2009-04-23 KONE Corporation’s Interim Report for January-March 2009

KONE’s Q1: Overall good performance

-In January-March 2009, orders received totaled EUR 898.5 (1–3/2008: 1,118) million. The year-on-year decline in orders received was 19.6% in historical and 20.5% in comparable exchange rates. The level of orders received was higher than both in Q3 and Q4 in 2008. At the end of March 2009, the order book was EUR 3,753 (Dec 31, 2008: 3,577) million.

- Net sales increased by 12.8% to EUR 1,021 (905.3) million. At comparable exchange rates, the growth was also 12.8%.

- Operating income was EUR 91.2 (86.5) million or 8.9% (9.6%) of net sales. The result was still burdened by high raw material costs.

- KONE reiterates its full year outlook for 2009.

Key Figures
		1-3/2009	1-3/2008	1-12/2008
Orders received	MEUR	898.5	1,117.5	3,947.5
Order book	MEUR	3,753.1	3,617.4	3,576.7
Sales	MEUR	1,021.0	905.3	4,602.8
Operating income	MEUR	91.2	86.5	558.4
Operating income	%	8.9	9.6	12.1
Cash flow from operations (before financing items and taxes)	MEUR	170.3	166.6	527.4
Net income	MEUR	78.7	63.9	418.1
Total comprehensive income	MEUR	80.2	52.7	436.7
Basic earnings per share	EUR	0.31	0.25	1.66
Interest-bearing net debt	MEUR	-40.3	137.8	-58.3
Total equity/total assets	%	34.9	26.4	39.0
Gearing	%	-4.2	21.5	-5.6

KONE’s President & CEO, Matti Alahuhta, in conjunction with the review:

"I am pleased with our performance in the first quarter. Thanks to continued good development in our service business and to our teams’ good performance also in new equipment project implementation and fixed costs management, we were able to improve our EBIT compared to the first quarter of last year. We also managed to reach in the current difficult environment a higher orders received level than in the second half of last year. However, in the weakening new equipment market, the orders received continued to decline in year-on-year comparison. Therefore, we are targeting to adjust our fixed costs running rate by about EUR 40 million for 2010.

However, maintaining our good spirit and opportunity orientation will be most important in our approach. I am confident that this, together with our continuous development activities, will bring good results for KONE even now in these challenging times.”

Analyst and media conference and conference call

A meeting and conference call for the press, conducted in English, will be held on Thursday, April 23, 2009 at 1:45 p.m. Finnish time (EET). The telephone conference will also be available as webcast at www.kone.com.

A telephone conference and a meeting for analysts, conducted in English, will begin at 3:00 p.m. Finnish time (EET). The telephone conference will also be available as webcast at www.kone.com.

Both meetings will take place in the KONE Building, located at Keilasatama 3, in Espoo, Finland.

Telephone conference numbers:

US callers: +1 334 323 6201
Non-US callers: +44 (0)20 7162 0025
Participant code: Kone

An on demand version of the telephone conference will be available at www.kone.com later the same day.

Read the report >>

About KONE

KONE’s objective is to offer the best people flow experience by developing and delivering solutions that enable people to move smoothly, safely, comfortably and without waiting in buildings in an increasingly urbanizing environment. KONE provides its customers with industry-leading elevators, escalators and innovative solutions for modernization and maintenance, and is one of the global leaders in its industry. In 2008, KONE had annual net sales of EUR 4.6 billion and over 34,800 employees. KONE class B shares are listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki in Finland.

www.kone.com

For further information please contact:

Aimo Rajahalme, Executive Vice President, Finance, tel. +358 (0) 204 75 4484

Sender:

KONE Corporation

Aimo Rajahalme
Executive Vice President,
Finance

Anne Korkiakoski
Executive Vice President,
Marketing and Communications