3. Selling expenses

€ million

2019/20

2020/21

Personnel expenses

1,931

1,922

Cost of material

1,917

1,891

 

3,849

3,814

With regard to selling expenses, the decline in cost of material compared to the resulted in particular from reduced advertising costs and lower recruitment costs. The sale of METRO’s IT companies led to a reduction in depreciation and amortisation at METRO DIGITAL, but IT costs increased due to the agreements entered into with external service provider Wipro. The country exits from Japan, Myanmar and Classic Fine Foods Philippines led to a rise in impairment losses on property, plant and equipment compared with the previous year.

Previous year
Period of 12 months that is usually cited as a reference for statements in the annual report and refers to the financial year preceding the reporting year.
Glossary