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Pretax earnings or profits |
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Pretax earnings or profitsNet income before federal income taxes are subtracted.Pretax earnings or profits Similar MatchesAccounting earningsAccounting earningsEarnings of a firm as reported on its income statement. Price earnings ratio (P/E ratio)Price earnings ratio (P/E ratio)P/E = current share price of a company divided by its earnings per shareA company with a share price of 100p and earnings per share (EPS) of 5p has a P/E ratio of 100/5 = 20.A company's P/E (also known as its multiple) shows how high its shares are priced in relation to its historical earnings. Although mathematically, it relates share price to past performance, the reality is that P/Es are more about forward expectations than the past. A high P/E indicates that the City expects the company's earnings to grow fast in the future.P/E 're-ratings' by the City can have a dramatic effect on share price. If a company regarded as a growth stock announces sharply reduced trading figures, fund managers may revise their view of the company, and decide that it doesn't justify a growth stock P/E of 20, and can only justify a more normal P/E of, say 12. If earnings were 10p share, that re-rating would suggest a change in share price from 200p to 120p.Equally, if a company announces some major technical breakthrough, or a major contract, the City may decide that its future earnings potential justifies a growth P/E, and re-rate it upwards from 12 to 20 (or equivalent figures). In which case the share price will leap.There is nothing formal about this re-rating procedure. It is simply buyers in the market pushing up the price to reflect a new perception of a company. But P/Es do tend to be comparative, in that companies in the same sector with similar prospects would normally have similar P/Es. If they don't, there is invariably a reason accounting for the difference. EarningsEarningsThe annual profits of a company after deduction of tax, dividends to preference shareholders and bondholders. Earnings are usually expressed on a per-share basis (e.g. 7p), and the earnings per share (EPS) figure is calculated by dividing total earnings by the average number of shares in issue for the relevant accounting period.E.g. earnings of £2m, with 10m shares in issue would give an EPS of 20pYou may see earnings used in several ways:Reported earnings: the figure in the company's accountsUnderlying earnings: the figure derived from reported earnings by excluding any one-off items (e.g. profit from the sale of land which is not part of the company's normal business)Diluted earnings: earnings after adjustment has been made for shares that may be issued in the future if holders of options, warrants and convertibles choose to exercise their rights. Earnings per shareEarnings per shareEarning per Share (EPS) = Earnings / Number of Shares in IssueEPS is a key ratio used in share valuations. It shows how much of the company's profits, after tax, each shareholder owns.Example: Goodco makes a post-tax profit of £1.2 million. There are 20 million shares in issue. EPS = £0.6What starts out as an easy calculation gets complicated because the rules on what constitute earnings are fuzzy, especially when it comes to 'extraordinary' items:When an industrial manufacturer sells a large parcel of land to a developer should that profit be treated the same as the profits from its mainstream activities?If its profits one year are wiped out by an uninsurable natural disaster at its plant, should that event be regarded as just a normal cost of doing business?Until recently companies had discretion about how they treated one-offs. They could call an unusual profit 'exceptional' and include it in their EPS, and call an unusual loss 'extraordinary' and exclude it from EPS. This made it very difficult for investors to gauge the true progress of the business.Various Financial Reporting Standards (FRS) have tried to regularise treatment of one-offs, but if anything have made analysis harder. Large companies now report EPS in different ways, and the challenge for investors is knowing what basis has been used. When newspapers report EPS they use 'adjusted' EPS (also known as 'headline earnings') which strips out all profits/losses attributable to non-core activities. Earnings before taxes (EBT)Earnings before taxes (EBT)A financial measure defined as revenues less cost of goods sold and selling, general, and administrative expenses. In other words, operating and nonoperating profit before the deduction of income taxes. Further SuggestionsFully diluted earnings per sharesEarnings momentum adjusted earnings Earnings before interest, taxes, and depreciation (EBITD) Earnings Primary earnings per (common) share price earnings growth factor Normalized earnings Retained earnings Quality of earnings Earnings price ratio taxable earnings band earnings earnings cap normalised earnings State Earnings Related Pension Scheme Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) earnings yield earnings factor net relevant earnings lower earnings limit Earnings before interest and, taxes (EBIT) Earnings retained earnings Earnings response coefficient |
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