Summary of business performance

Sales markets

Unlike in the prior-year period, the global economy was on a path of recovery in the first quarter of 2021, which enabled the global market for industrial trucks to grow. At 592.0 thousand, the number of new trucks ordered was up by a very substantial 71.0 percent compared with the first quarter of 2020. Growth was exceptionally strong in the APAC region (Asia-Pacific), where the number of new trucks ordered almost doubled with a year-on-year rise of 98.6 percent. The biggest contributor to this increase was China (up by 131.3 percent), where the coronavirus crisis had taken a particularly heavy toll on demand in the first quarter of 2020. The Americas region (North, Central, and South America) recorded significant year-on-year growth of 71.8 percent. The EMEA region (western Europe, eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa) also saw a significant double-digit increase (41.0 percent) in the number of new trucks ordered compared with the prior-year period.

New orders for IC trucks jumped by 72.6 percent, primarily thanks to the sharp rise in demand in China. The market for electric forklift trucks (up by 56.9 percent) and warehouse trucks (up by 74.5 percent) also staged a clear recovery, generating significant year-on-year growth. The surge in warehouse truck orders was mainly driven by strong demand for entry-level trucks in China.

In the KION Group’s view, the coronavirus pandemic accelerated the growth of the market for supply chain solutions. According to the KION Group, the trend observed in recent quarters was maintained in the first quarter of 2021. This was driven, in particular, by customers providing critical infrastructure for key services during the pandemic, who continued to invest in warehouse automation. The KION Group believes that this growth is primarily being driven by ongoing investment by companies in the e-commerce, food, and general merchandise sectors.

Business performance in the Group

On February 1, 2021, the KION Group strengthened Linde Material Handling’s dealer network by acquiring the remaining shares in the Hamburg-based wholesaler and service provider Hans Joachim Jetschke Industriefahrzeuge (GmbH & Co.) KG and JETSCHKE GmbH. As a result of the acquisitions, these companies are now wholly owned subsidiaries. The purchase consideration for 79 percent of the shares totaled €13.9 million.

The construction of an additional factory for manufacturing Linde and Baoli counterbalance trucks in the eastern Chinese city of Jinan, which got under way in 2020, is continuing on schedule and is due to be completed in 2022. This investment for future growth in the value segment amounts to around €100 million. More than €60 million has been invested in the new industrial truck plant in Kołbaskowo, near Szczecin in Poland, which will be brought on stream shortly.

The capacity and structural program initiated in 2020 is continuing to run to plan, with further measures being implemented in the first quarter of this year. The program, which mainly affects the Industrial Trucks & Services segment, is aimed at optimizing the organizational structures and adjusting capacity in production, sales, and service in the EMEA region, primarily in order to reflect the anticipated medium-term market environment.

Following the very successful capital increase in the fourth quarter of 2020, the KION Group’s liquidity situation improved even more in the first quarter of 2021 thanks to the very satisfying business situation. Consequently, the KION Group will repay the variable-rate tranche of the promissory note with a volume of €167.0 million ahead of schedule at the end of April 2021. The KION Group expects this early repayment to further optimize its future finance costs.