The forklift truck manufacturer Jungheinrich has defied the economic downturn and achieved record sales, incoming orders and operating profit in 2023.

"For the first time, Jungheinrich has achieved more than five billion euros in incoming orders and sales as well as over 400 million euros in EBIT," emphasized CEO Lars Brzoska on Thursday. Thanks to the acquisition in the USA, Jungheinrich also recorded net sales of more than one billion euros outside Europe for the first time.

Incoming orders rose by 9.3 per cent to 5.2 billion euros and net sales by 16.4 per cent to 5.55 billion euros in 2023. The operating result (EBIT) increased by 11.4% to 430 million euros. Shareholders are to participate in the growth and receive a record dividend of EUR 0.73 (0.66) per ordinary share and EUR 0.75 (0.68) per preference share.

The Executive Board is forecasting incoming orders of EUR 5.2 to 5.8 billion for 2024. It is targeting turnover of EUR 5.3 to 5.9 billion and EBIT of EUR 420 to 470 million and therefore considers losses possible in each case.

(Report by Anneli Palmen, edited by Sabine Wollrab. If you have any queries, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and the economy) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets).)