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Shareholder services

Glossary


A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | Z

B

Backwardation
The condition in which the spot price of a commodity exceeds the price of a future in that commodity.

Break-even analysis
The analysis of the level of sales at which a project would break even. This may or may not include opportunity cost of capital.

C

Cash costs
All those costs, whether fixed or variable, that are actually incurred as cash, rather than as entries in a ledger (e.g. depreciation) when production is proceeding.

Convertible bond
A bond issued by a company that can be converted into shares in that company during the life of the bond. The holder has the right, but not the obligation, to convert the bond into shares.

Cum dividend
Means with dividend.

Cum rights
Means with rights.

Current asset
An asset that will normally be turned into cash within a year.

Current liability
A liability that will normally be repaid within a year.

D

Depreciation
The reduction in the book or market value of an asset; or the portion of an investment that can be deducted from taxable income.

Discount rate
The rate used to calculate the present value of future cash flows.

Discounted cash flow (DCF)
Is when future cash flows are discounted by a discount rate to obtain a present value.

Dividend
The payment by a company to its stockholders.

Dividend yield
The annual dividend divided by the share price.

Double-tax agreement
The agreement between two countries that taxes paid abroad can be offset against domestic taxes levied on foreign dividends

E

EBITDA
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.

Enterprise value
The market capitalisation plus net debt (gross debt less cash and cash equivalents).

EPS
Earnings per share. This is calculated by dividing the profit (or “underlying earnings”) by the weighted average number of shares in issue

Exceptional items
The in/out flow of cash on a one-off basis.

Ex-dividend
The purchase of shares in which the buyer is not entitled to the forthcoming dividend.

F

Forward cover
The purchase or sale of forward foreign currency in order to offset a known future cash flow.

Free cash flow
Cash left after taxes, interest charges and capital expenditure have been paid and acquisitions and disposals have been made

H

Hedging
Buying one security and selling another in order to reduce risk. A perfect hedge produces a riskless portfolio.

Hurdle rate
The minimum acceptable rate of return on a project.

I

Interest cover
A ratio showing the number of times interest charges are covered by earnings before interest and tax (EBIT)

L

LIBOR
The London Interbank Offered Rate. This is the rate of interest in the short-term wholesale market in which banks offer to lend money to each other,

M

Market capitalisation
The number of shares in issue multiplied by the share price.

N

Net present value (NPV)
Is used to measure a project's net contribution to the wealth of the group. It is the present value of the project minus initial investment.

O

Off-balance-sheet financing
Financing that is not shown as a liability on a company’s balance sheet.

P

P/E ratio
The share price divided by earnings per share.

R

Retained earnings
Earnings not paid out as dividends.

W

WACC
Weighted Average Cost of Capital.

Withholding tax
The tax levied on dividends paid abroad.

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