DHL 2004 Annual Report Download - page 98

94
Social security contributions relate in particular to statutory
social security contributions paid by employers.
Retirement benefit expenses relate to current and former
employees or their surviving dependants. These expenses consist
of additions to pension provisions, employer contributions to
supplementary occupational pension plans and retirement benefit
payments by employers for their employees.
The average number of employees of Deutsche Post World
Net in the year under review, classified by employee groups, was as
follows:
Employees 2003 2004
Hourly workers and salaried employees 298,357 307,843
Civil servants 70,130 67,618
Trainees 6,609 6,032
375,096 381,493
The number of full-time equivalents as of December 31, 2004, was
346,410 employees (December 31, 2003: 348,781 employees). The
employees of companies acquired or disposed of during the year
under review were included ratably. The employees of the joint
venture companies have been included proportionately.
14
Depreciation and amortization expense
excluding goodwill amortization
Depreciation and amortization charges are composed of the follow-
ing items:
Depreciation and amortization expense
in € m 2003 2004
Amortization of intangible assets,
excluding goodwill amortization 240 270
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment
Buildings 241 261
Technical equipment and machinery 246 253
Other equipment, operating
and office equipment 585 589
Aircraft 80 78
1,392 1,451
Depreciation and amortization charges in fiscal year 2004 include
write-downs of land and buildings totaling € 35 million and relate
to Deutsche Post AG.
The increase in the depreciation and amortization expense is
largely due to the acquisitions made in fiscal year 2004.
15 Other operating expenses
Other operating expenses are composed of the following items:
Other operating expenses
in € m 2003 2004
Rental and lease expenses 1,421 1,516
Public relations expenses 475 564
Legal, consulting and audit costs 449 517
Travel and training costs 350 393
Telecommunication costs 248 287
Insurance costs 214 271
Other business taxes 153 214
Cost of purchased cleaning,
transportation and security services 179 196
Allowance for losses on loans and advances
(financial services) 155 185
Write-downs of current assets 117 149
Addition to provisions 105 110
Entertainment and corporate hospitality expenses 84 99
Cost of asset disposals 53 89
Expenses from currency translation differences 71 85
Services provided by Bundesanstalt für
Post und Telekommunikation 104 77
Refunds and compensation payments 74 68
Prior-period other operating expenses 45 55
Commissions paid 29 54
Voluntary social benefits 99 46
Other property-related expenses 32 44
Warranty expenses 51 33
Contributions and fees 33 29
Customs duties not oncharged 29 28
Monetary transaction costs 19 22
Expenses from Deutsche Postbank AG IPO 0 17
Donations 10 10
Losses on disposal of current assets 8 9
Miscellaneous 451 278
5,058 5,445
The rise in other operating expenses is mainly due to the acquisi-
tion of Airborne Inc. and the consolidation in full of Securicor.
Miscellaneous other operating expenses include a number of
individual items that do not exceed €10 million.
Taxes other than income taxes are either carried under the
related expense item or, if no specific allocation is possible, under
other operating expenses.
16 Goodwill amortization
The following table gives an overview of the amortization of and
impairment losses on goodwill:
Goodwill amortization
in € m 2003 2004
Goodwill amortization 319 370
thereof impairment losses 8 0