| € millions | Notes | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | ||||
| Profit after tax | 5,283 | 3,370 | 4,088 | |||||
| Adjustments to reconcile profit after tax to net cash flow from operating activities: | ||||||||
| Depreciation and amortization | (D.2)–(D.4) | 1,831 | 1,872 | 1,362 | ||||
| Share-based payment expenses | (B.3) | 1,084 | 1,835 | 830 | ||||
| Income tax expense | (C.5) | 1,938 | 1,226 | 1,511 | ||||
| Financial income, net | (C.4) | −776 | −198 | 47 | ||||
| Decrease/increase in allowances on trade receivables | 68 | 14 | −67 | |||||
| Other adjustments for non-cash items | −198 | −54 | 3 | |||||
| Decrease/increase in trade and other receivables | 821 | −1,469 | 136 | |||||
| Decrease/increase in other assets | −651 | −583 | −477 | |||||
| Increase/decrease in trade payables, provisions, and other liabilities | 293 | 328 | 240 | |||||
| Increase/decrease in contract liabilities | 128 | 984 | −561 | |||||
| Share-based payments | −1,310 | −1,257 | −971 | |||||
| Interest paid | −244 | −341 | −251 | |||||
| Interest received | 122 | 97 | 99 | |||||
| Income taxes paid, net of refunds | −1,194 | −2,329 | −1,687 | |||||
| Net cash flows from operating activities | 7,194 | 3,496 | 4,303 | |||||
| Cash flows for business combinations, net of cash and cash equivalents acquired | (D.1) | −662 | −6,215 | −2,140 | ||||
| Proceeds from sale of subsidiaries or businesses | 203 | 61 | 0 | |||||
| Purchase of intangible assets and property, plant, and equipment | −816 | −817 | −1,458 | |||||
| Proceeds from sales of intangible assets or property, plant, and equipment | 88 | 71 | 57 | |||||
| Purchase of equity or debt instruments of other entities | −2,535 | −900 | −1,013 | |||||
| Proceeds from sales of equity or debt instruments of other entities | 735 | 778 | 1,488 | |||||
| Net cash flows from investing activities | −2,986 | −7,021 | −3,066 | |||||
| Dividends paid | (E.2) | −1,864 | −1,790 | −1,671 | ||||
| Dividends paid on non-controlling interests | −2 | −17 | −7 | |||||
| Purchase of treasury shares | (E.2) | −1,492 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Proceeds from changes in ownership interests in subsidiaries that do not result in the loss of control | 95 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Proceeds from borrowings | (E.3) | 2,132 | 3,622 | 6,368 | ||||
| Repayments of borrowings | (E.3) | −2,430 | −1,309 | −1,407 | ||||
| Payments of lease liabilities | −378 | −403 | 0 | |||||
| Transactions with non-controlling interests | −59 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Net cash flows from financing activities | −3,997 | 102 | 3,283 | |||||
| Effect of foreign currency rates on cash and cash equivalents | −214 | 110 | 97 | |||||
| Net decrease/increase in cash and cash equivalents | −4 | −3,313 | 4,617 | |||||
| Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the period | (E.3) | 5,314 | 8,627 | 4,011 | ||||
| Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period | (E.3) | 5,311 | 5,314 | 8,627 |
Under the adoption method we chose for IFRS 16, 2018 numbers are not restated to conform to the new accounting policies. For more information, see Note (IN.1).