Adjusted share price

Share price taking into account transactions that have altered the capital base (creation of new shares, share splits etc.). The adjustment allows share prices to be compared over time.

AMF (Autorité des Marchés Financiers)

France's independent public financial markets authority. The AMF's task is to set operational and ethical rules for organised markets, to monitor the markets and to protect investors and shareholders.

Bearer form

If a shareholder holds shares in bearer form, the shares are held in dematerialised form via Euroclear. The issuing company is not informed of the shareholder's name.

Tradable debt security issued by a public- or private-sector company, a local authority or a government, paying a fixed rate of interest over a specific length of time and including a promise of repayment at maturity. The term "bond" designates both the security issued by the company to mark the existence of a claim against the company, and the claim itself. Bonds do not confer the same rights offered by shares (right to a share of earnings and right to manage the company via voting).

Buyback offer

A company can buy back up to 10% of its own shares under certain conditions.

Capital gain

The profit generated when selling a share; the difference between the purchase price and the selling price.

Capital increase

An increase in the company's share capital, either through the issue of new shares or an increase in the par value of existing shares.

Corporate governance

Corporate governance describes the manner in which power is organised within a company, aimed at striking a fair balance between management bodies, supervisory bodies and shareholders. Governance results from shareholders' increased participation in the company's management and the requirement for transparency in management activities. The aim of governance is to win the trust of markets, analysts and investors. Governance has become a major factor in gauging a company's value. In France, corporate governance principles for listed companies are based on the Viénot reports of July 1995 and 22 July 1999 and the Bouton report of September 2002.

Custody fees

Fees charged by a financial intermediary for keeping a securities account. These fees are usually charged as a percentage of portfolio value or as a fixed sum per position held.

DSS (Deferred Settlement Service)

This is a service for the market's most liquid stocks, allowing order payment and the delivery of securities to be deferred until the last trading day of the month.
To be eligible for the DSS, stocks must meet two criteria:
- Their market capitalisation must exceed €1 billion.
- Their daily trading volume must exceed €1 million. 
 

Dividend

Portion of net profit distributed to shareholders. The shareholders' meeting can only decide to distribute a dividend after approving the financial statements for the most recent financial year and after recognising the existence of sums available for distribution.

EBITDA

Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortisation.

Earnings per share

Net profit divided by the total number of shares in issue.

Method for pricing shares under which the share price is set on one or more occasions during the day, not continuously. Under this method, all orders are grouped together and executed once or twice a day, at set times.

Free float

The proportion of capital available to the public for trading on stock exchanges. The higher the free float, the more liquid the security.

Funds from operations

Equal to pre-tax profit plus depreciation, amortisation and minority interests.

IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards)

International accounting standards implemented from 1 January 2005 to make it easier to compare companies' financial statements.

Liquidity

Ratio of the volume of shares traded to the total number of shares making up the company's capital. Liquidity expresses the ease with which an investor can quickly find a counterparty for a large order, regardless of whether it is a buy or sell order, without causing major movement in the share price.

Shares are dematerialised, and the names of both the shareholder and his/her financial intermediary appear in the issuing company's register of movements in share ownership.

Market capitalisation

The market value of a company at a given time. Market capitalisation is equal to the share price multiplied by the number of shares in issue.

Note Redeemable in Shares (NRS)

A note redeemable in shares is not redeemed in cash but in the shares of the issuing company.

Option

A contract that confers the right to buy or sell an underlying asset at a predetermined price and during a predetermined period. In market finance, an option is a derivative instrument that allows the holder to "bet" on the future price of a financial asset, for speculative or insurance purposes.

Par value

The par value of a share corresponds with the portion of the share capital it represents. A company's share capital equals the par value of each share multiplied by the number of shares.

Penny stock

Shares with a very low share price (lower than €1).

Preferential subscription right

Tradable right giving each shareholder, at the time of a capital increase with preferential subscription rights maintained, a right of first refusal to subscribe new shares in proportion to the number of shares he/she already owns.

P/E ratio (price / earnings ratio)

A company's share price divided by its earnings per share.

Profit warning

An announcement made by a company to the market that its earnings will be lower than those expected by the financial community.

Quorum

A minimum percentage of shares with voting rights that must be present or represented for a shareholders' meeting to take decisions validly. A quorum is also required for the Board of Directors to take decisions validly.

Registered form

If a shareholder holds shares in registered form, his/her name appears in the issuing company's share register. The benefits of holding shares in registered form including receiving information directly from the company and easier access to shareholders' meetings. Shares can be held in two types of registered form, i.e. managed registered and pure registered form.

Return on equity

A company's total earnings divided by its shareholders' equity. Return on equity measures the company's ability to make a return on capital invested by shareholders.

Risk premium

Additional return required by an investor to compensate for the extra risk he/she is taking relative to a government bond.

ROCE (return on capital employed)

Net profit before interest expense and after tax divided by average capital employed. ROCE reflects the return made by the company on funds invested by shareholders and lent by the banking and financial system.

ROE (return on equity)

Net profit divided by shareholders' equity. ROE reflects the return made by the company on funds invested by shareholders. 

Safeguard procedure

A new legal procedure in France for dealing with a company's difficulties. Companies can ask for their difficulties to be dealt with before cessation of payment occurs. A safeguard procedure gives rise to a court-ordered plan at the end of an observation period and, if applicable, the creation of two creditor committees representing banks and the company's main suppliers. The procedure aims to eliminate the company's difficulties without depriving the debtor of its ownership of production facilities. 

Self control

This occurs when a company controls itself through one or more companies over which it has direct or indirect control.

Share

A tradable security representing a portion of a company's capital. A share gives its owner (the shareholder) the right to take part in shareholder meetings, to receive information and to receive, if applicable, a portion of the company's earnings and surplus upon winding-up.

Share fraction

A portion of a share that cannot be distributed in a bonus share issue or share subscription, if the number of shares owned by the shareholder is not an exact multiple of the allocation ratio used in the transaction. Example: in a bonus share issue, one new share is distributed for every 10 existing shares held. As a result, a shareholder owning 125 shares will be allocated 12 new shares and 5 fractions (the equivalent of half a share).

Shareholders' equity

The sum of a company's share capital, share premiums, revaluation adjustments, reserves, retained earnings (if positive), non-distributed profit for the most recent period, investment subsidies and regulated provisions less losses.

Shareholders' meeting

A meeting in which shareholders can either approve or reject the company's financial statements, vote on dividends, elect directors and auditors, authorise transactions involving the company's capital, amend the articles of association and decide to wind up the company. Shareholders' meetings comprise ordinary business, extraordinary business or a combination of the two.

Share consolidation

A share consolidation involves reducing the number of shares in issue without altering the issuing company's capital. In practice, it consists of exchanging a certain number of existing shares for one new share. In Eurotunnel Group's case, GET SA is proposing to exchange 40 existing shares for one new share.  

Takeover bid

An intention stated publicly by a company to take control of a company by buying shares from shareholders.

Underlying operating profit

Difference between revenues on the one hand and the cost of making, distributing and selling products and depreciating the company's investments on the other. Underlying operating profit is an indicator of the company's ability to make the profits needed for it to continue operating and to develop.

Volatility

The extent of changes in a share price over a given period. Volatility is an indicator of risk: the higher the volatility, the riskier the stock.

Warrant

A security that gives the holder the right to subscribe to additional shares during a pre-determined period and according to pre-determined conditions. In Groupe Eurotunnel’s case, each shareholder that took part in the Exchange Tender Offer received 1 free warrant for every share exchanged.