Gordon Riske - optimistic

The KION Group is on course for a successful year in 2015, following a strong set of second quarter results. Thanks mainly to the dynamic demand in western Europe, KION's core market, and marketshare gains in China, the value of the order intake between April and June increased by 9.3% year-on-year to reach EUR1.317 billion (USD1.45 billion).

The total value of the order book at the half-year mark stood at EUR927.6 million (USD 1.018 billion), an improvement of more than 21% on the end of last year.

In the second quarter of 2015, revenue rose by 9.8% to reach EUR1.256 billion (USD1.38 billion). Despite expenses of EUR6.5 million (USD7.13 million) for a payment to a former dealer following a court ruling, the group's EBIT grew by 6.3% to EUR116.4 million (USD127.75 million).

The group recorded a 7.6% increase in orders between April and June, outperforming the global market, which grew by only 2.8%.

With growth of 9.9%, KION also outperformed its home market of Western Europe (up 8.6%). In China, the world's largest single market, the KION Group bucked the 7.7% decline in the market overall by recording growth of 11.3% in the second quarter.

"The KION Group continues to benefit from the recovery of the Western European market and is also well positioned in China, the world's largest single market, thanks to its comprehensive market-specific product range," says Gordon Riske, KION CEO. "However, we cannot afford to relax our efforts to become even more competitive, particularly in light of the cost situation in Western Europe."

He says the group is adapting to new market requirements and future areas of business. "With Egemin Automation coming on board as a seventh brand company, we are adding to our expertise and opportunities in the increasingly important field of system solutions for intralogistics and automation."

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.