Note 25 Other operating expenses

Other operating expenses amounted to €249 million in 2023 and were therefore €63 million more than in 2022 (€186 million). The Other category includes fees paid to accountants, notaries and consultants, amounting to €53 million (2022: €30 million).  The increase is due in part to additional costs incurred as part of the sales process and carve-out of Kenter, which took place on 31 January 2024. Consultants were also used during the negotiations for the Framework Agreement with the State, as well as for the (multi-year) project to future-proof our information systems. The costs were also incidentally lower in 2022 due to the one-off release of a provision of €7 million for a loss-making contract at one of the entities in Germany.

The amount recognised for rent and leases in 2023 includes €4 million in short-term leases (2022: €2 million) and €0.2 million in low-value leases (2022: €0.2 million). The remainder of the costs concerns the service costs under the lease contracts.

Auditors’ fees

The auditors’ fees were as follows:

The above fees relate to the activities carried out by the accountancy firms and external auditors in connection with the parent company and the companies included in the consolidation, as referred to in Section 1, subsection 1, of the Audit Firms Supervision Act (WTA), and the fees charged by the entire network of which the accountancy firm is part.

These fees relate to the audit of the financial statements for 2022 and 2023.