Improvements to IFRSs (2015 – 2017).

The initial application of these standards and interpretations has had no significant effect on the presentation of the financial position and financial performance of the KION Group.

Financial reporting standards released but not yet adopted

The standards and interpretations that had been issued by the IASB as at 31 December 2019 but were not yet required to be adopted in 2019 will probably be applied by the subsidiaries in the basis of consolidation, and by KION GROUP AG, only from the time when they are required to be applied. The initial application of these financial reporting standards and interpretations is expected to have no significant effect on the presentation of the financial position and financial performance of the KION Group.