Wonder how GOD manages the ‘requests’ of so many living things. How does the resolution of each ‘request’ reaches the exact originator of request? How does GOD manage so many ‘files’ (considering each living and non-living being as a file)? In short, how do things fall in place for everyone to carry out his/her/its life?
We all know HE is doing a fab job managing the universe till now. But with the growing population and complexities in everyone’s life, HE should use the resources HEs created. One of the most promising one being the IT revolution.
The questions I asked earlier (to myself) lets collectively call them as the “Problem Statement”. Now let’s try to see how would that “application” look like.
The major ‘functionalities’ this application would have:
1) Distribution of to-be-born (requires creation of new file)
2) Pulling chords from already-living (requires settlement and closure of file)
3) Behavioral
4) Rewards Program
Now we don’t have a single Business Owner for all these functionalities, we have a team of it (reference to any particular religion is not intentional but coincidental). So let’s try to figure out the various Business Owners/Roles & Responsibilities:
1) Mhd. Brahma Peter Singh (MBPS) shall be the Business Owner for all that’s to be created afresh.
2) Yamrajullah Super Sr. shall be the Business Owner for all that’s to be shut down permanently
3) St. Chitragupt shall take care of “behavioral-accounting”
4) Rewards program – Hare Krishna
5) Lakshmibegum is the project sponsor
6) Jai Hanuman shall be responsible for Resourcing and lifting people from one location to the other.
Maximum “request” load can be expected when many pray for a single cause ( frequently during a sporting event).
//This shall remain a WIP for some time//
BTW, Do aliens have GODs too??
Cheers!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Road Theory!
There’s a “pulia” (colloquial name of a 6x2x1 feet of cemented block) right infront of my college where I studied - “what they don’t teach you in MBA”. This pulia is often used by the students for a break in between classes.
The pulia is located at a very strategic point.
The accompanying figure describes the location (point A in the fig.) of the pulia on the road that runs inbetween the campus and the pulia.
Sitting on the pulia at point A (see fig.), you see a straight stretch of road towards point “1”. Incidentally, this is the point that's towards the city. Most of us come to the college through that part.
Now, the part of the road towards point ‘1’ in figure is your past – you know what lies there as far as you can see.
When you look at the other side from point A, you would be able to see the road clearly for some distance and after that it curves (point B in fig), you don’t know what’s there after that and how far it stretches. Now, that part of the road depicts your future, where you have plans for say next 4-6 years (a short time in life) but you do not know what lies beyond those years. What kinda 'traffic' you would encounter once you on the curve and beyond.
And, when you look right infront of you, you see your college – your present.
Not sure if the location of the pulia was ‘planned’ but what ever it is, it has a lot of meaning, provided it’s interpreted.
Cheers!
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Indian-Standard-Time
In this era of "Go Green", every step you take every breath you take you are thinking of the environment - How bad it is? How long will it survive/sustain and so on and so forth...you think of every possible way to reduce your carbon footprint....
Having said that, sometimes I wonder why India inspite of being so vast in its geographic spread has only one Time-Zone? Is it because a country that does everything together stays together aka unity!!?? I wonder.
The Indian Standard Time (IST) is based on the meridian passing east of Allahabad (my hometown) at 82.5 deg E. This meridian is taken as the central meridian of India.So, as we go further east the time should increase and when we go west it should decrease.
The expanse of India east to west is a little over 2000 kms and covers over 28 degrees of longitude.That means, the sun rises and sets 2 hours earlier in the far east of india than in Rann of Kutch - the far west. As for now, Northeast wastes almost 2 hours of day light whils working on IST. So it makes sense that our countrymen in the NE advance their clocks by 2 hours or so with the early sunrise to avoid extra consumption of energy during the daylight hours.
Bangladesh which lies ahead of the northeastern states geographically is half an hour ahead in time.
I guess it makes a lot of sense atleast now to seriously consider the IST as several time zones. This would only help increase productivity & prosperity of the country and save a lot of energy and make the world a greener place.
Cheers!!
Having said that, sometimes I wonder why India inspite of being so vast in its geographic spread has only one Time-Zone? Is it because a country that does everything together stays together aka unity!!?? I wonder.
The Indian Standard Time (IST) is based on the meridian passing east of Allahabad (my hometown) at 82.5 deg E. This meridian is taken as the central meridian of India.So, as we go further east the time should increase and when we go west it should decrease.
The expanse of India east to west is a little over 2000 kms and covers over 28 degrees of longitude.That means, the sun rises and sets 2 hours earlier in the far east of india than in Rann of Kutch - the far west. As for now, Northeast wastes almost 2 hours of day light whils working on IST. So it makes sense that our countrymen in the NE advance their clocks by 2 hours or so with the early sunrise to avoid extra consumption of energy during the daylight hours.
Bangladesh which lies ahead of the northeastern states geographically is half an hour ahead in time.
I guess it makes a lot of sense atleast now to seriously consider the IST as several time zones. This would only help increase productivity & prosperity of the country and save a lot of energy and make the world a greener place.
Cheers!!
Sunday, January 10, 2010
My Money-control is in my own hands!
I still remember the time when my first salary aka Vitamin M was credited into my new bank account!! My eyes lit with glitter…..there you are finally!! I wanted to share this ‘joy’ with everyone….i bought fancy gifts for my folks…gifts for my then girl friend…took my friends out for a drink!! The moments of joy and celebrations!!
A couple of weeks after the first sights of Vitamin M, my dad asked me how much have I ‘saved’ and ‘invested’ of what I had received!!?? It was as if the Accounts Prof back in the B-school asking me to read out the balance sheet I had created for the company called I. It took me a moment to ‘read’ the Asset side of the balance sheet whereas it took me a while to ‘read’ the Liability side ‘cause this side was the one with multiple entries vis-a-vis the Asset side which had a single line item – Vitamin M.
After a brief introduction to the world of investing and its benefits from my dad I started exploring the world around me with things with tags “Best Returns”, “ Safe Havens” and the likes. I then sat on my computer to unleash the power of the Internet.
I could understand the stocks lingo (thanks to the fin inclined partners in the school)….what I was looking for some gyan on the mutual funds and other avenues of investments. The sheer volume of websites/blogs/articles on the internet made me fee that every one was into it but me. All of them were singing the same tune – x and y will go up so invest in a, or, p & q are below average so invest in b; it was like they new the trade like the back of their hands. And if that was the case then India should have had the highest number of millionaires / billionaires but the reality was something else.
Question I still ask myself is – is it right to listen to these guys and invest my hard earned money? I should be doing my own analysis and investing money….i should know the business model of whom ever Im giving my money to and expecting good returns. I know I don’t have the time to sit and do just that so do I just rely on these marketing stunts/advertisements of these asset management companies?
Over time I have also learnt that my individual analysis brought in relatively better returns on the prinicipal. I also lost some money but then I did learn a lesson from that. I lost because I treated the money the way I wanted to and not the way someone else wanted to. The money-control was in my own hands.
The point im trying to make here is that be do your own home-work before you look up to someone else. Ideas are always welcomed but they should help form in informed opinion. My money-control is in my hands.
Cheers!
A couple of weeks after the first sights of Vitamin M, my dad asked me how much have I ‘saved’ and ‘invested’ of what I had received!!?? It was as if the Accounts Prof back in the B-school asking me to read out the balance sheet I had created for the company called I. It took me a moment to ‘read’ the Asset side of the balance sheet whereas it took me a while to ‘read’ the Liability side ‘cause this side was the one with multiple entries vis-a-vis the Asset side which had a single line item – Vitamin M.
After a brief introduction to the world of investing and its benefits from my dad I started exploring the world around me with things with tags “Best Returns”, “ Safe Havens” and the likes. I then sat on my computer to unleash the power of the Internet.
I could understand the stocks lingo (thanks to the fin inclined partners in the school)….what I was looking for some gyan on the mutual funds and other avenues of investments. The sheer volume of websites/blogs/articles on the internet made me fee that every one was into it but me. All of them were singing the same tune – x and y will go up so invest in a, or, p & q are below average so invest in b; it was like they new the trade like the back of their hands. And if that was the case then India should have had the highest number of millionaires / billionaires but the reality was something else.
Question I still ask myself is – is it right to listen to these guys and invest my hard earned money? I should be doing my own analysis and investing money….i should know the business model of whom ever Im giving my money to and expecting good returns. I know I don’t have the time to sit and do just that so do I just rely on these marketing stunts/advertisements of these asset management companies?
Over time I have also learnt that my individual analysis brought in relatively better returns on the prinicipal. I also lost some money but then I did learn a lesson from that. I lost because I treated the money the way I wanted to and not the way someone else wanted to. The money-control was in my own hands.
The point im trying to make here is that be do your own home-work before you look up to someone else. Ideas are always welcomed but they should help form in informed opinion. My money-control is in my hands.
Cheers!
Sunday, March 22, 2009
De-flation de-mystified!!
What is deflation?
Deflation is a fall in the price of goods and services. Deflation occurs when the inflation rate falls below zero per cent. This is the opposite of inflation.
Why does deflation happen?
A fall in spending -- it could be personal spending or a cut in government expenditure -- leads to deflation. The decline in the supply of money and credit thus leads to deflation. So, if money-supply decreases; supply of other goods increases, demand for money rises, and the demand for other goods slips, it is deflation.
Is deflation good as prices are falling?
A fall in the prices may sound good for consumers. But it is not actually good. The lack in demand may push companies to further lower prices. This can lead to a situation where the prices of product fall bellow the cost of manufacturing a product. This in turn forces the companies to cut production, slash jobs and shut down business till demand picks up. This worsens the situation.
Deflation is a fall in the price of goods and services. Deflation occurs when the inflation rate falls below zero per cent. This is the opposite of inflation.
Why does deflation happen?
A fall in spending -- it could be personal spending or a cut in government expenditure -- leads to deflation. The decline in the supply of money and credit thus leads to deflation. So, if money-supply decreases; supply of other goods increases, demand for money rises, and the demand for other goods slips, it is deflation.
Is deflation good as prices are falling?
A fall in the prices may sound good for consumers. But it is not actually good. The lack in demand may push companies to further lower prices. This can lead to a situation where the prices of product fall bellow the cost of manufacturing a product. This in turn forces the companies to cut production, slash jobs and shut down business till demand picks up. This worsens the situation.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Reverse Mortgage
Reverse Mortgage: What is it?
A reverse mortgage (or lifetime mortgage) is a loan available to senior citizens. Reverse mortgage, as its name suggests, is exactly opposite of a typical mortgage, such as a home loan.
How does it work?
In a typical mortgage, you borrow money in lump sum right at the beginning and then pay it back over a period of time using Equated Monthly Instalments (EMIs).
In reverse mortgage, you pledge a property you already own (with no existing loan outstanding against it). The bank, in turn, gives you a series of cash-flows for a fixed tenure. These can be thought of as reverse EMIs.
The specific format National Housing Board (the facilitator for housing finance in India) is promoting is one in which, the tenure is 15 years and the owner of the house and his/her spouse continue to live in the house till their death -- which can occur later than the tenure of the reverse mortgage.
Simply put, any senior citizen, opting for reverse mortgage will get annuity (the reverse EMI) from the bank for 15 years. After that, the annuity payments stop. However, they can continue to live in the house.
What are the features of this loan?
The draft guidelines of reverse mortgage in India prepared by the Reserve Bank of India have the following features:
Any house owner over 60 years of age is eligible for a reverse mortgage.
The maximum loan is up to 60 per cent of the value of the residential property.
The maximum period of property mortgage is 15 years with a bank or HFC (housing finance company).
The borrower can opt for a monthly, quarterly, annual or lump sum payments at any point, as per his discretion.
The revaluation of the property has to be undertaken by the bank or HFC once every 5 years.
The amount received through reverse mortgage is considered as loan and not income; hence the same will not attract any tax liability.
Reverse mortgage rates can be fixed or floating and hence will vary according to market conditions depending on the interest rate regime chosen by the borrower.
How is the loan paid?
With a reverse home mortgage, no payments are made during the life of the borrower(s). Since no payments are made during the term of the reverse home mortgage loan, the loan balance rises over time.
In most areas where appreciation is good, the value of the home grows at a much faster rate than the loan balance. Therefore, the remaining equity continues to grow.
When the last borrower passes, or it is decided to sell the home and move, the loan becomes due. The ownership of the home is then passed to the estate or directed by a living will or will to the beneficiaries.
The beneficiaries now own the home and have to sell the home or pay off the loan. If the home is sold, the reverse home mortgage lender is paid off and the beneficiaries keep the remaining equity of the home.
What happens after the death of one or both of the spouses?
If one of the spouses dies, the other can still continue living in the house. If both die, the bank will give their heirs two options -- settle the overall outstanding loan and retain the house, or the bank will sell the house, use the proceeds to settle the outstanding loan and give the rest to the heirs.
How much of an annuity income can my house generate using reverse mortgage?
The banks have so far not indicated the interest rates. However, we can safely assume that it will not exceed the interest rates used for loan against property -- which is currently in the region of 12 per cent to 14 per cent.
What is a loan to value ratio?
Loan to value ratio means the percentage of loan that you will get for the value of the property that you pledge. The typical rate loan to value ratio is 60 per cent.
So, for e.g., if you pledge a property worth Rs 60 lakh (Rs 6 million), then the loan amount that you can get is Rs 36 lakh (Rs 3.6 million).
Does a person's age affect the amount of annuity paid?
It certainly does. Higher the age, higher the annuity! Everything else remains the same.
Why is this scheme not popular?
Recent reports seem to indicate that a very small percentage of senior citizens only seem to have taken advantage of the facility since its inception. This could be perhaps because better awareness had not been created about the product.
Secondly, the Indian banking industry caps the available loan amount at Rs 50 lakh (Rs 5 million), instead of providing for an equitable percentage of the property's value, and limits the loan period to a tenure of 15 years.
A reverse mortgage (or lifetime mortgage) is a loan available to senior citizens. Reverse mortgage, as its name suggests, is exactly opposite of a typical mortgage, such as a home loan.
How does it work?
In a typical mortgage, you borrow money in lump sum right at the beginning and then pay it back over a period of time using Equated Monthly Instalments (EMIs).
In reverse mortgage, you pledge a property you already own (with no existing loan outstanding against it). The bank, in turn, gives you a series of cash-flows for a fixed tenure. These can be thought of as reverse EMIs.
The specific format National Housing Board (the facilitator for housing finance in India) is promoting is one in which, the tenure is 15 years and the owner of the house and his/her spouse continue to live in the house till their death -- which can occur later than the tenure of the reverse mortgage.
Simply put, any senior citizen, opting for reverse mortgage will get annuity (the reverse EMI) from the bank for 15 years. After that, the annuity payments stop. However, they can continue to live in the house.
What are the features of this loan?
The draft guidelines of reverse mortgage in India prepared by the Reserve Bank of India have the following features:
Any house owner over 60 years of age is eligible for a reverse mortgage.
The maximum loan is up to 60 per cent of the value of the residential property.
The maximum period of property mortgage is 15 years with a bank or HFC (housing finance company).
The borrower can opt for a monthly, quarterly, annual or lump sum payments at any point, as per his discretion.
The revaluation of the property has to be undertaken by the bank or HFC once every 5 years.
The amount received through reverse mortgage is considered as loan and not income; hence the same will not attract any tax liability.
Reverse mortgage rates can be fixed or floating and hence will vary according to market conditions depending on the interest rate regime chosen by the borrower.
How is the loan paid?
With a reverse home mortgage, no payments are made during the life of the borrower(s). Since no payments are made during the term of the reverse home mortgage loan, the loan balance rises over time.
In most areas where appreciation is good, the value of the home grows at a much faster rate than the loan balance. Therefore, the remaining equity continues to grow.
When the last borrower passes, or it is decided to sell the home and move, the loan becomes due. The ownership of the home is then passed to the estate or directed by a living will or will to the beneficiaries.
The beneficiaries now own the home and have to sell the home or pay off the loan. If the home is sold, the reverse home mortgage lender is paid off and the beneficiaries keep the remaining equity of the home.
What happens after the death of one or both of the spouses?
If one of the spouses dies, the other can still continue living in the house. If both die, the bank will give their heirs two options -- settle the overall outstanding loan and retain the house, or the bank will sell the house, use the proceeds to settle the outstanding loan and give the rest to the heirs.
How much of an annuity income can my house generate using reverse mortgage?
The banks have so far not indicated the interest rates. However, we can safely assume that it will not exceed the interest rates used for loan against property -- which is currently in the region of 12 per cent to 14 per cent.
What is a loan to value ratio?
Loan to value ratio means the percentage of loan that you will get for the value of the property that you pledge. The typical rate loan to value ratio is 60 per cent.
So, for e.g., if you pledge a property worth Rs 60 lakh (Rs 6 million), then the loan amount that you can get is Rs 36 lakh (Rs 3.6 million).
Does a person's age affect the amount of annuity paid?
It certainly does. Higher the age, higher the annuity! Everything else remains the same.
Why is this scheme not popular?
Recent reports seem to indicate that a very small percentage of senior citizens only seem to have taken advantage of the facility since its inception. This could be perhaps because better awareness had not been created about the product.
Secondly, the Indian banking industry caps the available loan amount at Rs 50 lakh (Rs 5 million), instead of providing for an equitable percentage of the property's value, and limits the loan period to a tenure of 15 years.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
8 key ratios for picking good stocks
The following 8 financial ratios offer terrific insights into the financial health of a company -- and the prospects for a rise in its share price.
1. Ploughback and reserves
After deduction of all expenses, including taxes, the net profits of a company are split into two parts -- dividends and ploughback.
Dividend is that portion of a company's profits which is distributed to its shareholders, whereas ploughback is the portion that the company retains and gets added to its reserves.
The figures for ploughback and reserves of any company can be obtained by a cursory glance at its balance sheet and profit and loss account.
Ploughback is important because it not only increases the reserves of a company but also provides the company with funds required for its growth and expansion. All growth companies maintain a high level of ploughback. So if you are looking for a growth company to invest in, you should examine its ploughback figures.
Companies that have no intention of expanding are unlikely to plough back a large portion of their profits.
Reserves constitute the accumulated retained profits of a company. It is important to compare the size of a company's reserves with the size of its equity capital. This will indicate whether the company is in a position to issue bonus shares.
As a rule-of-thumb, a company whose reserves are double that of its equity capital should be in a position to make a liberal bonus issue.
Retained profits also belong to the shareholders. This is why reserves are often referred to as shareholders' funds. Therefore, any addition to the reserves of a company will normally lead to a corresponding an increase in the price of your shares.
The higher the reserves, the greater will be the value of your shareholding. Retained profits (ploughback) may not come to you in the form of cash, but they benefit you by pushing up the price of your shares.
2. Book value per share
You will come across this term very often in investment discussions. Book value per share indicates what each share of a company is worth according to the company's books of accounts.
The company's books of account maintain a record of what the company owns (assets), and what it owes to its creditors (liabilities). If you subtract the total liabilities of a company from its total assets, then what is left belongs to the shareholders, called the shareholders' funds.
If you divide shareholders' funds by the total number of equity shares issued by the company, the figure that you get will be the book value per share.
Book Value per share = Shareholders' funds / Total number of equity shares issued
The figure for shareholders' funds can also be obtained by adding the equity capital and reserves of the company.
Book value is a historical record based on the original prices at which assets of the company were originally purchased. It doesn't reflect the current market value of the company's assets.
Therefore, book value per share has limited usage as a tool for evaluating the market value or price of a company's shares. It can, at best, give you a rough idea of what a company's shares should at least be worth.
The market prices of shares are generally much higher than what their book values indicate. Therefore, if you come across a share whose market price is around its book value, the chances are that it is under-priced. This is one way in which the book value per share ratio can prove useful to you while assessing whether a particular share is over- or under-priced.
3. Earnings per share (EPS)
EPS is a well-known and widely used investment ratio. It is calculated as:
Earnings Per Share (EPS) = Profit After Tax / Total number of equity shares issued
This ratio gives the earnings of a company on a per share basis. In order to get a clear idea of what this ratio signifies, let us assume that you possess 100 shares with a face value of Rs 10 each in XYZ Ltd. Suppose the earnings per share of XYZ Ltd. is Rs 6 per share and the dividend declared by it is 20 per cent, or Rs 2 per share. This means that each share of XYZ Ltd. earns Rs 6 every year, even though you receive only Rs 2 out of it as dividend.
The remaining amount, Rs 4 per share, constitutes the ploughback or retained earnings. If you had bought these shares at par, it would mean a 60 per cent return on your investment, out of which you would receive 20 per cent as dividend and 40 per cent would be the ploughback. This ploughback of 40 per cent would benefit you by pushing up the market price of your shares. Ideally speaking, your shares should appreciate by 40 per cent from Rs 10 to Rs 14 per share.
This illustration serves to drive home a basic investment lesson. You should evaluate your investment returns not on the basis of the dividend you receive, but on the basis of the earnings per share. Earnings per share is the true indicator of the returns on your share investments.
Suppose you had bought shares in XYZ Ltd at double their face value, i.e. at Rs 20 per share. Then an EPS of Rs 6 per share would mean a 30 per cent return on your investment, of which 10 per cent (Rs 2 per share) is dividend, and 20 per cent (Rs 4 per share) the ploughback.
Under ideal conditions, ploughback should push up the price of your shares by 20 per cent, i.e. from Rs 20 to 24 per share. Therefore, irrespective of what price you buy a particular company's shares at its EPS will provide you with an invaluable tool for calculating the returns on your investment.
4. Price earnings ratio (P/E)
The price earnings ratio (P/E) expresses the relationship between the market price of a company's share and its earnings per share:
Price/Earnings Ratio (P/E) = Price of the share / Earnings per share
This ratio indicates the extent to which earnings of a share are covered by its price. If P/E is 5, it means that the price of a share is 5 times its earnings. In other words, the company's EPS remaining constant, it will take you approximately five years through dividends plus capital appreciation to recover the cost of buying the share. The lower the P/E, lesser the time it will take for you to recover your investment.
P/E ratio is a reflection of the market's opinion of the earnings capacity and future business prospects of a company. Companies which enjoy the confidence of investors and have a higher market standing usually command high P/E ratios.
For example, blue chip companies often have P/E ratios that are as high as 20 to 60. However, most other companies in India have P/E ratios ranging between 5 and 20.
On the face of it, it would seem that companies with low P/E ratios would offer the most attractive investment opportunities. This is not always true. Companies with high current earnings but dim future prospects often have low P/E ratios.
Obviously such companies are not good investments, notwithstanding their P/E ratios. As an investor your primary concern is with the future prospects of a company and not so much with its present performance. This is the main reason why companies with low current earnings but bright future prospects usually command high P/E ratios.
To a great extent, the present price of a share, discounts, i.e. anticipates, its future earnings.
All this may seem very perplexing to you because it leaves the basic question unanswered: How does one use the P/E ratio for making sound investment decisions?
The answer lies in utilising the P/E ratio in conjunction with your assessment of the future earnings and growth prospects of a company. You have to judge the extent to which its P/E ratio reflects the company's future prospects.
If it is low compared to the future prospects of a company, then the company's shares are good for investment. Therefore, even if you come across a company with a high P/E ratio of 25 or 30 don't summarily reject it because even this level of P/E ratio may actually be low if the company is poised for meteoric future growth. On the other hand, a low P/E ratio of 4 or 5 may actually be high if your assessment of the company's future indicates sharply declining sales and large losses.
5. Dividend and yield
There are many investors who buy shares with the objective of earning a regular income from their investment. Their primary concern is with the amount that a company gives as dividends -- capital appreciation being only a secondary consideration. For such investors, dividends obviously play a crucial role in their investment calculations.
It is illogical to draw a distinction between capital appreciation and dividends. Money is money -- it doesn't really matter whether it comes from capital appreciation or from dividends.
A wise investor is primarily concerned with the total returns on his investment -- he doesn't really care whether these returns come from capital appreciation or dividends, or through varying combinations of both. In fact, investors in high tax brackets prefer to get most of their returns through long-term capital appreciation because of tax considerations.
Companies that give high dividends not only have a poor growth record but often also poor future growth prospects. If a company distributes the bulk of its earnings in the form of dividends, there will not be enough ploughback for financing future growth.
On the other hand, high growth companies generally have a poor dividend record. This is because such companies use only a relatively small proportion of their earnings to pay dividends. In the long run, however, high growth companies not only offer steep capital appreciation but also end up paying higher dividends.
On the whole, therefore, you are likely to get much higher total returns on your investment if you invest for capital appreciation rather than for dividends. In short, it all boils down to whether you are prepared to sacrifice a part of your immediate dividend income in the expectation of greater capital appreciation and higher dividends in the years to come and the whole issue is basically a trade-off between capital appreciation and income.
Investors are not really interested in dividends but in the relationship that dividends bear to the market price of the company's shares. This relationship is best expressed by the ratio called yield or dividend yield:
Yield = (Dividend per share / market price per share) x 100
Yield indicates the percentage of return that you can expect by way of dividends on your investment made at the prevailing market price. The concept of yield is best clarified by the following illustration.
Let us suppose you have invested Rs 2,000 in buying 100 shares of XYZ Ltd at Rs 20 per share with a face value of Rs 10 each.
If XYZ announces a dividend of 20 per cent (Rs 2 per share), then you stand to get a total dividend of Rs 200. Since you bought these shares at Rs 20 per share, the yield on your investment is 10 per cent (Yield = 2/20 x 100). Thus, while the dividend was 20 per cent; but your yield is actually 10 per cent.
The concept of yield is of far greater practical utility than dividends. It gives you an idea of what you are earning through dividends on the current market price of your shares.
Average yield figures in India usually vary around 2 per cent of the market value of the shares. If you have a share portfolio consisting of shares belonging to a large number of both high-growth and high-dividend companies, then on an average your dividend in-come is likely to be around 2 per cent of the total market value of your portfolio.
6. Return on Capital Employed (ROCE), and
7. Return on Net Worth (RONW)
While analysing a company, the most important thing you would like to know is whether the company is efficiently using the capital (shareholders' funds plus borrowed funds) entrusted to it.
While valuing the efficiency and worth of companies, we need to know the return that a company is able to earn on its capital, namely its equity plus debt. A company that earns a higher return on the capital it employs is more valuable than one which earns a lower return on its capital. The tools for measuring these returns are:
1. Return on Capital Employed (ROCE), and
2. Return on Net Worth (RONW).
Return on Capital Employed and Return on Net Worth (shareholders funds) are valuable financial ratios for evaluating a company's efficiency and the quality of its management. The figures for these ratios are commonly available in business magazines, annual reports and economic newspapers and financial Web sites.
Return on capital employed
Return on capital employed (ROCE) is best defined as operating profit divided by capital employed (net worth plus debt).
The figure for operating profit is arrived at after adding back taxes paid, depreciation, extraordinary one-time expenses, and deducting extraordinary one-time income and other income (income not earned through mainline operations), to the net profit figure.
The operating profit of a company is a better indicator of the profits earned by it than is the net profit.
ROCE thus reflects the overall earnings performance and operational efficiency of a company's business. It is an important basic ratio that permits an investor to make inter-company comparisons.
Return on net worth
Return on net worth (RONW) is defined as net profit divided by net worth. It is a basic ratio that tells a shareholder what he is getting out of his investment in the company.
ROCE is a better measure to get an idea of the overall profitability of the company's operations, while RONW is a better measure for judging the returns that a shareholder gets on his investment.
The use of both these ratios will give you a broad picture of a company's efficiency, financial viability and its ability to earn returns on shareholders' funds and capital employed.
8. PEG ratio
PEG is an important and widely used ratio for forming an estimate of the intrinsic value of a share. It tells you whether the share that you are interested in buying or selling is under-priced, fully priced or over-priced.
For this you need to link the P/E ratio discussed earlier to the future growth rate of the company. This is based on the assumption that the higher the expected growth rate of the company, the higher will be the P/E ratio that the company's share commands in the market.
The reverse is equally true. The P/E ratio cannot be viewed in isolation. It has to be viewed in the context of the company's future growth rate. The PEG is calculated by dividing the P/E by the forecasted growth rate in the EPS (earnings per share) of the company.
As a broad rule of the thumb, a PEG value below 0.5 indicates a very attractive buying opportunity, whereas a selling opportunity emerges when the PEG crosses 1.5, or even 2 for that matter.
The catch here is to accurately calculate the future growth rate of earnings (EPS) of the company. Wide and intensive reading of investment and business news and analysis, combined with experience will certainly help you to make more accurate forecasts of company earnings.
1. Ploughback and reserves
After deduction of all expenses, including taxes, the net profits of a company are split into two parts -- dividends and ploughback.
Dividend is that portion of a company's profits which is distributed to its shareholders, whereas ploughback is the portion that the company retains and gets added to its reserves.
The figures for ploughback and reserves of any company can be obtained by a cursory glance at its balance sheet and profit and loss account.
Ploughback is important because it not only increases the reserves of a company but also provides the company with funds required for its growth and expansion. All growth companies maintain a high level of ploughback. So if you are looking for a growth company to invest in, you should examine its ploughback figures.
Companies that have no intention of expanding are unlikely to plough back a large portion of their profits.
Reserves constitute the accumulated retained profits of a company. It is important to compare the size of a company's reserves with the size of its equity capital. This will indicate whether the company is in a position to issue bonus shares.
As a rule-of-thumb, a company whose reserves are double that of its equity capital should be in a position to make a liberal bonus issue.
Retained profits also belong to the shareholders. This is why reserves are often referred to as shareholders' funds. Therefore, any addition to the reserves of a company will normally lead to a corresponding an increase in the price of your shares.
The higher the reserves, the greater will be the value of your shareholding. Retained profits (ploughback) may not come to you in the form of cash, but they benefit you by pushing up the price of your shares.
2. Book value per share
You will come across this term very often in investment discussions. Book value per share indicates what each share of a company is worth according to the company's books of accounts.
The company's books of account maintain a record of what the company owns (assets), and what it owes to its creditors (liabilities). If you subtract the total liabilities of a company from its total assets, then what is left belongs to the shareholders, called the shareholders' funds.
If you divide shareholders' funds by the total number of equity shares issued by the company, the figure that you get will be the book value per share.
Book Value per share = Shareholders' funds / Total number of equity shares issued
The figure for shareholders' funds can also be obtained by adding the equity capital and reserves of the company.
Book value is a historical record based on the original prices at which assets of the company were originally purchased. It doesn't reflect the current market value of the company's assets.
Therefore, book value per share has limited usage as a tool for evaluating the market value or price of a company's shares. It can, at best, give you a rough idea of what a company's shares should at least be worth.
The market prices of shares are generally much higher than what their book values indicate. Therefore, if you come across a share whose market price is around its book value, the chances are that it is under-priced. This is one way in which the book value per share ratio can prove useful to you while assessing whether a particular share is over- or under-priced.
3. Earnings per share (EPS)
EPS is a well-known and widely used investment ratio. It is calculated as:
Earnings Per Share (EPS) = Profit After Tax / Total number of equity shares issued
This ratio gives the earnings of a company on a per share basis. In order to get a clear idea of what this ratio signifies, let us assume that you possess 100 shares with a face value of Rs 10 each in XYZ Ltd. Suppose the earnings per share of XYZ Ltd. is Rs 6 per share and the dividend declared by it is 20 per cent, or Rs 2 per share. This means that each share of XYZ Ltd. earns Rs 6 every year, even though you receive only Rs 2 out of it as dividend.
The remaining amount, Rs 4 per share, constitutes the ploughback or retained earnings. If you had bought these shares at par, it would mean a 60 per cent return on your investment, out of which you would receive 20 per cent as dividend and 40 per cent would be the ploughback. This ploughback of 40 per cent would benefit you by pushing up the market price of your shares. Ideally speaking, your shares should appreciate by 40 per cent from Rs 10 to Rs 14 per share.
This illustration serves to drive home a basic investment lesson. You should evaluate your investment returns not on the basis of the dividend you receive, but on the basis of the earnings per share. Earnings per share is the true indicator of the returns on your share investments.
Suppose you had bought shares in XYZ Ltd at double their face value, i.e. at Rs 20 per share. Then an EPS of Rs 6 per share would mean a 30 per cent return on your investment, of which 10 per cent (Rs 2 per share) is dividend, and 20 per cent (Rs 4 per share) the ploughback.
Under ideal conditions, ploughback should push up the price of your shares by 20 per cent, i.e. from Rs 20 to 24 per share. Therefore, irrespective of what price you buy a particular company's shares at its EPS will provide you with an invaluable tool for calculating the returns on your investment.
4. Price earnings ratio (P/E)
The price earnings ratio (P/E) expresses the relationship between the market price of a company's share and its earnings per share:
Price/Earnings Ratio (P/E) = Price of the share / Earnings per share
This ratio indicates the extent to which earnings of a share are covered by its price. If P/E is 5, it means that the price of a share is 5 times its earnings. In other words, the company's EPS remaining constant, it will take you approximately five years through dividends plus capital appreciation to recover the cost of buying the share. The lower the P/E, lesser the time it will take for you to recover your investment.
P/E ratio is a reflection of the market's opinion of the earnings capacity and future business prospects of a company. Companies which enjoy the confidence of investors and have a higher market standing usually command high P/E ratios.
For example, blue chip companies often have P/E ratios that are as high as 20 to 60. However, most other companies in India have P/E ratios ranging between 5 and 20.
On the face of it, it would seem that companies with low P/E ratios would offer the most attractive investment opportunities. This is not always true. Companies with high current earnings but dim future prospects often have low P/E ratios.
Obviously such companies are not good investments, notwithstanding their P/E ratios. As an investor your primary concern is with the future prospects of a company and not so much with its present performance. This is the main reason why companies with low current earnings but bright future prospects usually command high P/E ratios.
To a great extent, the present price of a share, discounts, i.e. anticipates, its future earnings.
All this may seem very perplexing to you because it leaves the basic question unanswered: How does one use the P/E ratio for making sound investment decisions?
The answer lies in utilising the P/E ratio in conjunction with your assessment of the future earnings and growth prospects of a company. You have to judge the extent to which its P/E ratio reflects the company's future prospects.
If it is low compared to the future prospects of a company, then the company's shares are good for investment. Therefore, even if you come across a company with a high P/E ratio of 25 or 30 don't summarily reject it because even this level of P/E ratio may actually be low if the company is poised for meteoric future growth. On the other hand, a low P/E ratio of 4 or 5 may actually be high if your assessment of the company's future indicates sharply declining sales and large losses.
5. Dividend and yield
There are many investors who buy shares with the objective of earning a regular income from their investment. Their primary concern is with the amount that a company gives as dividends -- capital appreciation being only a secondary consideration. For such investors, dividends obviously play a crucial role in their investment calculations.
It is illogical to draw a distinction between capital appreciation and dividends. Money is money -- it doesn't really matter whether it comes from capital appreciation or from dividends.
A wise investor is primarily concerned with the total returns on his investment -- he doesn't really care whether these returns come from capital appreciation or dividends, or through varying combinations of both. In fact, investors in high tax brackets prefer to get most of their returns through long-term capital appreciation because of tax considerations.
Companies that give high dividends not only have a poor growth record but often also poor future growth prospects. If a company distributes the bulk of its earnings in the form of dividends, there will not be enough ploughback for financing future growth.
On the other hand, high growth companies generally have a poor dividend record. This is because such companies use only a relatively small proportion of their earnings to pay dividends. In the long run, however, high growth companies not only offer steep capital appreciation but also end up paying higher dividends.
On the whole, therefore, you are likely to get much higher total returns on your investment if you invest for capital appreciation rather than for dividends. In short, it all boils down to whether you are prepared to sacrifice a part of your immediate dividend income in the expectation of greater capital appreciation and higher dividends in the years to come and the whole issue is basically a trade-off between capital appreciation and income.
Investors are not really interested in dividends but in the relationship that dividends bear to the market price of the company's shares. This relationship is best expressed by the ratio called yield or dividend yield:
Yield = (Dividend per share / market price per share) x 100
Yield indicates the percentage of return that you can expect by way of dividends on your investment made at the prevailing market price. The concept of yield is best clarified by the following illustration.
Let us suppose you have invested Rs 2,000 in buying 100 shares of XYZ Ltd at Rs 20 per share with a face value of Rs 10 each.
If XYZ announces a dividend of 20 per cent (Rs 2 per share), then you stand to get a total dividend of Rs 200. Since you bought these shares at Rs 20 per share, the yield on your investment is 10 per cent (Yield = 2/20 x 100). Thus, while the dividend was 20 per cent; but your yield is actually 10 per cent.
The concept of yield is of far greater practical utility than dividends. It gives you an idea of what you are earning through dividends on the current market price of your shares.
Average yield figures in India usually vary around 2 per cent of the market value of the shares. If you have a share portfolio consisting of shares belonging to a large number of both high-growth and high-dividend companies, then on an average your dividend in-come is likely to be around 2 per cent of the total market value of your portfolio.
6. Return on Capital Employed (ROCE), and
7. Return on Net Worth (RONW)
While analysing a company, the most important thing you would like to know is whether the company is efficiently using the capital (shareholders' funds plus borrowed funds) entrusted to it.
While valuing the efficiency and worth of companies, we need to know the return that a company is able to earn on its capital, namely its equity plus debt. A company that earns a higher return on the capital it employs is more valuable than one which earns a lower return on its capital. The tools for measuring these returns are:
1. Return on Capital Employed (ROCE), and
2. Return on Net Worth (RONW).
Return on Capital Employed and Return on Net Worth (shareholders funds) are valuable financial ratios for evaluating a company's efficiency and the quality of its management. The figures for these ratios are commonly available in business magazines, annual reports and economic newspapers and financial Web sites.
Return on capital employed
Return on capital employed (ROCE) is best defined as operating profit divided by capital employed (net worth plus debt).
The figure for operating profit is arrived at after adding back taxes paid, depreciation, extraordinary one-time expenses, and deducting extraordinary one-time income and other income (income not earned through mainline operations), to the net profit figure.
The operating profit of a company is a better indicator of the profits earned by it than is the net profit.
ROCE thus reflects the overall earnings performance and operational efficiency of a company's business. It is an important basic ratio that permits an investor to make inter-company comparisons.
Return on net worth
Return on net worth (RONW) is defined as net profit divided by net worth. It is a basic ratio that tells a shareholder what he is getting out of his investment in the company.
ROCE is a better measure to get an idea of the overall profitability of the company's operations, while RONW is a better measure for judging the returns that a shareholder gets on his investment.
The use of both these ratios will give you a broad picture of a company's efficiency, financial viability and its ability to earn returns on shareholders' funds and capital employed.
8. PEG ratio
PEG is an important and widely used ratio for forming an estimate of the intrinsic value of a share. It tells you whether the share that you are interested in buying or selling is under-priced, fully priced or over-priced.
For this you need to link the P/E ratio discussed earlier to the future growth rate of the company. This is based on the assumption that the higher the expected growth rate of the company, the higher will be the P/E ratio that the company's share commands in the market.
The reverse is equally true. The P/E ratio cannot be viewed in isolation. It has to be viewed in the context of the company's future growth rate. The PEG is calculated by dividing the P/E by the forecasted growth rate in the EPS (earnings per share) of the company.
As a broad rule of the thumb, a PEG value below 0.5 indicates a very attractive buying opportunity, whereas a selling opportunity emerges when the PEG crosses 1.5, or even 2 for that matter.
The catch here is to accurately calculate the future growth rate of earnings (EPS) of the company. Wide and intensive reading of investment and business news and analysis, combined with experience will certainly help you to make more accurate forecasts of company earnings.
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