Balance sheet
Total assets and liabilities in a balance sheet.
Capital employed
Key balance sheet ratio; total capital minus short-term borrowed capital and cash and cash equivalents.
Cash flow
Cash surplus generated from normal operating activities. Used as a measure of a company’s organic financial strength.
Cash flow statement
Used to determine and show the flow of payments that a company has generated or expended during a financial year from ongoing (operating) business activities, investment activities and financing activities.
CEO
Chief Executive Officer
CFO
Chief Financial Officer
Convertible bond
Der Inhaber einer Wandelschuldverschreibung (engl. convertible bond) kann diese während der Laufzeit der Anleihe zu einem vorher festgelegten Verhältnis in Aktien umwandeln.
Corporate Governance
Eine verantwortliche, auf langfristige Wertschöpfung ausgerichtete Unternehmensleitung und -kontrolle.
Cost of capital
Cost of capital for the capital used is determined as a weighted average of equity and borrowed capital costs (Weighted Average Cost of Capital – WACC). Equity costs correspond to the returns that investors anticipate when they purchase shares. The costs of borrowed capital are guided by market conditions for loans and bonds. The borrowed capital costs take into account the fact that loan interest is tax-deductible (tax shield).
D&O liability insurance
Directors and Officers liability insurance is a pecuniary damage liability insurance which a company takes out for its executive bodies and senior executives.
Deferred taxes
Income tax to be paid or received in the future as a result of differences in the carrying amounts between the tax balance sheet and the commercial balance sheet. At the time of reporting, this does not represent any actual receivables or liabilities towards the tax authorities.
Directors’ dealings
Share transactions by members of the Board of Management or Supervisory Board and their partners or relatives requiring mandatory disclosure. Regulated in Art. 15a of the German Securities Trading Act (Wertpapierhandelsgesetz).
Downpayment
Anzahlung auf die vereinbarte Lieferung von Produkten, die bei deren späteren Bezug in Form einer Kaufpreisreduzierung angerechnet wird.
EBIT
Earnings before interest and taxes; operating result
EBITDA
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation
Fair value
Assessment used for financial instruments; the fair value is the amount at which the financial instruments can be bought or sold at fair conditions. The evaluation either uses market prices (e.g. exchange rates) or, in the absence of these, evaluation models are used.
Free cash flow
Operative cash flow after deduction of investments in intangible and fixed assets.
Free float
The proportion of an issuer’s shares not in fixed ownership, measured against the entire share capital.
German Corporate Governance Code
This German code contains recommendations and internationally recognised standards for high-quality, responsible corporate management. Through the “Declaration of Conformity” (Art. 161), this code is embedded in the German Stock Corporation Act (Aktiengesetz).
Impairment test
Test whereby the book value of an asset is compared with its fair value. If the fair value is less than the book value, a non-scheduled impairment charge must be recorded against the asset. This is particularly significant for goodwill, which, as
from 1 January 2002, is no longer periodically amortised and must undergo such an impairment test at least once a year.
Income statement
Comparison of a company’s income and expenses, broken down by time period.
Intangible assets
The intangible assets include concessions, industrial property rights, patents, licences, goodwill, etc.
International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)
A collection of standards and interpretations that sets out regulations governing the external reporting of listed companies
IPO
Initial Public Offering; the initial floatation of a company on the stock market.
Joint venture
Economic cooperation of companies with the aim of making better use of know-how and resources.
Liquidity risk
Risiko, den gegenwärtigen und zukünftigen Zahlungsverpflichtungen nicht zeitgerecht bzw. nicht in voller Höhe nachkommen zu können.
Market cap
Market capitalisation; exchange rate times the number of a stock corporation’s shares.
PPVX
Photon-Photovoltaik-Aktien-Index; German photon-photovoltaic share index.
Prime Standard
Listing segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange for companies that meet particularly high international standards of transparency. This is a prerequisite for admission to the DAX®, TecDAX®, MDAX® and SDAX®.
Return on capital employed (ROCE)
Key profitability ratio; operating result in relation to average capital employed.
Risk management
System for identifying, assessing, and avoiding or reducing risks and for taking appropriate measures in response to these risks.
Roadshows
On-site presentation of the company for investors or analysts.
Share capital
The capital set down in an Aktiengesellschaft’s (German stock corporation) articles of association. The articles of association also determine into how many portions (shares) the share capital is divided. The company issues shares in the amount of its share capital.
© 2010 SYSTAIC 
