The Jungheinrich Group has announced that in 2008 it recorded record net sales and the second-highest earnings in its corporate history.

The group's net sales climbed to 2.145 million Euros, exceeding the previous year's level (2.001 million Euros) by more than 7 per cent. The largest increase was contributed by new truck business, which posted a rise of 9 per cent, followed by the used and short-term hire equipment business, achieving 7 per cent growth.

The group continued to invest heavily in research and spent 39 million Euros on new product development. "We work hard to create new products and services even in times of crisis, in order to win customers in the future," commented Jungheinrich AG chairman, Hans-Georg Frey.

While a reduction in market and business volume is expected in 2009, Jungheinrich believes it is well equipped for the future. Hans-Georg Frey said: "In view of the uncertain economic conditions and the major imponderables associated with it, it is very difficult to forecast the future development of business. This is because the duration and intensity of the worldwide recession are also uncertain. Thanks to all our efforts, however, we will master this difficult year as well."

About Jungheinrich

The Jungheinrich Group is one of the world's leading suppliers of industrial trucks, warehousing technology and materials flow technology. In Europe, Jungheinrich is the Number 1 supplier of warehousing technology. Since 1953, the Group, which has its headquarters in Hamburg, has been offering forklift-based products and services designed to get things moving for industrial customers.

Global distribution flows are on the increase: the transport sector is dominated by a high level of mobility and flexibility - with the result that made-to-measure, all-round solutions are rapidly replacing classic product ranges. Jungheinrich's response to this development has been the introduction of a modern, broadly-based array of products underpinned by an outstanding range of services.

The Jungheinrich Group produces in four plants: our Norderstedt plant, located in Hamburg's green belt; the Lüneburg plant, also close to Hamburg; Moosburg plant and an assembly plant in Qingpu (China).