KION AGM: Group sees itself ideally positioned to seize the opportunities of Intralogistics 4.0

2016-05-12 / 13:01:46

  • Dividend set at EUR0.77 per share, an increase of 40 per cent
  • Proposals from Supervisory Board and Executive Board approved with large majority
  • CEO Riske: "Intralogistics 4.0 is already a reality in the KION Group."

Wiesbaden/Frankfurt, 12 May 2016 - The KION Group sees itself ideally positioned to seize the opportunities presented by the increasing digitalisation and connectedness of intralogistics. "Intralogistics 4.0 is already a reality in the KION Group," said the Chief Executive Officer of the KION Group, Gordon Riske, at the Group's Annual General Meeting, which was held in Frankfurt on Thursday. "By networking machines, products, processes and logistics, we are creating the foundations for Industry 4.0. The end result is intelligent supply chains and value chains."

The Annual General Meeting voted in favour of the Supervisory Board and Executive Board's proposals with a large majority, including a dividend of EUR0.77 per share. This equates to dividend growth of 40 per cent year on year. The dividend payout rate is therefore 35 per cent, compared with 31 per cent in the previous year. In addition, the Annual General Meeting elected Dr Christina Reuter as a member of the Supervisory Board. It also renewed the authorisation to purchase treasury shares for a further five years. This will enable more shares to be repurchased, for example for the successful KION Employee Equity Programme. The almost 100 shareholders at the Annual General Meeting represented 85.8 per cent of the share capital.


Numerous examples of innovation in the KION Group

In his speech, CEO Riske highlighted the KION Group's innovative strength. He referred to the new KION plant in Stříbro in the Czech Republic, which is a smart factory that uses state-of-the-art IT systems to control, monitor and document processes. Riske also explained that, having acquired automation specialist Egemin Automation and US systems integrator Retrotech, the KION Group now covers the full spectrum of automation solutions. The KION Group now has an autonomous order picker in its portfolio in the shape of the award-winning iGo neo CX 20 from STILL. Meanwhile, the trucks in the Linde brand's Matic series can navigate without a driver and are controlled by robots. CEO Gordon Riske also cited sophisticated fleet management systems as further examples of products that increase efficiency and reduce costs for customers. "We are not interested in innovation for innovation's sake," he emphasised.


Optimistic outlook for 2016

The CEO expressed his confidence about the current year. "We are expecting to maintain our path of profitable growth in 2016," said Riske during the Annual General Meeting. "We want to become yet more efficient in our production and development processes, make even greater progress on digitalisation and connectivity under our Strategy 2020 and thus further consolidate and strengthen our global market position."
 

Website: kiongroup.com/mediasite

Twitter: @kion_group


The Company

The KION Group - comprising the seven brands of Linde, STILL, Fenwick, OM STILL, Baoli, Voltas and Egemin Automation - is the largest manufacturer of industrial trucks in western and eastern Europe, the global number two in the industry and the leading non-domestic supplier in China. The Linde and STILL brands serve the premium segment worldwide. Fenwick is the largest supplier of material handling products in France, while OM STILL is a market leader in Italy. The Baoli brand focuses on the economy segment, and Voltas is a leading provider of industrial trucks in India. Egemin Automation is a leading international logistics automation specialist.

The KION Group is present in more than 100 countries and, in 2015, employed around 23,500 people and generated revenue of around EUR5.1 billion. KION GROUP AG is listed on Deutsche Börse's Frankfurt Stock Exchange, the MDAX (the German stock index for medium-sized companies) and the STOXX Europe 600 index, which comprises the 600 largest companies in Europe.


Disclaimer

This document and the information contained herein are for information purposes only and do not constitute a prospectus or an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in the United States or in any other jurisdiction.

This release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Future results could differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements due to certain factors, e.g. changes in business, economic and competitive conditions, regulatory reforms, results of technical studies, foreign exchange rate fluctuations, uncertainties in litigation or investigative proceedings, and the availability of financing. We do not undertake any responsibility to update the forward-looking statements in this release.


Further information for the media

Michael Hauger
Head of Corporate Communications
Tel.: +49 (0)611 770 655
michael.hauger@kiongroup.com

Frank Brandmaier
Head of Corporate Media Relations
Tel.: +49 (0)611 770 752
frank.brandmaier@kiongroup.com


Further information for investors

Frank Herzog
Head of Corporate Finance
Tel.: +49 (0)611 770 303
frank.herzog@kiongroup.com

Dr Karoline Jung-Senssfelder
Head of Investor Relations and M&A
Tel.: +49 (0)611 770 450
karoline.jung-senssfelder@kiongroup.com

Your Contacts

Dr. Christopher Spies

Senior Manager Corporate Communications

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