AGM
Annual General Meeting, held once a year for shareholders to receive the report and accounts, and approve the final dividend, and vote on any resolutions (such as the re-election of directors).
Assets
An asset is something a company owns or has rights to that has future economic benefit. In most financial statements, assets are divided into two categories current and non-current (or liquid and fixed). Current assets are expected to be converted into cash or used up within one year. For BT, these are principally amounts which we have billed our customers but not yet received, and short-term investments. Non-current assets include property, plant and equipment, long-term investments and intangible assets, such as goodwill and licences. They are not acquired with the intent to resell them; rather, they provide the capacity to earn revenue. For BT, this is mainly exchange and network equipment, property and similar items which we own and use to run our business, and investments in our ventures.
Capital and reserves
Capital is the money shareholders have contributed to the company. Reserves are the profits earned and other resources received by the company that have been kept for the benefit of shareholders.
Capital gain
The profit made by the buying and selling of shares or other assets.
Capital growth
The rise in the value of an investment.
Charting
Capturing the patterns of the overall market or an individual share price on a line, bar or other type of graph.
Depreciation and amortisation
Depreciation spreads the cost of property, plant and equipment over the periods they are expected to benefit. Amortisation is the writing off of an intangible asset over the projected life of that asset. Depreciation is a decline in the value of property, plant and equipment due to general wear and tear or obsolescence.
Dilution
The reduction in Earnings Per Share that would result if all share 'in the money' options were exercised
Director's emoluments
See Emoluments
Dividend
A taxable payment declared or recommended by a company's board of directors and paid to its shareholders out of the company's current or retained earnings.
Earnings per share
Profit for the financial year divided by the average number of shares in issue during the year.
EGM
Extraordinary General Meeting. Any meeting of a company's shareholders other than its AGM. EGMs are held to enable shareholders to approve special transactions such as large acquisitions, mergers and disposals.
Emoluments
Salary and benefits.
Ex-dividend
The date, a few days before the Record date, following which shares are traded on the basis that the seller retains the right to receive the dividend.
Exercise (of share options)
To implement the rights of an option.
Final dividend
The dividend recommended by the directors for shareholders' approval at the AGM for payment after the meeting.
Flotation
When a company's shares are sold to investors and quoted on the stock market for the first time, sometimes known as an Initial Public Offering or IPO.
Gearing
Ratio of borrowing minus cash and short-term investments to total capital and reserves and minority interests. Also known as "leverage".
Goodwill
An intangible asset which provides a competitive advantage, such as a strong brand, reputation, or high employee morale. In an acquisition, goodwill appears on the balance sheet of the acquirer in the amount by which the purchase price exceeds the fair value of the net tangible assets of the acquired company.
Gross
Before tax or other items have been deducted. After the deductions, the amount is described as "net".
Income statement
IFRS and US term for profit and loss account.
Interim dividend
A dividend usually declared part way through a company's financial year, authorised solely by the directors.
Liabilities
Liabilities are obligations to pay or convey assets or provide other economic benefits in the future, based on past transactions. Liabilities are divided into current and non-current. Current liabilities are those obligations that will be satisfied within one year; non-current liabilities are those expected to be satisfied after one year of the balance sheet date.
Merger
The joining of two companies.
Minority interests
The rights of outside shareholders of subsidiary companies of the group to a proportion of the group's profits or assets.
Net
After tax or other items have been deducted from the "gross" amount.
Non current liabilities
Non current liabilities are liabilities of the company that do not have to be paid within one year of the balance sheet date. They include money borrowed on a long-term basis to fund operations.
Operating costs
The day-to-day expenses incurred in running a business, such as supplies, employees' wages and salaries, and depreciation.
Other operating income
Income from activities other than normal business operations, such as rent income or profit from the sale of non-inventory assets.
Preliminary figures
A company's full-year results, announced as a prelude to the publication of the report and accounts.
Property plant and equipment
See Assets
Provisions
Amounts set aside for liabilities that are not yet certain.
Proxy
A form by which a shareholder votes without needing to attend an annual or extraordinary general meeting by appointing someone else to vote on his or her behalf. Proxies can also be used to transfer voting authority to another party.
Quote
If a company has a quote (or is quoted), its shares can be bought and sold on the stock market.
Record date
The deadline, determined by a company's board of directors, by when an investor must be recorded as an owner of shares in order to qualify for a forthcoming dividend or share distribution.
Retained profit
The result for the year, after taking off tax and minority interests.
Revenue
Products and services sold to customers by a company.
SEAQ
Stock Exchange Automated Quotations, a screen-based quote display system used as a price reference point for telephone execution between market participants and registered market makers.
SETS
Stock Exchange Electronic Trading Service - an electronic limit order book used to trade blue chip stocks, including all FTSE-100 stocks.
Share capital
Money put into a business by its owners for use by the business in acquiring assets and retained profits.
Shareview
Online service provided by Lloyds TSB Registrars enableing shareholders to:
access shareholdings and view any recent sales, purchases or transfers;
build and manage a full portfolio of shares online;
see all dividend information including electronic tax vouchers;
update address and/or bank details online; and
appoint a proxy at company meetings.
techMARK
The London Stock Exchange's market for innovative technology companies.
Total Shareholder Return (TSR)
The measure of the returns that a company has provided for its shareholders - the product of share price movement plus dividends reinvested over a stated period. A good indicator of a company's overall performance.
Transfer
The form signed by the seller of a share authorising the company to remove his/her name from the register and substitute that of the buyer.
Underwriter
An institutional investor who effectively insures a new issue (or rights issue) by agreeing to buy all shares which are not sold to other investors.
Volatility
The relative amount or percentage by which a share's price rises and falls during a period of time.
Volume
The total number of shares traded (bought and sold) in a given period of time.
Yield
The annual rate of return on an investment, expressed as a percentage. For securities, it is the annual dividends divided by the market price.