Earnings

EBIT and adjusted EBIT

The KION Group’s earnings before interest and tax in the reporting period, amounting to a loss of €21.8 million (Q1 2024: profit of €210.9 million) reflected a significant adverse impact from costs incurred in connection with the efficiency program that was launched at the start of February 2025 (the ‘efficiency program’). This program aims to strengthen the Group’s competitiveness and capacity to carry out capital investment, and involves changes to the organizational structure in the EMEA region. A large proportion (€191.5 million) of the total anticipated non-recurring items in connection with the implementation of the efficiency program, relating to the affected areas in the Industrial Trucks & Services segment and Corporate Services, was recognized in the first quarter of 2025. This had a noticeable negative effect on the cost of sales and other functional costs. All in all, the KION Group anticipates that implementing the efficiency program will result in expenses of between €240 million and €260 million.

Against this backdrop, gross profit diminished to €719.2 million (Q1 2024: €788.7 million). The year-on-year decline in the gross margin of new business in the Industrial Trucks & Services segment also had a negative effect on the profitability of the KION Group.

The substantial increase in selling expenses and general administrative expenses (up by 30.4 percent) and in research and development costs (up by 25.9 percent) compared with the first quarter of 2024 was mainly due to non-recurring items in connection with the efficiency program. In addition, generally higher personnel expenses and the ramp-up of sales activities in the reporting period drove the year-on-year increase in functional costs.

The ‘Other’ item, amounting to €16.6 million (Q1 2024: 5.4 million), related primarily to other income and expenses in the income statement. Foreign currency exchange rate gains accounted for the bulk of this position.

All in all, the consolidated income statement included non-recurring items totaling minus €194.3 million (Q1 2024: €6.3 million) and purchase price allocation effects amounting to minus €23.0 million (Q1 2024: minus €22.1 million). EBIT adjusted for these items and effects came to €195.5 million in the first quarter of 2025 and was thus lower than the figure for the prior-year period of €226.7 million, mainly due to the decline in gross profit in the Industrial Trucks & Services segment. The KION Group’s adjusted EBIT margin decreased to 7.0 percent (Q1 2024: 7.9 percent). The reconciliation to adjusted EBIT by functional costs is presented in the table below.

Net financial expenses

Net financial expenses, representing the balance of financial income and financial expenses, amounted to €37.3 million (Q1 2024: net expenses of €41.2 million). Interest expense on financial debt came to €14.8 million and was thus roughly on a par with the figure for the prior-year period (expense of €15.0 million). Net interest expense from the lease and short-term rental business improved to €15.1 million (Q1 2024: expense of €22.8 million), while income of €5.1 million was realized on the interest-rate derivatives used for hedging purposes in the lease business during the reporting period (Q1 2024: income of €12.2 million). Net financial expenses also included income and expenses resulting from currency translation, which amounted to net income of €1.1 million (Q1 2024: net expense of €4.4 million).

Income taxes

The pretax loss incurred in the reporting quarter resulted in tax income of €12.2 million (Q1 2024: expense of €58.7 million). This includes deferred tax income in connection with provisions recognized for the efficiency program. The effective tax rate consequently fell to 20.6 percent (Q1 2024: 34.6 percent).

Net income/loss for the period

The net income/loss for the first quarter of 2025 amounted to a net loss of €46.9 million and was thus substantially lower than in the corresponding period of the previous year (net income of €111.0 million). This was due to the adverse impact of non-recurring items in connection with the efficiency program. Basic earnings per share attributable to the shareholders of KION GROUP AG came to minus €0.36 (Q1 2024: €0.83) based on a weighted average of 131.1 million no-par-value shares (Q1 2024: 131.1 million).

ROCE

Return on capital employed (ROCE), which is the ratio of adjusted EBIT to capital employed, stood at 8.4 percent at the end of the first three months of 2025 and was thus at a similar level as in the corresponding quarter of 2024 (8.3 percent).