Earnings and profitability

EBIT and EBITDA

KION generated earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of €176.9 million in the first quarter of 2026. The negative figure for the same quarter of 2025 (minus €21.8 million) was very adversely affected by expenses resulting from the efficiency program aimed at strengthening long-term competitiveness and capacity to carry out capital investment (‘efficiency program’). This program has now been completed. The cost of sales and other functional costs had been significantly impacted by these expenses.

Gross profit went up noticeably once more as a result, amounting to €717.0 million compared with €672.9 million in the same period of 2025. Selling & administrative expenses and research & development costs returned to a normal level in the reporting period, falling by 23.6 percent and 29.3 percent respectively compared with the first quarter of 2025.

The ‘other’ item, amounting to a net expense of €1.2 million (Q1 2025: net income of €16.6 million), mainly included foreign currency exchange rate gains and losses, from which there had been a much more positive impact in 2025.

Condensed consolidated income statement

in € million

Q1
2026

Q1
2025

Change

Revenue

2,771.4

2,788.1

−0.6%

Cost of sales¹

−2,054.4

−2,115.2

2.9%

Gross profit¹

717.0

672.9

6.6%

Selling expenses and administrative expenses¹

−483.0

−632.2

23.6%

Research and development costs

−55.9

−79.0

29.3%

Other

−1.2

16.6

< −100.0%

Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT)

176.9

−21.8

> 100.0%

Net financial expenses

−35.8

−37.3

4.1%

Earnings before tax

141.1

−59.1

> 100.0%

Income taxes

−48.9

12.2

< −100.0%

Net income/loss

92.2

−46.9

> 100.0%

1	The criteria for the allocation of costs to functional areas were revised with effect from Jan. 1, 2026. The figures for the prior-year period have been restated accordingly in order to provide better comparability

In total, non-recurring items amounting to an expense of €7.1 million (Q1 2025: expense of €194.3 million) and effects from purchase price allocations amounting to an expense of €21.2 million (Q1 2025: expense of €23.0 million) were recognized in the consolidated income statement. The non-recurring items stemming from the efficiency program had come to €191.5 million in the first quarter of 2025, whereas run-off expenses of €5.2 million were incurred in the first quarter of 2026.

KION’s EBIT adjusted for non-recurring items and purchase price allocation effects (adjusted EBIT) rose noticeably to €205.2 million in the first three months of 2026 (Q1 2025: €195.5 million). The improvement in earnings was primarily driven by the increasing impact of cost savings from the efficiency program and the lower value of long-term variable remuneration as a result of the decline in the KION share price. The Group’s adjusted EBIT margin improved from 7.0 percent in the prior-year period to 7.4 percent in the reporting period.

EBIT
in € million	Q1 2026	in % of revenue	Q1 2025	in % of revenue
EBIT	176.9	6.4%	−21.8	−0.8%
Adjustment by functional costs:
+ Cost of sales	8.8	0.3%	45.2	1.6%
+ Selling expenses and administrative expenses	20.1	0.7%	156.6	5.6%
+ Research and development costs	0.0	0.0%	15.4	0.6%
+ Other costs	−0.7	−0.0%	0.2	0.0%
Adjusted EBIT	205.2	7.4%	195.5	7.0%
adjusted for non-recurring items	7.1	0.3%	194.3	7.0%
adjusted for PPA items	21.2	0.8%	23.0	0.8%

The Group’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) rose in the first quarter to €465.8 million (Q1 2025: €264.6 million). Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted EBITDA also increased to €472.4 million (Q1 2025: €459.0 million), giving an adjusted EBITDA margin of 17.0 percent (Q1 2025: 16.5 percent).

EBITDA
in € million	Q1 2026	in % of revenue	Q1 2025	in % of revenue
EBITDA	465.8	16.8%	264.6	9.5%
Adjustment by functional costs:
+ Cost of sales	0.1	0.0%	34.8	1.2%
+ Selling expenses and administrative expenses	7.7	0.3%	144.0	5.2%
+ Research and development costs	0.0	0.0%	15.3	0.5%
+ Other costs	−1.1	−0.0%	0.2	0.0%
Adjusted EBITDA	472.4	17.0%	459.0	16.5%
adjusted for non-recurring items	6.6	0.2%	194.3	7.0%
adjusted for PPA items	–	0.0%	–	0.0%

ROCE

Return on capital employed (ROCE), which is the ratio of adjusted EBIT to capital employed, was down year on year at 7.9 percent at the end of the first quarter (March 31, 2025: 8.4 percent). This was due to the decline in earnings over the preceding twelve months.

Return on capital employed (ROCE)

in € million

Mar. 31, 2026

Mar. 31, 2025

Adjusted EBIT for the previous twelve months

798.3

886.0

Average capital employed for the past five quarterly reporting dates¹

10,166.7

10,509.6

ROCE

7.9%

8.4%

Capital employed comprises net working capital and the following line items on the statement of financial position: ‘goodwill’, ‘other intangible assets’, ‘leased assets’, ‘rental assets’, ‘other property, plant and equipment’, and ‘equity-accounted investments’ less ‘other provisions’ and ‘other liabilities’

Net financial expenses

Net financial expenses, representing the balance of financial income and financial expenses, improved to €35.8 million in the first quarter of 2026 (Q1 2025: €37.3 million). Major changes within this figure included interest expense on financial debt, which declined to €10.9 million (Q1 2025: €14.8 million) as a result of the lower level of debt on average. Net interest expense from the lease and short-term rental business also improved significantly to €6.3 million (Q1 2025: €15.1 million), while net interest expense of €1.8 million was realized on the interest-rate derivatives used for hedging purposes in the lease business (Q1 2025: net interest income of €5.1 million). Foreign currency exchange rate gains and losses, which amounted to a net expense of €3.1 million (Q1 2025: net income of €0.2 million), also contributed to net financial expenses.

Income taxes

The Group’s income tax expenses came to €48.9 million in the reporting period, whereas tax income of €12.2 million had been generated in the prior year due to the pretax loss. The Group’s effective tax rate stood at 34.7 percent (Q1 2025: 20.6 percent). The lower rate for the prior-year quarter had been influenced by the effects of the efficiency program.

Net income for the period

Net income for the first three months of 2026 amounted to €92.2 million and was thus substantially higher than in the corresponding prior-year period (Q1 2025: net loss of €46.9 million), which had been adversely impacted by non-recurring items under the efficiency program. Basic earnings per share attributable to the shareholders of KION GROUP AG increased to €0.69 (Q1 2025: minus €0.36) based on a weighted average of 131.1 million no-par-value shares (Q1 2025: 131.1 million).