[28] Equity
Subscribed capital and capital reserves
As at December 31, 2023, the Company’s share capital amounted to €131.2 million, which was unchanged on the figure a year earlier and was fully paid up. It was divided into 131,198,647 no-par-value shares. Each share confers one vote at the Annual General Meeting of KION GROUP AG and an equal share of the profit in accordance with the Annual General Meeting’s decision on a dividend distribution.
The Executive Board is authorized by the Annual General Meeting held on July 16, 2020 to increase the Company’s share capital by up to €0.3 million by issuing up to 279,353 new no-par-value bearer shares for cash (2020 Authorized Capital).
The total number of shares outstanding as at December 31, 2023 was 131,124,771 no-par-value shares (December 31, 2022: 131,124,771 no-par-value shares). KION GROUP AG held 73,876 treasury shares as at the reporting date (December 31, 2022: 73,876). These treasury shares are not dividend-bearing and do not confer any voting rights.
Retained earnings
The changes in retained earnings are shown in the > table ‘Consolidated statement of changes in equity’. The retained earnings comprise the net income (loss) for the current period and past contributions to earnings by the consolidated entities, provided they have not been distributed.
The distribution of a dividend of €0.19 per share (2022: €1.50 per share) to the shareholders of KION GROUP AG resulted in an outflow of funds of €24.9 million in May 2023 (2022: €196.7 million).
Appropriation of profit
The Executive Board and the Supervisory Board will propose to the Annual General Meeting to be held on May 29, 2024 that the distributable profit of KION GROUP AG for the 2023 financial year amounting to €189.1 million be used for the distribution of a dividend of €91.8 million. This equates to €0.70 per dividend-bearing share. This gives a dividend payout rate of around 30 percent of the net income attributable to the shareholders of KION GROUP AG. It is also proposed that a further sum of €97.0 million be transferred to other retained earnings and that €0.3 million be carried forward to the next accounting period.
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) and non-controlling interests
The overall composition of, and changes in, equity are shown in the > table ‘Consolidated statement of changes in equity’.
The currency translation adjustment contains the exchange differences arising from the financial statements prepared in a foreign currency of foreign subsidiaries, associates, and joint ventures.
The gains/losses on the defined benefit obligation are the result of remeasuring defined benefit pension obligations (see also note [29]).
The gains/losses on hedge reserves are the effective portion of the changes in the fair value of hedging instruments in formally documented hedges. The gains/losses on financial investments relate to the remeasurement of the equity investments Shanghai Quicktron Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd, Zhejiang EP Equipment Co., Ltd., and – until it was sold – Balyo SA at fair value (FVOCI category under IFRS 9).
The unrealized gains/losses from equity-accounted investments contain the share of other comprehensive income (loss) from associates and joint ventures accounted for under the equity method.