DGAP-News: KION Group Annual General Meeting: encouraging

DGAP-News: KION GROUP AG / Key word(s): AGM/EGM KION Group Annual General Meeting: encouraging progress report for the Strategy 2020 (news with additional features) 12.05.2015 / 14:05 --------------------------------------------------------------------- - Proposals from Supervisory Board and Executive Board approved at second Annual General Meeting with large majority - Dividend set at EUR0.55, an increase of 57 per cent - Strategy 2020: even greater emphasis on growth, customer satisfaction, quality and innovation Wiesbaden/Frankfurt, 12 May 2015 - The KION Group can report encouraging progress on implementation of its Strategy 2020. At the Company's Annual General Meeting in Frankfurt on Tuesday, one of the milestones highlighted by Chief Executive Officer Gordon Riske was the acquisition of the Handling Automation division of the Egemin Group, a Belgian automation specialist. "This step strengthens our expertise in the up-and-coming field of system solutions and automation," he said. The second Annual General Meeting since the IPO in June 2013 voted in favour of the Supervisory Board's and Executive Board's proposals with a large majority, including a dividend of EUR0.55 per share. This equates to dividend growth of around 57 per cent. The dividend payout rate is therefore 31 per cent, compared with 25 per cent in the previous year. It plans to progressively increase the dividend payout rate to 35 per cent. Ms Xu Ping and Ms Birgit Behrendt were elected as members of the Supervisory Board by a resolution of the Annual General Meeting. The approximately 120 shareholders represented 80,4 per cent of the voting share capital. Ongoing improvement of competitiveness The Chief Executive Officer stressed in his speech that the KION Group was preparing for further growth by investing millions in the core plants of the KION brands Linde and STILL and by building a new KION factory in the Czech Republic. He added that the KION Group was on track with the introduction of new models on the basis of global truck platforms and the deployment of lithium-ion batteries in full production. One of the two largest suppliers of forklift trucks, warehouse technology and associated services, the KION Group has also continued to forge ahead with its regional growth strategy in Asia and North America. "All of these steps are designed to achieve clear objectives: we are placing greater emphasis on profitable growth, customer satisfaction, quality and innovation than ever before," stated Riske. "In order to continue improving our KPIs, we will step up our endeavours to become even more competitive in 2015. This is a particular aim in our home market of Europe, where we constantly face the highest cost increases." The KION Group unveiled its Strategy 2020 just over a year ago. It focuses on growth, profitability, efficient use of capital and resilience to crises. Confident outlook for 2015 CEO Gordon Riske showed his confidence about the current year. "We will continue to forge ahead with implementing our Strategy 2020 so that we can achieve yet another record-breaking year," he said. The KION Group expects stabilisation of unit sales in its core market of western Europe, further growth in the emerging markets of Asia and healthy market conditions in North America. 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 leading provider of industrial trucks in India. The KION Group is present in more than 100 countries and, in 2014, employed almost 23,000 people and generated revenue of around EUR4.7 billion. KION GROUP AG has been listed on Deutsche Börse's Frankfurt Stock Exchange since June 2013 and was admitted to the MDAX, the German stock index for medium-sized companies, in September 2014. 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 Dr Karoline Jung-Senssfelder Head of Investor Relations and M&A Tel.: +49 (0)611 770 450 karoline.jung-senssfelder@kiongroup.com +++++ Additional features: Document: http://n.equitystory.com/c/fncls.ssp?u=TOWTCCQXRM Document title: Download press release as PDF --------------------------------------------------------------------- 12.05.2015 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Media archive at www.dgap-medientreff.de and www.dgap.de --------------------------------------------------------------------- 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: MDAX Listed: Regulated Market in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Regulated Unofficial Market in Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Stuttgart End of News DGAP News-Service --------------------------------------------------------------------- 356513 12.05.2015