Cost of Goods Sold and associated services -2.5 -3.7

Purchases used and other external expenses -447.1 -414.1

Purchases consumed and change in inventories (1,938.2) (2,002.5)

Costs of supplies and consumable materials (1,847) (1,900) (1,900)

Defined as purchases used, external expenses and payroll costs.

Operating expenses: defined as purchases used, external expenses and payroll costs.

Operating expenses: Operating expenses is defined as purchases used, external expenses and payroll costs.

We have negotiated end of year bonuses with large companies on purchases consumed by their customers.

The strong growth in sales in the second half of 2016 explains the corresponding increase in purchases.

We have negotiated end of year bonuses with large companies on purchases consumed by their customers.

Purchases that are consumed immediately without intermediate storage can be booked as both an entry and a simultaneous exit.

Purchases, primarily concerning the CinemaNext activity, rose by 4.4% in line with the volume of business.

The increase in this line item between the two fiscal years results from the growth in purchases used in the Company's laboratories.

The cost of materials, products and supplies consumed remained stable between 2016 and 2017 at more than €1.7 million.

The distribution of operating expenses is as follows: Consumables were up by 3.1%, at 113 million, mainly due to the increase in Hub One activities (see below).