Intangible resources
Intangible resources (within the meaning of § 289 (3a), § 315 (3a) HGB draft (HGB-E)) have no physical substance and are not in all cases included in the statement of financial position. They fall into three categories:
- Human capital: The value delivered by employees through the application of their skills, experience, and expertise.
- Relational capital: The inherent value in a company’s relationships with its customers, suppliers, business partners, investors, and other key actors.
- Knowledge and structural capital: The value created by a company through its innovations, processes, or locations.
Alongside the network infrastructure (broadband, fiber-optic, mobile communications, etc.) and spectrum licenses recognized as assets in our statement of financial position, employee, customer, supplier, investor, and innovation capital likewise play crucial roles in our business model. These are key sources of creating value that will safeguard the success of our Company and the future viability of the Group.
For information on our concept of value-oriented corporate governance and on our stakeholders, please refer to the section “Management of the Group.”
For information on assets recognized in the consolidated statement of financial position, please refer to Notes 6–8 “Intangible assets,” “Property, plant and equipment,” and “Right-of-use assets – lessee relationships” in the notes to the consolidated financial statements.
These intangible resources are not recognized as assets in our consolidated financial statements. Deutsche Telekom AG, for instance, had a market capitalization of EUR 144.1 billion as of the reporting date, and a brand value in the 2024 financial year of EUR 67.7 billion (USD 73.3 billion according to the Brand Finance Global 500 study). By contrast, the reported carrying amount of shareholders’ equity was EUR 98.6 billion as of December 31, 2024.
Our most important intangible resources are considered in our management system. Measurement is carried out by using the most relevant (non-financial) performance indicators employee satisfaction (engagement score), customer satisfaction (TRI*M index), and our rating.
For further information on our management system, please refer to the section “Management of the Group.”
In addition to this, we provide further information on our employees, customers, suppliers, investors, and innovations.
For information on our employee turnover, please refer to the workforce statistics in the section “Results of operations of the Group.” For information on employees, please refer to the section “Group strategy” and the section “Social” in the “Combined sustainability statement.”
For information on the development of our customer figures, please refer to the section “Development of business in the operating segments.” For information on customers, please refer to the section “Group strategy” and the section “Social” in the “Combined sustainability statement.”
For information on our suppliers, please refer to the section “Social” in the “Combined sustainability statement.”
For information on our stakeholders, please refer to the section “General information” in the “Combined sustainability statement.” For information on the shareholder structure at Deutsche Telekom AG, please refer to Note 19 “Shareholders’ equity” in the notes to the consolidated financial statements.
For information on patents and technological innovations of particular relevance to us as a network infrastructure operator, please refer to the section “Technology and innovation.”