90 BMW Group Report 2024 To Our Stakeholders Combined Management Report Group Financial Statements Responsibility Statement and Auditor’s Report Remuneration Report Other Information Financial Performance Capital expenditure on intangible assets and property, plant and equipment in the year under report totalled € 3,699 million (2023: € 4,571 million) and was directed towards the electrifica- tion of the vehicle portfolio and models in the NEUE KLASSE, among other projects. Depreciation and amortisation amounted to € 2,766 million (2023: € 2,607 million). Investment assets remained in line with the previous year’s level and totalled € 12,020 million (2023: € 12,077 million). Inventories went down to € 7,766 million (2023: € 8,505 mil- lion), primarily due to a reduction in inventories of finished and unfinished goods, including a decrease in plant inventories and the intragroup transfer of part of the Group’s own fleet. Receivables from subsidiaries decreased to € 13,546 million (2023: € 16,398 million). In particular, trade receivables were down as a result of the overall decline in sales volumes in China compared to the previous year. The increase in other receivables and other assets to € 3,845 million (2023: € 3,120 million) was due in particular to repurchase agreements for financial instruments reported under other assets. Liquidity within the BMW Group is ensured by means of a liquid- ity concept applied uniformly across the Group. This involves concentrating a significant part of the Group’s liquidity at the level of BMW AG. An important instrument in this context is the cash pool based at BMW AG. Cash and cash equivalents increased by € 1,997 million to € 8,142 million, mainly due to the higher net cash inflow from operating activities as a result of reduced receivables from sub- sidiaries compared to the previous year. This was offset by vari- ous factors, in particular the cash outflows from financing activi- ties due to the payment of the dividend for the financial year 2023. Equity fell by € 1,257 million to € 16,675 million, mainly due to lower unappropriated profit available for distribution and lower revenue reserves as a result of the share buyback programmes. The dividend payment for the financial year 2023 totalled € 3,781 million. The equity ratio deteriorated from 26.4% to 25.0%. In order to secure pension obligations, cash funds totalling € 446 million (2023: € 430 million) were transferred to BMW Trust e. V., Munich, in conjunction with a Contractual Trust Ar- rangement (CTA), to be invested in plan assets. Plan assets amounting to € 13,390 million (2023: € 12,528 million) have been offset against the related guaranteed obligations. After offsetting pension plan assets against pension obligations, provisions for pensions decreased from € 2,231 million to € 1,848 million. Other provisions decreased from € 11,537 million to € 10,660 million. This was mainly due to the lower level of per- sonnel-related provisions as well as provisions for statutory and non-statutory warranty and product guarantee obligations. The rise in liabilities to subsidiaries to € 23,949 million (2023: € 22,648 million) was mainly due to the increase in financial lia- bilities in conjunction with the overall increase in the size of the cash pool. Deferred income went up by € 228 million to € 4,729 million and included primarily amounts for services still to be performed relating to service and maintenance contracts. Risks and opportunities BMW AG’s performance is essentially dependent on the same set of risks and opportunities that affect the BMW Group and which are described in detail in the ↗ Risks and Opportunities chapter of the Combined Management Report. As a general rule, BMW AG participates in the risks entered into by Group compa- nies in proportion to the respective shareholding percentage. At the same time, the result on investments has a significant impact on the earnings of BMW AG. BMW AG is integrated in the Group-wide risk management sys- tem and internal control system of the BMW Group. Further in- formation is provided in the ↗ Internal Control System chapter of the Combined Management Report. Outlook For the financial year 2025, BMW AG expects an unchanged div- idend payout ratio (unappropriated profit of BMW AG in accord- ance with HGB in relation to the Group net profit attributable to shareholders of BMW AG in accordance with IFRS) within the targeted range of between 30 and 40% (2024: 36.7%). Due to its significance in the Group and its close ties with Group companies, expectations for BMW AG with respect to its non-fi- nancial performance indicators correspond largely to the BMW Group’s outlook. This is described in detail in the ↗ Outlook chapter of the Combined Management Report. PricewaterhouseCoopers GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesell- schaft, Frankfurt am Main, Munich branch, has issued an unqual- ified audit opinion on the Company Financial Statements of BMW AG, of which the balance sheet and the income statement are presented here. For the purposes of their inclusion in the Company Register, the Company Financial Statements of BMW AG will be submitted electronically to the body that main- tains the Company Register and may be obtained via the Com- pany Register website. The financial statements are also availa- ble on the BMW Group website at ↗ www.bmwgroup.com/ir.