“Digitalization, automation, sustainability, and urbanization are megatrends that are shaping our world and our industry. We operate at the middle of the global supply chains,” said Rob Smith, CEO of KION GROUP AG, during the Annual General Meeting on Wednesday, May 29, in Frankfurt am Main. In his speech, Smith looked back on the 2023 financial year, which the KION Group closed with good results. He added that the positive momentum from the previous year gives the company confidence for the current financial year.

Smith informed the assembled shareholders about the company's strategic direction in its core markets and its focus on innovation: “The future of KION depends to a large extent on our research and development.” As an example, the CEO presented a recently closed project that makes the digital twin of a production environment or warehouse a reality. Together with renowned partners such as Google, the KION Group is working on the AI platform of the future , which will enable, for example, the real-time localization of all goods and vehicles in the warehouse.

Around 140 shareholders represented more than 84 percent of the share capital at the Annual General Meeting. During the Annual General Meeting, the majority of shareholders approved all of the proposals put forward by the Supervisory Board and Executive Board, including the dividend distribution of € 0.70 per share (previous year: € 0.19 per share), which corresponds to a payout ratio of around 30 percent, and the reformed Executive Board remuneration system, which was approved by nearly 96 percent of shareholders. In reforming the Executive Board remuneration system, KION GROUP AG took into account, among other things, past feedback from shareholders.

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

Shareholders Meeting

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