Industrial Trucks & Services segment

Business performance and level of orders

Due to the subdued market, the number of new trucks ordered in the Industrial Trucks & Services segment fell by 9.9 percent to 242 thousand in the year under review. The EMEA and Americas regions were down overall year on year. During 2022, customers had brought orders forward in response to longer delivery times in connection with the supply chain situation. In addition, the Industrial Trucks & Services segment’s order book had swelled in the prior year following the announcement of price rises in respect of sales to customers that resulted from sharp increases in the cost of materials, energy, and logistics. Meanwhile, the APAC region’s unit sales returned to growth in 2023 following a market slump in the previous year.

The value of the segment’s order intake decreased by 6.4 percent to €7,890.2 million in 2023 (2022: €8,425.6 million). In the new truck business, the decline in the number of units sold was partly offset by price increases. As expected, the order book of €3,197.4 million as at December 31, 2023 was smaller than at the end of the previous year (December 31, 2022: €3,817.6 million). This decrease of €620.2 million was due to the fall in order intake in new business and the accelerated delivery of trucks resulting from the improved availability of materials. The order book was still well filled, however. In the service business, the value of order intake rose across all categories, in some cases significantly.

Currency effects reduced order intake by a total of €109.5 million.

Revenue

Total revenue in the Industrial Trucks & Services segment advanced by 15.3 percent to €8,479.6 million (2022: €7,356.1 million). In terms of factors behind this revenue increase, the processing of the sizeable order book built up in 2022 had a positive impact, while the price rises introduced in the previous year also made a substantial contribution. Furthermore, the service business saw an increase in revenue across all categories.

All product categories recorded a year-on-year rise, with electric forklift trucks notching up the biggest increase by far. The service business generated encouraging growth of 7.5 percent, driven mainly by the aftersales and rental businesses. In the new business product category, revenue of €989.1 million was earned from the direct and indirect lease business (2022: €726.0 million). In the rental business product category, a sum of €574.8 million was attributable to direct and indirect lease business (2022: €560.2 million) and €588.8 million to the short-term rental business (2022: €545.7 million).

At 47.2 percent, the proportion of the segment’s external revenue attributable to the service business was lower than in the prior year (2022: 50.7 percent). Currency effects reduced segment revenue by €108.8 million.

Earnings

The adjusted EBIT of the Industrial Trucks & Services segment rose sharply to €848.5 million (2022: €420.5 million). This was partly thanks to the impact on earnings of the revenue growth derived from increases in the volume of business and in prices, the efficiency gains achieved in production, and the stabilization of material prices on the supply side.

The segment’s adjusted EBIT margin rose significantly to 10.0 percent (2022: 5.7 percent) and thus returned to double digits.

After taking into account non-recurring items amounting to an expense of €12.8 million (2022: expense of €42.8 million) and purchase price allocation effects amounting to an expense of €4.3 million (2022: expense of €1.7 million), the segment’s EBIT rose to €831.4 million (2022: €376.0 million). In the prior year, EBIT had included an expense of €42.8 million for non-recurring items that mainly related to impairment losses on assets of the Russian subsidiaries.

Adjusted EBITDA came to €1,700.9 million in 2023 (2022: €1,241.7 million), giving an adjusted EBITDA margin of 20.1 percent (2022: 16.9 percent).