Earnings and profitability

EBIT and EBITDA

KION generated earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of €386.6 million in the first half of 2026. This represented a strong improvement on the figure of €147.2 million for the prior-year period, which had been heavily 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 materially impacted by these expenses.

Against this backdrop, gross profit rose to €1,439.5 million (H1 2025: €1,366.1 million). Selling and administrative expenses and research and development costs fell by 14.0 percent and 21.7 percent respectively, thereby returning to a normal level.

The ‘other’ item amounted to income of €12.9 million, down from €33.7 million in the first half of 2025. This decrease was mainly attributable to foreign currency exchange rate gains and losses, from which there had been a much more positive effect in the prior-year period. The ‘other’ item also included the share of profit (loss) of equity-accounted investments, which amounted to a profit of €5.4 million (H1 2025: profit of €6.1 million).

Condensed consolidated income statement

in € million

Q2
2026

Q2
2025

Change

Q1 – Q2
2026

Q1 – Q2
2025

Change

Revenue

2,915.9

2,708.2

7.7%

5,687.3

5,496.3

3.5%

Cost of sales¹

−2,193.4

−2,015.0

−8.9%

−4,247.8

−4,130.2

−2.8%

Gross profit¹

722.5

693.2

4.2%

1,439.5

1,366.1

5.4%

Selling and administrative expenses¹

−470.9

−477.5

1.4%

−953.9

−1,109.8

14.0%

Research and development costs

−56.0

−63.8

12.3%

−111.8

−142.8

21.7%

Other

14.1

17.2

−18.2%

12.9

33.7

−61.9%

Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT)

209.7

169.1

24.0%

386.6

147.2

> 100.0%

Net financial expenses

−33.5

−38.1

12.1%

−69.3

−75.4

8.2%

Earnings before tax

176.2

131.0

34.6%

317.4

71.8

> 100.0%

Income taxes

−60.9

−36.1

−68.5%

−109.8

−23.9

< −100.0%

Net income

115.4

94.8

21.6%

207.6

47.9

> 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 €0.9 million (H1 2025: expense of €193.7 million) and effects from purchase price allocations amounting to an expense of €42.0 million (H1 2025: expense of €44.1 million) were recognized in the consolidated income statement. The non-recurring items in the prior-year period had consisted almost entirely of expenses under the efficiency program, whereas there were additional expenses of just €3.9 million under this program in the first half of 2026. Overall, these were largely offset by individual positive non-recurring items.

KION’s EBIT adjusted for non-recurring items and purchase price allocation effects (adjusted EBIT) rose strongly to €429.6 million in the first half of 2026 (H1 2025: €385.0 million). This improvement in earnings was primarily driven by the higher level of consolidated revenue, the increasing impact of cost savings from the efficiency program, and the lower value of employees’ long-term variable remuneration as a result of the decline in the KION share price. The Group’s adjusted EBIT margin improved strongly year on year from 7.0 percent to 7.6 percent.

EBIT
in € million	Q2 2026	Q2 2025	Q1 – Q2 2026	in % of revenue	Q1 – Q2 2025	in % of revenue
EBIT	209.7	169.1	386.6	6.8%	147.2	2.7%
Adjustment by functional costs:
+ Cost of sales	8.5	7.7	17.3	0.3%	52.9	1.0%
+ Selling expenses and administrative expenses	13.3	13.1	33.4	0.6%	169.6	3.1%
+ Research and development costs	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0%	15.5	0.3%
+ Other costs	−7.1	−0.4	−7.8	−0.1%	−0.2	–0.0%
Adjusted EBIT	224.4	189.5	429.6	7.6%	385.0	7.0%
adjusted for non-recurring items	−6.2	−0.7	0.9	0.0%	193.7	3.5%
adjusted for PPA items	20.9	21.1	42.0	0.7%	44.1	0.8%

The Group’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) rose to €969.4 million in the first six months of 2026 (H1 2025: €718.8 million). The much lower figure for the prior-year period had largely been due to the non-recurring items from the efficiency program. Adjusted EBITDA increased to €969.9 million in the period under review (H1 2025: €915.8 million), giving an adjusted EBITDA margin of 17.1 percent (H1 2025: 16.7 percent).

EBITDA
in € million	Q2 2026	Q2 2025	Q1 – Q2 2026	in % of revenue	Q1 – Q2 2025	in % of revenue
EBITDA	503.7	454.2	969.4	17.0%	718.8	13.1%
Adjustment by functional costs:
+ Cost of sales	0.1	1.6	0.2	0.0%	36.4	0.7%
+ Selling expenses and administrative expenses	0.8	1.6	8.5	0.1%	145.6	2.6%
+ Research and development costs	0.0	−0.1	0.0	0.0%	15.2	0.3%
+ Other costs	−7.1	−0.4	−8.2	−0.1%	−0.2	–0.0%
Adjusted EBITDA	497.5	456.8	969.9	17.1%	915.8	16.7%
adjusted for non-recurring items	−6.2	2.6	0.4	0.0%	197.0	3.6%
adjusted for PPA items	–	–	–	–	–	–

ROCE

Return on capital employed (ROCE), defined as the ratio of adjusted EBIT to capital employed, stood at 8.2 percent as at June 30, 2026 and was thus unchanged compared with the figure a year earlier (June 30, 2025: 8.2 percent).

Return on capital employed (ROCE)

in € million

Jun. 30, 2026

Jun. 30, 2025

Adjusted EBIT for the previous twelve months

833.2

855.1

Average capital employed for the past five quarterly reporting dates¹

10,172.9

10,427.7

ROCE

8.2%

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 €69.3 million in the half year under review (H1 2025: €75.4 million). Major changes within this figure included interest expense on financial debt, which declined to €27.1 million as a result of the lower average level of debt (H1 2025: €29.2 million). Net interest income/expense from the lease and short-term rental business improved strongly to a net expense of €10.2 million (H1 2025: net expense of €26.1 million), while net interest expense of €3.0 million was realized on interest-rate derivatives used for hedging purposes in the lease business (H1 2025: net interest income of €6.8 million). Foreign currency exchange rate gains and losses, which amounted to a net expense of €2.2 million (H1 2025: net income of €1.4 million), were also reflected in net financial expenses.

Income taxes

The income tax expenses incurred in the first half of 2026 amounted to €109.8 million. The figure for the prior-year period (€23.9 million) had been much lower owing to the Group’s lower earnings before tax. The effective tax rate for the reporting period increased slightly to 34.6 percent (H1 2025: 33.3 percent).

Net income for the period

Net income for the reporting period amounted to €207.6 million and was thus much higher than the figure for the first half of 2025 (€47.9 million), which had been weighed down heavily by non-recurring items in connection with the efficiency program. Basic earnings per share attributable to the shareholders of KION GROUP AG came to €1.54 (H1 2025: €0.36) based on a weighted average of 131.1 million no-par-value shares (H1 2025: 131.1 million).