KONE hosts a virtual Capital Markets Day today, on September 29, 2020
KONE Corporation, press release, September 29, 2020 at 12:30 p.m. EEST
KONE organizes a fully virtual Capital Markets Day for investors and analysts today, on September 29, 2020. The aim of the Capital Markets Day is to provide an overview of KONE’s progress during the current strategy phase and to discuss key focus areas going forward. KONE will not publish new strategic or financial targets in connection to the event.
President and CEO Henrik Ehrnrooth:
“We have now been executing our Winning with Customers strategy for four years and our current strategy phase is coming to an end this year. I am very pleased with the progress we have made. We have seen a clear shift to a more customer-centric mindset, and are able to create value for our customers in new ways. We have also developed two strong platforms to build on: KONE 24/7 Connected Services and KONE DX Class elevators that combine the physical with the digital.
We have seen good development in most of our strategic targets. Very importantly, both customer loyalty and employee engagement have improved further during the strategy phase. We have also had good progress in sustainability and are now raising the bar with our science-based targets and pledge for carbon neutral operations by 2030.
In terms of financials, we have grown faster than the market in both new equipment and in services. What I can’t be satisfied with, is that our profitability has been under pressure during recent years. What’s positive, is that since last year, we have been able to improve the margin of orders received. This has been a result of improved differentiation supporting pricing and the continuous work to improve productivity. KONE’s sales and profitability have been resilient this year, and we recently upgraded our 2020 business outlook as a result of stronger than expected development in the third quarter.
The near-term outlook is impacted by the uncertainty stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. However, we see an opportunity to emerge from the crisis as an even stronger company. Three strong megatrends: urbanization, sustainability and technology, provide good growth opportunities for us in both businesses. In the coming years, we expect growth to be more driven by services.
The next phase of KONE’s strategy will build on what we have achieved and learned during the past years. We will take an active role in the development of smarter and more sustainable cities. We will also continue to develop new ways to create value for our customers. In order to succeed in these, further strengthening the competitiveness of our core offering is important. We are overall in a strong position to continue our journey and to take KONE to the next level.”
KONE’s next strategy phase will be launched in the beginning of 2021.
Agenda for the virtual Capital Markets Day
The event starts on September 29, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. (EEST) and ends at around 5:15 p.m.
The live webcast can be followed on KONEs website at http://www.kone.com/en/investors/capital-markets-days/2020/. The presentations can be found in the same address.
Henrik Ehrnrooth, President and CEO: Winning with customers
Maciej Kranz, Chief technology officer: Differentiate through scalable innovation
Tomio Pihkala, EVP, New equipment business: Adaptable solutions for a changing world
Ilkka Hara, CFO: Towards the financial targets
The event will also include brief video updates from the Executive Vice Presidents of KONE’s areas.
During the presentations, participants can send questions through the webcast platform. In the end, at approximately 4:45 p.m., there will be a Q&A session where questions can be asked via telephone.
Joining the telephone conference:
U.S.: +1 323-794-2423
UK: +44 (0)330 336 9105
Finland: +358 (0)9 7479 0361
Participant code: 8151723
For further information, please contact:
Sanna Kaje, Vice President, Investor Relations, tel. +358 (0)204 75 4705
Sender:
KONE Corporation
Henrik Ehrnrooth
President and CEO
Ilkka Hara
CFO
About KONE
At KONE, our mission is to improve the flow of urban life. As a global leader in the elevator and escalator industry, KONE provides elevators, escalators and automatic building doors, as well as solutions for maintenance and modernization to add value to buildings throughout their life cycle. Through more effective People Flow®, we make people's journeys safe, convenient and reliable, in taller, smarter buildings. In 2019, KONE had annual sales of EUR 10 billion, and at the end of the year approximately 60,000 employees. KONE class B shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd. in Finland.
www.kone.com