KION shares

Upward trend in the DAX – small gain for KION shares

The equity markets showed a positive trend in the first half of 2024, with the DAX reaching a new all-time high of 18,869 points on May 15, 2024. Despite companies in the DAX reporting declines in revenue and profits in the first quarter of 2024 and the still tense geopolitical situation, investors were mainly on the buying side. They were primarily influenced by the expectation of monetary policy being loosened due to the fall in inflation and by the positive effect of reduced borrowing costs on businesses’ investing activities. The DAX closed the first half of the year at 18,235 points, an increase of 8.9 percent compared with the end of 2023. The MDAX index was unable to benefit from the leading index’s momentum and instead fell by 7.2 percent over the same period to close at 25,176 points.

In the first quarter of 2024, KION shares maintained the positive trend seen in the final quarter of 2023. Most of the gains were then ceded in the second quarter, and the closing share price of €39.09 was 1.1 percent above the level at the end of 2023. The shares therefore outperformed their benchmark MDAX index. The KION Group’s market capitalization stood at €5.1 billion as at June 30, 2024, of which €2.7 billion was attributable to shares in free float.

Share price performance in the first half of 2024 compared with the DAX and MDAX
(both indexed to KION)

Dividend set at €0.70 per share

The 2024 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of KION GROUP AG was held on May 29, 2024 as an in-person event in Frankfurt, Germany. Approximately 84 percent of the share capital was represented and all of the motions were approved by a majority of votes. The AGM also approved the distribution of a dividend of €0.70 per share (dividend distributed in H1 2023: €0.19), resulting in a total distribution to shareholders of around €91.8 million and an addition of €97.0 million to retained earnings. The new remuneration system for the Executive Board members that had been adopted by the Supervisory Board was approved by just under 96.0 percent of the shareholders’ votes cast.

Stable shareholder structure

As far as the Company is aware, the shareholder structure remained unchanged in the reporting period. Weichai Power Co., Ltd., Weifang, People’s Republic of China, continued to hold a stake of around 46.5 percent as at June 30, 2024, which means it was still the biggest single shareholder, while KION GROUP AG continued to hold around 0.1 percent of the shares. The free float therefore remained at around 53.4 percent as at the end of the first half of 2024.

Shareholder structure as at June 30, 2024

To the knowledge of the Company, approximately 62 percent of the free float was held by institutional investors in Europe, approximately 37 percent by institutional investors in the Americas region, and approximately 1 percent by institutional investors in the APAC region.

Free float by country as at June 30, 2024

Mainly buy recommendations

A total of 22 brokerage houses currently follow and report regularly on the KION Group. As at June 30, 2024, 16 analysts recommended KION shares as a buy and six rated them as neutral. The average target price specified by the analysts was €54.21 at the end of June 2024.

Investment-grade credit ratings reaffirmed

The KION Group maintained its investment grade credit ratings in the first half of 2024. Standard & Poor’s confirmed its rating of BBB– in February 2024, even after taking into account new criteria for captive finance. The outlook remains negative. In May 2024, Fitch Ratings awarded an unchanged long-term issuer default rating of BBB with a stable outlook and a short-term issuer default rating of F2.