Merck 2014 Annual Report Download - page 186

181CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS → Notes to the Group accounts
ACCOUNTING POLICIES
(6) ACCOUNTING AND MEASUREMENT
PRINCIPLES
With the exception of the two changes described in the following,
the accounting and measurement principles have remained
unchanged in comparison with the previous year.
Effective January 1, 2014, two product groups, Neurobion®
(a vitamin B-based analgesic) and Floratil® (a probiotic anti-
diarrheal), were transferred from the Biopharmaceuticals division
to the
Consumer Health division. A detailed presentation of the
asso
ciated disclosure changes in Segment Reporting can be found
in
Note [52].
Amortization of intangible assets (excluding software), which was
previously disclosed in a separate line in the income statement,
was allocated to the corresponding functional costs in 2014. This
has been done in particular to ensure improved comparability of
the income statement of the Group with other companies. The
amortization relates mainly to intangible assets recognized within
the scope of the purchase price allocations for the acquisitions of
Serono SA, the Millipore Corporation as well as AZ Electronic
Materials S.A. Amortization of software was already allocated to
the functional costs in the past. The accounting policy change has
led to an increase in marketing and selling expenses, cost of sales
as well as research and development costs. The previous year’s
figures have been adjusted accordingly and are presented in the
following table:
2013
€ million reported adjustment adjusted
Sales 10,700.1 – 10,700.1
Royalty, license and commission income 395.0 – 395.0
Total revenues 11,095.1 – 11,095.1
Cost of sales – 2,992.5 – 49.2 – 3,041.7
Gross margin 8,102.6 – 49.2 8,053.4
Marketing and selling expenses – 2,326.5 – 762.0 – 3,088.5
Royalty, license and commission expenses – 567.0 –– 567.0
Administration expenses – 562.4 –– 562.4
Research and development costs –1,504.3 – 2.3 –1,506.6
Other operating expenses and income – 718.1 –– 718.1
Amortization of intangible assets – 813.5 813.5 –
Operating result (EBIT) 1,610.8 – 1,610.8