KUKA Annual General Meeting

• Executive Board and Supervisory Board granted discharge with large majority
• Dividend of €0.30 per share approved
• New CEO Peter Mohnen presents strategy

At the Annual General Meeting of KUKA Aktiengesellschaft on May 29th, 2019, in Augsburg, the shareholders approved the items on the agenda with a large majority. They granted discharge to the members of the Executive Board and Supervisory Board for the 2018 financial year. The shareholders followed the proposal of the Executive Board and Su-pervisory Board to pay a dividend of 0.30 euro per entitled share for the 2018 financial year.

Challenging financial year: KUKA approves action package

The 2018 financial year presented KUKA with challenges: the economic slowdown was increasingly perceptible in the fourth quarter and customers were more restrained in their investment decisions. KUKA therefore adjusted its forecast for the past financial year. KUKA achieved these adjusted targets with orders received totaling €3.3 billion and sales revenues of €3.2 billion.

Peter Mohnen and Andreas Pabst, who took on the roles of Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer in December 2018, approved a package of immediate measures to ensure KUKA’s future viability. An efficiency program was additionally set up with the goal of saving €300 million by 2021. Clear priorities and global focuses were set in the research and development sector. The organizational structure has been fine-tuned with the aim of improving global collaboration and placing an even stronger focus on our customers around the world. The package is already showing initial positive effects.

New KUKA strategy: setting the course in challenging economic times

The task of the Executive Board is now to focus on the company’s business activities and develop them sustainably in a challenging market environment. Clearly, KUKA offers a wide range of process and automation expertise, however an important course must be set in order to ensure KUKA’s future viability. “We are working towards putting KUKA back on course to success,” explains KUKA CEO Peter Mohnen. “To do so, we need to expand KUKA’s traditional strengths and concentrate on our customers.”

The latter are facing major challenges as a result of the economic situation but also due to rapid developments resulting from digitalization. KUKA is a reliable expert, consultant and partner: “There is hardly a company that can offer its customers so many years’ worth of comprehensive process expertise, innovative technologies and new business models – combined with concepts for IIoT,” according to Peter Mohnen.

Business development – guidance for 2019

In the first quarter of 2019, KUKA registered orders received totaling €895.2 million. From January to March, the Group achieved earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of €22.2 million, and thus 45.1% above the previous year’s figure of €15.3 million. On the basis of the current economic environment and exchange rates, KUKA is expecting slightly higher sales revenues of around €3.3 billion and an EBIT margin of approximately 3.5% before final evaluation of the ongoing reorganization expenditure for the full year 2019.

KUKA is concentrating on the four overlapping technology fields Industrie 4.0, mobile robotics, human-machine collaboration and simple operator control. Additionally, KUKA is expanding its product range in China. “Together with Midea, we will drive the joint venture in Shunde forward to make it an important hub for new robot types that complement our global portfolio,” Peter Mohnen said.

See details on the results of the ballots as well as the full text of CEO Peter Mohnen’s speech