"We are following a clear roadmap to grow profitably."

In front of around 130 shareholders and shareholder representatives, the CEO not only took stock of the past year's results, but also focused on the KION Group's prospects. "We are convinced that the key growth drivers for our two segments will continue to strengthen, including megatrends such as urbanization, automation and alternative energy systems," said Smith.

In his summary of the past fiscal year, the Chief Executive Officer outlined the conclusions the KION Group has drawn in recent months from the challenging global macroeconomic and political environment. "We have set out a clear roadmap with commercial and operational agility measures to ensure successful profitable growth even in volatile times."

For example, he said, the company has introduced much more dynamic pricing to better protect itself against current and future inflationary pressures. With a similar goal in mind, KION has also introduced price adjustment clauses in its contracts with customers in both segments of the Group. Another area of focus was on the procurement side, Smith reported to the shareholders in the room, saying that the KION Group was now much more resilient than it was a year ago and had an even stronger global supplier network. "That is why we are looking to the future with confidence," the CEO emphasized.

KION had made a good start to fiscal 2023, not least thanks to its own efforts: In the first quarter, the Group's profitability increased significantly thanks to good results in the Industrial Trucks & Services segment. "This shows that our measures are taking effect," Smith said. Accordingly, the company expects an increase in revenue, adjusted EBIT and return on capital employed for the current fiscal year. Smith also took a positive view of the future in the long term. He underlined KION's strong and global position as a leading full-service provider in the industry. "With our intelligent forklift trucks, our networked data management and our warehouse automation systems, we support our customers – and ensure efficient intralogistics," said the CEO.

During and after the Annual General Meeting, KION GROUP AG laid important foundations for the long-term composition of its executive bodies. The Supervisory Board subsequently elected Hans Peter Ring, the previous Chairman of the Audit Committee, as Chairman of the Supervisory Board. He succeeds Dr. Michael Macht, who had already announced in the spring that he was stepping down from his position and was now chairing the Annual General Meeting of KION GROUP AG for the last time.

“The new appointments to the Executive Board have been completed and lay strong foundations for the future. The Company has a robust growth strategy that has proven its worth even in the current period of geopolitical and economic uncertainty,” said Macht. “After more than four years of extremely intense work for the KION Group, I can now pay greater attention to my various other mandates – some of them in automotive-related companies.”

CEO Rob Smith paid tribute to Michael Macht's many years of commitment to the KION Group and looked back on the productive collaboration. With Hans Peter Ring now taking over as Chairman of the Supervisory Board, the shareholders elected Dr. Nicolas Peter to the Supervisory Board as an independent shareholder representative. Peter served as Chief Financial Officer of BMW AG until his retirement on May 11, 2023. He takes over the office of Chairman of the Audit Committee.

During the Annual General Meeting, the majority of shareholders approved all the proposals put forward by the Supervisory Board and the Executive Board, including the dividend payment of 0.19 euros per share, corresponding to a payout ratio of around 25 percent.

Further information on the Annual General Meeting and all voting results can be found here:

Shareholders Meeting

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