Significant increase in incoming orders

Kion has made a successful start to the 2026 financial year and has seen a significant increase in order intake in particular. This rose to EUR 2.985 billion, while revenue remained almost at the previous year's level at EUR 2.771 billion. Adjusted EBIT increased to EUR 205.2 million and the EBIT margin improved to 7.4%. Free cash flow was also positive at EUR 47 million.

"Kion has made a positive start to 2026: Order intake and profitability have increased in both segments. Kion has shown its resilience in an environment of increasing global political uncertainty: We confirm our guidance for 2026," said Rob Smith, CEO of Kion. "In the first quarter, we advanced our ecosystem partnerships - together with Siemens, Nvidia and Accenture - and made significant progress in developing innovative physical AI-powered solutions for our customers."

This development was primarily driven by growth in the Industrial Trucks & Services segment as well as strong growth in the Intelligent Automation Solutions segment, particularly in the project business. Order intake in Industrial Trucks & Services rose by 4.2% to EUR 2.041 billion (Q1 2025: EUR 1.958 billion). The number of vehicles ordered rose by 11.3% to 72,600 and benefited from significant growth in counterbalanced trucks and warehouse trucks. The service business remained stable. In the Intelligent Automation Solutions segment, order intake increased significantly by 25.9% to EUR 951.2 million (Q1 2025: EUR 755.7 million).

Consolidated net income improved significantly to €92.2 million (Q1 2025: €-46.9 million) and was well above the previous year's figure, which was negatively impacted by one-off effects.

Strategic investment in warehouse robotics

At the same time, Kion is strategically investing in the expansion of its automation portfolio and has acquired a 35 percent stake in the robotics company Zikoo Robotics. Zikoo Robotics is a provider of robotics for pallet storage based in China. The company offers a range of solutions, including six-way shuttles, omnidirectional stacking robots and an integrated software platform. The investment is an important step in Kion's strategy to build an ecosystem of partners in the field of automation technology.

Despite risks from geopolitical tensions - in particular rising costs along the supply chains - the Executive Board confirms its forecast for the full year 2026.