The combination of a strike, strong competition and low capacity utilization at the plants put pressure on forklift truck manufacturer Jungheinrich at the beginning of the year.
Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) almost halved to 56.5 million euros in the first quarter compared to the same period last year, as the group surprisingly announced in Hamburg on Friday. In addition, the operating result includes the already known one-off charges from the sale of the Russian subsidiary completed in February, as well as costs incurred in connection with the ongoing savings program. Investors reacted with shock.
Jungheinrich’s preferred shares, which are listed in the MDAX, fell by a double-digit percentage via XETRA to their lowest level in a year. In 2026 alone it has lost over a quarter of its value. At times it goes down 12.37 percent to 24.94 euros. The price slide at the end of the week also affected competitor KION, whose shares fell 4.02 percent to 44.46 euros.
According to preliminary figures, incoming orders rose from just under 1.4 to a good 1.5 billion euros in the first quarter compared to the same period last year, as customers brought forward orders in view of price increases. Sales, however, fell slightly from 1.30 to 1.27 billion euros. The operating margin deteriorated accordingly from 8.0 to 4.4 percent. Management confirmed the annual targets, according to which the return should be between 7.2 and 8.0 percent.
Jungeinrich cited increased price pressure due to an intense competitive environment as reasons for the weak profitability in the first quarter, as well as negative utilization effects and the strike at the Lüneburg plant that ended in February. Overall, this led to a lower gross margin compared to the previous year.
Jungheinrich and its competitor KION are feeling price pressure because Chinese manufacturers in particular have been pushing into the European market for some time and are particularly disrupting the entry-level segment. The cheaper machines and equipment on offer are in demand among customers, not least because of the economic weakness in Europe and Germany in particular.
The deconsolidation of the Russian subsidiary, which was sold in February, had a one-off effect of 20 million euros. And the savings program that has been running since last summer also impacted operating profit by one million euros.
Jungheinrich plans to present the final figures for the first quarter on May 7th.
Jefferies analyst Lucas Ferhani now expects the EBIT market consensus for the full year to fall by around 10 percent. Although there was no explicit quarterly consensus, recent discussions suggested higher market expectations. The significant decline in profitability is due to price pressure in the face of intense competition, as well as weak capacity utilization and a strike at the Lüneburg location until February. However, Ferhani saw order intake above expectations, boosted by pull-forward effects before price adjustments.
HAMBURG / FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX)
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