Ernst & Young Ltd (EY), Zurich, was mandated as Kuehne+Nagel’s auditor through 2023. The Board of Directors tendered the mandate in 2023 and recommended the shareholders to elect KPMG AG, Zurich (KPMG) as Kuehne+Nagel’s new auditor on the occasion of the Annual General Meeting held on May 8, 2024. The shareholders approved the motion and mandated KPMG as auditor for the financial year 2024, with Marc Ziegler as the auditor in charge since then.
The rotation sequence of the auditor in charge is seven years and thus corresponds with the legal rule.
According to the Group’s financial records, the fees charged for auditing services for the year 2024 amounted to CHF 5.4 million (2023: CHF 4.2 million).
In addition to the fees mentioned above, the statutory auditors are asked on a very restrictive basis to provide certain consulting services beyond the annual audit mandate. In 2024, an amount of CHF 1.1 million (2023: CHF 0.3 million) was incurred mainly related to assurance and tax consultancy mandates.
The work performed by the external statutory auditors is supervised, controlled, and duly monitored by the Board of Directors’ Audit Committee. The statutory auditors report regularly to the Audit Committee. In 2024, the auditor in charge attended three Audit Committee meetings. The main criteria for the selection of the external audit company are its worldwide network, reputation and pricing.