3. Selling expenses

The decline in selling expenses compared with the comparable period of the previous year is largely due to the disposal of Real’s Eastern European business operations. In the item “cost of material”, this primarily involves rental expenses and depreciation.

In addition, the item “cost of material” was impacted in the previous year by higher expenses for the creation of impairments and provisions related to the decision to withdraw the Media Markt sales brand from the Chinese market.