[41] Financial risk reporting

Capital management

One of the prime objectives of capital management is to ensure liquidity at all times. Measures aimed at achieving these objectives include the optimization of the capital structure, the reduction of liabilities, and ongoing Group cash flow planning and management. Close cooperation between the individual companies and Corporate Finance ensures that the local legal and regulatory requirements faced by foreign Group companies are taken into account in capital management.

Net financial debt – defined as the difference between financial liabilities and cash and cash equivalents – is a key performance measure used in liquidity planning at Group level and amounted to €880.0 million as at December 31, 2020 (2019: €1,609.3 million).

Default risk

In certain operating and finance activities, the KION Group is subject to credit risk, i.e. the risk that partners will fail to meet their contractual obligations. This risk is defined as the risk that a counterparty will default, and hence is limited to a maximum of the carrying amount. Default risk is limited by diversifying business partners based on certain credit ratings. The Group only enters into transactions with business partners and banks holding a good credit rating and subject to fixed limits. The potential default risk attaching to financial assets is also mitigated by secured forms of lending such as reservation of title, credit insurance and guarantees, and potential netting agreements.

Counterparty risks involving our customers are managed by the individual Group companies. To reflect the default risk, valuation allowances are recognized for defaults that have occurred and for expected defaults (see note [26]).

Financial transactions are only entered into with selected business partners that have an investment-grade credit rating. The KION Group’s default risk remains insignificant.

Liquidity risk

Based on the definition in IFRS 7, a liquidity risk arises if an entity is unable to meet its financial liabilities. The KION Group maintains a liquidity reserve in the form of a revolving credit facility and cash in order to ensure financial flexibility and solvency. Taking into account the credit facility that was still freely available, the unrestricted cash and cash equivalents available to the KION Group as at the reporting date amounted to €1,457.3 million (December 31, 2019: €1,357.4 million). The age structure of financial liabilities is reviewed and optimized continually.

KION GROUP AG continues to have an investment-grade credit rating, helping it to secure more advantageous funding conditions in the capital markets. In October 2020, Fitch Ratings reaffirmed the Group’s long-term issuer default rating of BBB– with a stable outlook and its short-term issuer default rating of F3. The new bond placed by KION GROUP AG in September was given a rating of BBB–. Standard & Poor’s confirmed KION’s issuer rating of BB+ with a stable outlook in November 2020 and awarded a senior unsecured rating of BB+.

In 2020, the KION Group sold financial assets with a total value of €55.1 million (2019: €116.5 million) in factoring transactions. In some cases, the KION Group retains insignificant rights and obligations in connection with fully derecognized financial assets, primarily the provision of limited reserves for defaults. The figure recognized for assets that serve as reserves for defaults and are reported under other current financial assets was unchanged at €0.7 million as at December 31, 2020 (December 31, 2019: €0.7 million). The short remaining term of these financial assets meant their carrying amount was almost the same as their fair value. The figure for maximum downside risk arising on the financial assets that were sold and are to be fully derecognized was unchanged at €4.7 million as at December 31, 2020 (December 31, 2019: €4.7 million).

The following tables show all of the contractually agreed undiscounted payments under recognized financial liabilities as at December 31, 2020 and 2019, including derivative financial instruments with negative fair values.

Currency risk

The KION Group hedges currency risk both locally at the level of the individual companies and centrally via KION GROUP AG using prescribed hedging ratios.

The main hedging instruments employed are foreign-currency forwards, provided that there are no country-specific restrictions on their use.

In the Industrial Trucks & Services segment, hedges are entered into at individual company level for highly probable future transactions on the basis of rolling 15-month forecasts, as well as for firm obligations not reported in the statement of financial position. Currency risk arising from customer-specific project business contracts in the Supply Chain Solutions segment is hedged on a project-specific basis at individual company level. Some of these hedges are classified as cash flow hedges for accounting purposes in accordance with IFRS 9 (see note [42]). In addition, foreign-currency forwards are employed to hedge the currency risks arising in the course of internal financing.

Significant currency risk arising from financial instruments is measured using a currency sensitivity method. Currency risks from financial instruments as defined by IFRS 7 are only included in calculating currency sensitivity if the financial instruments are denominated in a currency other than the functional currency of the reporting entity concerned. This means that currency risks resulting from the translation of the separate financial statements of subsidiaries into the Group presentation currency, i.e. currency translation risks, are not included.

Currency risk relevant to currency sensitivity in the KION Group arises mainly in connection with derivative financial instruments, trade receivables, and trade payables. It is assumed that the portfolio of financial instruments as at the reporting date is representative of the portfolio over the whole of the year. The sensitivity analysis for the relevant currencies (after tax) is shown in the following table:

Interest-rate risk

Interest-rate risk within the KION Group is managed centrally. The basis for decision-making includes sensitivity analyses of interest-rate risk positions in key currencies.

The Group’s financing takes the form of variable-rate and fixed-rate financial liabilities. It has entered into interest-rate swaps in order to hedge interest-rate risk arising on the variable-rate financial liabilities. It enters into interest-rate swaps for the variable-rate financial liabilities in order to hedge interest-rate risk arising on the financing of leases. These hedges are often accounted for as cash flow hedges in accordance with IFRS 9. An interest-rate swap has also been entered into to hedge the risk of a change in the fair value of a fixed-rate financial liability. This is accounted for as a fair value hedge (see note [42]).

The shift in the relevant yield curves was simulated to assess interest-rate risk. The cumulative effect after tax resulted from variable-rate exposures and is shown below:

Risks arising from leasing business

The leasing activities of the Industrial Trucks & Services segment mean that the KION Group may be exposed to residual value risks from the marketing of trucks that are returned by the lessee at the end of a long-term lease and subsequently sold or re-rented. Residual values in the markets for used trucks are therefore constantly monitored and forecast. The KION Group regularly assesses its aggregate risk position arising from the leasing business.

The risks identified are immediately taken into account by the Company in the costing of new leases by recognizing write-downs or provisions and adjusting the residual values. Groupwide standards to ensure that residual values are calculated conservatively, combined with an IT system for residual-value risk management, reduce risk and provide the basis on which to create the transparency required.

The KION Group mitigates its liquidity risk and interest-rate risk attaching to the leasing business by ensuring that most of its transactions and funding loans have matching maturities and by constantly updating its liquidity planning. Long-term leases are primarily arranged on a fixed-interest basis. If they are financed using variable-rate instruments, interest-rate derivatives are entered into in order to hedge the interest-rate risk.

The credit facilities provided by various banks and an effective dunning process ensure that the KION Group has sufficient liquidity. As a rule, the KION Group finances its leasing business in the same currency as the lease with the end customer in order to exclude currency risks.

The counterparty risk inherent in the leasing business continues to be insignificant. The Group also mitigates any losses from defaults by its receipt of the proceeds from the sale of repossessed industrial trucks. Furthermore, receivables management and credit risk management are refined on an ongoing basis.