The KION Group's adjusted EBIT of minus €101.1 million for the third quarter of 2022 (Q1 2019: minus €228.9 million) was at the upper end of the forecast communicated in September 2022, which was in the range of minus €140 million to minus €100 million.

"In a market environment that remains volatile, the KION Group has stepped up its measures to reduce costs and improve its project management processes. In addition, the Group continues to focus on strengthening its supplier network and on agile price adjustments," says Rob Smith, Chief Executive Officer of KION GROUP AG. "In the third quarter, we also drew up a targeted roadmap with measures to increase our profitability - particularly in the project business - which we are now systematically implementing." These measures include minimizing risk in all project contracts through price adjustment clauses, improving procurement processes and expanding the supplier network. Furthermore, the preparation of offers will be optimized, the solution concept at the start of projects will be further improved and there will be an even stronger focus on risk management across the entire portfolio.

At €9.172 billion, the KION Group's order intake after nine months of 2022 was 2.0 per cent higher than the high comparative figure for 2021. The Industrial Trucks & Services segment increased its order intake by 17.5 per cent to €6.732 billion in the reporting period (Q1 - Q3 2019: €5.731 billion), although the market environment was adversely affected by macroeconomic uncertainties. A significant part of the increase is due to the price increases to date - particularly in the EMEA region. In the third quarter of 2022, order intake of € 1.905 billion was 11.4% higher than in the same quarter of 2021. The Supply Chain Solutions segment recorded a 24.1% drop in order intake to € 2.480 billion (previous year: € 3.267 billion) in a nine-month comparison. In the third quarter of 2022, order intake amounted to € 614 million, down 56.1% on the previous year's record figure. While some major orders had filled the order book very well in the previous year, the lower order volume in the quarter under review was also affected by noticeable postponements of orders by customers. An overall decline in demand from e-commerce customers and two notable order cancellations on the customer side also had an impact on incoming orders. The Group's order backlog increased accordingly to € 7.697 billion as at September 30, 2022 (end of 2021: € 6.658 billion).

Group sales amounted to € 8.243 billion after nine months of 2022, exceeding the previous year's figure
(€ 7.534 billion) by 9.4%. In the third quarter, an increase in sales of 5.5% to € 2.706 billion was achieved. Total sales in the Industrial Trucks & Services segment rose by 11.3% in the reporting period to
5.288 billion (previous year: € 4.750 billion). Due to extended delivery times, the increase in sales was largely based on the previous year's order book. For this reason, the dynamic price increases for industrial trucks in the first nine months did not yet have a noticeable impact on sales in the Industrial Trucks & Services segment. However, high vehicle deliveries at the end of the third quarter led to a significant increase in revenue compared to the previous quarter. In the Supply Chain Solutions segment, total sales increased by 6.3% to €2.970 billion (previous year: €2.794 billion) - mainly due to strong growth in the service business.

The KION Group's adjusted EBIT fell to € 210.6 million in the reporting period (Q1 - Q3 2011: € 691.1 million). The adjusted EBIT margin therefore decreased significantly to 2.6 per cent (Q1 - Q3 2013: 9.2 per cent). Adjusted EBIT in the Industrial Trucks & Services segment decreased to € 300.4 million in the first nine months (previous year: € 423.1 million). At € 102.6 million, adjusted EBIT in the third quarter of 2022 was 29% below the same quarter of the previous year (Q3 2021: € 144.5 million). The increased costs have so far barely been offset by the increases in sales prices in the first nine months of 2022, as orders received before the price adjustments were mainly processed. The adjusted EBIT margin amounted to 5.7% in the first nine months of 2022 (previous year: 8.9%). In the third quarter of 2022, the adjusted EBIT margin improved by around 0.8 percentage points compared to the previous quarter thanks to a higher sales volume.

In the first nine months of 2022, adjusted EBIT for the Supply Chain Solutions segment amounted to
€ -32.2 million and therefore significantly below the previous year's figure (€ 336.6 million). In the third quarter of 2022, adjusted EBIT was clearly negative at € -182.0 million due to the effects described above. Accordingly, the negative adjusted EBIT margin amounted to -1.1% in the nine-month period (previous year: 12.0%).

At € 66.9 million, consolidated net income in the reporting period was significantly below the previous year's figure (€ 430.8 million). This includes negative special effects from the Russian business (after taxes) of around € 34 million.

At € -971.9 million, free cash flow was very clearly in the red (previous year: € 134.7 million). The considerable increase in net working capital contributed significantly to this.

KION Group intends to withdraw completely from the Russian business

The KION Group reacted immediately to the war in Ukraine. The Group has and will continue to comply with all sanctions. The Executive Board of KION GROUP AG has now decided to withdraw completely from the Russian business. Options are already being examined. Russia and Belarus accounted for less than 1 per cent of the KION Group's global revenue in 2021.