Note 25 Other operating expenses

Other operating expenses amounted to €349 million in 2025 and were therewith €45 million higher compared to 2024 (€304 million). The increase was caused, among other things, by higher digitalisation costs, including a (multi-year) project to future-proof our IT systems.

The Other category includes fees paid to accountants, notaries and consultants, amounting to €63 million (2024: €44 million) with regard to, among other things, the hiring of specialist expertise in digitalisation projects.

The amount recognised for rent and leases in 2025 includes €2 million in short-term leases (2024: €4 million) and €0.1 million in low-value leases (2024: €0.2 million). The remainder of the costs concerns the service costs under the lease contracts.

Auditors’ fees

The auditor’s fee, as shown below, is recognised in the income statement:

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(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 annual financial statements, irrespective of whether the work was performed during the financial year itself.

Summary of services provided

During the period to which our financial statements relate, our auditor, PwC Accountants N.V., supplied the following services to Alliander and its subsidiaries in addition to the audit of the financial statements: