Business situation and financial performance of the segments
Business situation and financial performance of the Industrial Trucks & Services segment
Business performance and level of orders
In 2024, the number of new trucks ordered in the Industrial Trucks & Services segment rose by 1.3 percent to 245 thousand. The number of new orders in the core EMEA market was more or less unchanged year on year. Order numbers increased sharply in the APAC region but fell sharply in the Americas region.
The value of the segment’s order intake decreased by 1.6 percent to €7,765.8 million in 2024 (2023: €7,890.2 million). This reduction can partly be explained by demand-driven shifts in the product mix: Whereas orders for counterbalance trucks went down, there was an increase in orders for warehouse trucks (particularly entry-level models), which have significantly lower unit prices than counterbalance trucks. Another reason was the change in the country mix, with declining order numbers in the EMEA and Americas regions but growth in the APAC region. In the service business, the value of order intake increased across all categories.
The order book reduced significantly once again and stood at €2,246.1 million as at December 31, 2024 (December 31, 2023: €3,197.4 million). This decrease of €951.3 million was due to the fall in order intake in new business combined with high numbers of trucks being shipped.
in € million |
2024 |
2023 |
Change |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total revenue |
8,608.8 |
8,479.6 |
1.5% |
||
EBITDA |
1,817.7 |
1,688.4 |
7.7% |
||
Adjusted EBITDA |
1,833.2 |
1,700.9 |
7.8% |
||
EBIT |
879.6 |
831.4 |
5.8% |
||
Adjusted EBIT |
917.5 |
848.5 |
8.1% |
||
|
|
|
|
||
Adjusted EBITDA margin |
21.3% |
20.1% |
– |
||
Adjusted EBIT margin |
10.7% |
10.0% |
– |
||
|
|
|
|
||
Order intake |
7,765.8 |
7,890.2 |
–1.6% |
||
Order book1 |
2,246.1 |
3,197.4 |
–29.8% |
||
|
|||||
Revenue
Total revenue in the Industrial Trucks & Services segment went up by 1.5 percent to €8,608.8 million (2023: €8,479.6 million). The main influence was the continued stable growth of the service business, which generated an overall increase of 2.8 percent that was primarily supported by the aftersales and rental businesses. Revenue from new business edged up by 0.4 percent year on year. This was thanks to increases in revenue from electric forklift trucks and warehouse trucks, whereas the volume of revenue from IC counterbalance trucks fell sharply. The overall unit sales figures were largely unchanged compared with 2023.
In the new business product category, revenue of €1,190.2 million (2023: €989.1 million) was earned from the direct and indirect lease business (finance leases). In the rental business product category, a sum of €619.1 million (2023: €574.8 million) was attributable to direct and indirect lease business (operating leases) and €571.2 million (2023: €588.8 million) to the short-term rental business.
At 47.8 percent, the proportion of the segment’s external revenue attributable to the service business was slightly higher than in the previous year (2023: 47.2 percent).
Earnings
The adjusted EBIT of the Industrial Trucks & Services segment rose to €917.5 million (2023: €848.5 million). This was due to the growth of the high-margin service business and, in particular, the positive effect of being able to push through higher prices for new business, which – combined with a slight reduction in the cost of materials – led to a significant year-on-year increase in the gross margin.
The adjusted EBIT margin rose to 10.7 percent in the year under review (2023: 10.0 percent). After taking into account non-recurring items amounting to an expense of €14.1 million (2023: expense of €12.8 million) and purchase price allocation effects amounting to an expense of €23.8 million (2023: expense of €4.3 million), the segment’s EBIT rose to €879.6 million (2023: €831.4 million). The effects from purchase price allocations included the impairment of the goodwill of the KION ITS Americas Operating Unit that was carried out in an amount of €22.4 million in the second quarter of 2024.
Adjusted EBITDA came to €1,833.2 million in 2024 (2023: €1,700.9 million), giving an adjusted EBITDA margin of 21.3 percent (2023: 20.1 percent).
Business situation and financial performance of the Supply Chain Solutions segment
Business performance and level of orders
In the Supply Chain Solutions segment, the value of order intake decreased by 14.2 percent to €2,579.1 million in 2024 (2023: €3,006.7 million). This was primarily due to persistently weak demand in the project business (business solutions), which resulted from the reluctance to invest that was observable in the market in most customer segments. Even the customer segment comprising pure e-commerce providers registered a fall in orders in 2024, which was due to orders being postponed until the next year.
In the service business (customer services), which comprises modernization and expansion work plus maintenance and spare parts for existing customer installations, order intake was only just short of the high prior-year level.
As at the end of 2024, the order book stood at €2,423.8 million (December 31, 2023: €2,920.6 million). This significant year-on-year fall was due to the decline in order intake in the project business and continuing efforts to work through the orders on hand.
in € million |
2024 |
2023 |
Change |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total revenue |
2,943.2 |
2,997.0 |
–1.8% |
||||
EBITDA |
181.6 |
98.5 |
84.3% |
||||
Adjusted EBITDA |
196.5 |
124.5 |
57.8% |
||||
EBIT |
9.1 |
–71.9 |
> 100% |
||||
Adjusted EBIT |
112.9 |
44.3 |
> 100% |
||||
|
|
|
|
||||
Adjusted EBITDA margin |
6.7% |
4.2% |
– |
||||
Adjusted EBIT margin |
3.8% |
1.5% |
– |
||||
|
|
|
|
||||
Order intake1 |
2,579.1 |
3,006.7 |
–14.2% |
||||
2,423.8 |
2,920.6 |
–17.0% |
|||||
|
|||||||
Revenue
The total revenue of the Supply Chain Solutions segment amounted to €2,943.2 million in 2024, which was down by 1.8 percent year on year (2023: €2,997.0 million). This reduction in revenue reflected the low level of order intake in the project business (business solutions) in previous quarters. By contrast, the high-margin service business (customer services) registered a strong rise in revenue of 14.8 percent, which was mainly due to higher demand for modernization and expansion on the back of the steady growth of the installed customer base. The proportion of the segment’s external revenue accounted for by the service business increased to 41.0 percent as a result (2023: 34.9 percent).
Earnings
The Supply Chain Solutions segment’s adjusted EBIT rose sharply to €112.9 million in 2024 (2023: €44.3 million). Despite the slight decline in revenue, the gross margin and profitability improved thanks to higher contributions to earnings from the high-margin service business. Moreover, the savings achieved by adjusting staffing capacity and progress on working through lower-margin legacy projects had a positive impact on operating profit. The adjusted EBIT margin improved to 3.8 percent as a result (2023: 1.5 percent).
After taking into account non-recurring items amounting to an expense of €16.1 million (2023: expense of €27.8 million) and purchase price allocation effects amounting to an expense of €87.7 million (2023: expense of €88.4 million), EBIT amounted to €9.1 million overall (2023: minus €71.9 million). The non-recurring items included costs (including interest and consultancy costs) of €14.8 million that were incurred in connection with the ending of a long-running legal dispute related to the acquisition of a group of companies in 2015 by the former Dematic Group. The prior-year figure had included non-recurring items amounting to an expense of €24.8 million resulting from adjustments to staffing capacity to reflect the prevailing order situation.
Adjusted EBITDA increased to €196.5 million (2023: €124.5 million); the adjusted EBITDA margin stood at 6.7 percent (2023: 4.2 percent).
Business situation and financial performance of Corporate Services
Business performance
Corporate Services comprises holding companies and other service companies that provide services such as IT and general administration across all segments.
Revenue and earnings
The total revenue reported for Corporate Services in 2024 was €296.6 million (2023: €259.2 million) and, as in previous years, mainly resulted from internal IT services.
Adjusted EBIT rose significantly to €611.5 million (2023: €544.7 million). This increase was mainly attributable to the intragroup income from equity investments, which was up sharply in line with the healthy financial performance. Excluding internal income from equity investments, adjusted EBIT amounted to minus €111.3 million (2023: minus €100.7 million). The moderate deterioration can primarily be explained by higher expenses for strategic projects and by increased personnel expenses, including variable remuneration components.
Adjusted EBITDA stood at €640.1 million (2023: €570.3 million) or minus €82.7 million (2023: minus €75.1 million) if intragroup income from equity investments is excluded.