Earnings

EBIT and EBITDA

At €158.7 million, earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) was €32.9 million higher than the figure of €125.8 million in the prior-year period thanks to the healthy operating performance in the first quarter of 2019. The total figure for EBIT included the budgeted negative purchase price allocation effects of €22.5 million, which were down by €10.5 million year on year. EBIT adjusted for non-recurring items and purchase price allocation effects (adjusted EBIT) rose by 15.5 per cent to €182.4 million (Q1 2018: €157.9 million). The KION Group’s adjusted EBIT margin was also higher than in the first quarter of 2018, increasing by 0.2 percentage points to 8.8 per cent. > TABLE 04

EBIT

04

in € million

Q1 2019

Q1 2018

Change

EBIT

158.7

125.8

26.1%

+ Non-recurring items

1.2

–0.9

>100%

+ PPA items

22.5

33.0

–31.9%

Adjusted EBIT

182.4

157.9

15.5%

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased to €377.7 million (Q1 2018: €341.7 million). Adjusted EBITDA rose to €378.9 million (Q1 2018: €340.9 million), giving an adjusted EBITDA margin of 18.2 per cent (Q1 2018: 18.5 per cent). > TABLE 05

EBITDA

05

in € million

Q1 2019

Q1 2018

Change

EBITDA

377.7

341.7

10.5%

+ Non-recurring items

1.2

–0.9

>100%

+ PPA items

0.0

0.1

–100.0%

Adjusted EBITDA

378.9

340.9

11.2%

EBITDA for the long-term leasing business, which is derived from internal reporting and assumes a minimum rate of return on the capital employed, amounted to €82.5 million in the reporting period (Q1 2018: €79.0 million).

Key influencing factors for earnings

Whereas revenue increased by 13.0 per cent, the cost of sales was up by 13.3 per cent to €1,531.8 million (Q1 2018: €1,352.1 million). This was due to the effects, albeit diminished, of the bottlenecks that occurred at suppliers in the Industrial Trucks & Services segment in 2018. The gross margin declined only slightly, from 26.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2018 to 26.5 per cent in the reporting period. The disproportionately small increase in selling expenses, research and development costs and administrative expenses, which rose by 6.4 per cent in total, had a partially offsetting effect.

The change in the cost of sales and in other functional costs is shown in > TABLE 06.

(Condensed) income statement

06

in € million

Q1 2019

Q1 2018

Change

Revenue

2,083.4

1,843.3

13.0%

Cost of sales

–1,531.8

–1,352.1

–13.3%

Gross profit

551.7

491.2

12.3%

Selling expenses and administrative expenses

–359.6

–337.5

–6.6%

Research and development costs

–36.5

–34.9

–4.4%

Other

3.1

7.0

–55.8%

Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT)

158.7

125.8

26.1%

Net financial expenses

–24.8

–28.8

14.0%

Earnings before taxes

133.9

97.1

38.0%

Income taxes

–40.9

–28.6

–42.7%

Net income

93.1

68.4

36.1%

Net financial expenses

The net financial expenses, representing the balance of financial income and financial expenses, improved to €24.8 million in the first three months of this year (Q1 2018: net financial expenses of €28.8 million). This reflected the lower level of net financial debt compared with the prior-year quarter and, at the same time, the ongoing optimisation of the funding structure.

Income taxes

Income tax expenses amounted to €40.9 million (Q1 2018: €28.6 million). This resulted in a tax rate of 30.5 per cent (Q1 2018: 29.5 per cent).

Net income for the period

At €93.1 million, net income for the period was up by 36.1 per cent year on year (Q1 2018: €68.4 million). Earnings per share attributable to the shareholders of KION Group AG came to €0.79 (Q1 2018: €0.58) based on 117.9 million (Q1 2018: 117.9 million) no-par-value shares.