DGAP-News: KION GROUP AG / Key word(s): AGM/EGM
KION Group Annual General Meeting: Strategy 2020 implementation gets
under way (news with additional features)
19.05.2014 / 14:47
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KION Group Annual General Meeting: Strategy 2020 implementation gets under
way
Proposals from Supervisory Board and Executive Board approved with large
majority at first Annual General Meeting
Dividend set at EUR0.35
Strategy 2020: Preparing plant structures for growth and expansion of
research
and development in Asia to start this year
Wiesbaden, 19 May 2014 - The KION Group is forging ahead with implementing
its Strategy 2020. It plans to begin expanding its global plant structures
this year in order to meet the expected increase in volume, as the KION
Group's Chief Executive Officer Gordon Riske explained at the company's
first Annual General Meeting, which was held today in Wiesbaden. "Our key
objective in this process is to locate our production even closer to the
fast-growing sales markets." Specific investments are aimed at increasing
efficiency in the core plants. At the same time, the company is starting
the development of trucks for markets such as the United States on the
basis of existing product platforms. The KION Group, the world's largest
specialist supplier of industrial trucks and associated services, also
intends to further expand its research and development (R&D) activities in
Asia, where around a third of all R&D employees in the KION Group are now
based.
Nearly a year on from the IPO, the first Annual General Meeting voted by a
large majority in favour of the Supervisory Board's and Executive Board's
proposals, including a dividend of EUR0.35 per share. Other items on the
agenda were the approval of the Executive Board remuneration system and the
formal approval of the actions of the members of the Executive Board and
Supervisory Board. Shareholders also voted in favour of creating authorised
and conditional capital equating in total to 10 per cent of the share
capital - with the option of excluding pre-emptive rights in each case - in
order to be able to issue shares and equity linked bonds. The almost 130
shareholders in attendance at Wiesbaden's Rhein-Main-Hallen represented
approximately 90.2 per cent of the voting share capital.
Optimistic outlook for 2014
CEO Gordon Riske expressed his confidence about the current year. "For
2014, we see continued momentum for the stabilisation of demand for
industrial trucks in western Europe and for further growth in North America
and Asia," he said. "We want to generate profitable growth in 2014 and
permanently improve our market position worldwide." He added that the KION
Group had delivered an excellent performance in 2013 and previous years and
that this success was the starting point for the Strategy 2020.
Based on this strategy, the KION Group intends to harness its global
potential even more effectively, focusing on growth, profitability,
resilience and the efficient use of capital in order to become the industry
leader worldwide.
Other objectives of the KION Group within its Strategy 2020 are an EBIT
margin in double digits and a significantly higher return on capital
employed. The KION Group attaches particular importance to the fast-growing
Asian and North American markets. It plans to optimise the competitiveness
of the global brands Linde, STILL and Baoli and the regional brands
Fenwick, OM STILL and Voltas by stepping up the use of shared modules and
platforms.
The company
The KION Group - comprising the six brands of Linde, STILL, Fenwick, OM
STILL, Baoli and Voltas - 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
market leader in India in industrial trucks. The KION Group is present in
more than 100 countries and, in 2013, employed over 22,000 people and
generated revenue of EUR4.49 billion.
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
Silke Glitza
Head of Investor Relations and M&A
Tel.: +49 (0)611 770 450
silke.glitza@kiongroup.com
End of Corporate News
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Additional features:
Document: http://n.equitystory.com/c/fncls.ssp?u=YYOCHJCXBR
Document title: Press release AGM
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19.05.2014 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a
company of EQS Group AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
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Language: English
Company: KION GROUP AG
Abraham-Lincoln-Str. 21
65189 Wiesbaden
Germany
Phone: +49 (0)611 770-0
Fax: +49 (0)611 770-690
E-mail: info@kiongroup.com
Internet: www.kiongroup.com
ISIN: DE000KGX8881
WKN: KGX888
Indices: SDAX
Listed: Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard);
Freiverkehr in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover,
München, Stuttgart
End of News DGAP News-Service
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269297 19.05.2014
DGAP-News: KION Group Annual General Meeting: Strategy 2020 implementation gets under way (news with additional features)
| Source: EQS Group AG