General Ratios

Data fieldDescription and CalculationMeaning and Applications

Closing price

The closing price of the trading day is taken according to the data sent by the Exchange

Current volume of shares outstanding

Current volume of shares outstanding = Listed shares volume - Treasury shares.

The current volume of shares outstanding is updated according to the Stock Exchange. However, in some cases, Stox.vn may update the current volume of shares outstanding before the exchange does. Specifically:

When a company issues shares for listing: On the ex-right date when the exchange adjusts the price, Stox.vn will immediately update the current volume of shares outstanding as follows:

Current volume of shares outstanding = Current volume of shares outstanding (according to the exchange) + Additional issued shares volume.

Current average volume of shares outstanding

Current average volume of shares outstanding = Average number of shares in the period (1) + Number of new issued shares (2) – number of new repurchased shares (3)

(1) Average number of shares in the period: The average number of shares in the period is the number of outstanding shares in the period (trailing 4 quarters) weighted on average (by the number of days that those shares are outstanding)

The change in the number of outstanding shares during the period due to the following factors: (i) New issue (public issue, private offering, bonus shares, (bonus issue), (right issue), stock dividends, (ii) Treasury stock transactions, (iii) Conversion from bonds or options for employees. According to VAS30, the average number of shares in the period is calculated according to the following formula:

Number of newly issued shares: is the number of new issued shares in the next period

(3) Number of new repurchased shares: The number of shares to be repurchased in the next period.

In case, for newly listed companies, the number of shares at the beginning of the period as well as the number of additional shares issued/repurchased in the period cannot be determined, the current average number of shares outstanding is equal to the current volume of shares outstanding (R.29).

According to international standards (CFA) and accounting standard No. 30 of Vietnam, the average number of outstanding shares in the period must be calculated for the purpose of calculating EPS and other stock indicators.

Currently, many data providers calculate EPS based on the number of shares outstanding at the end of the period. This is not reasonable in the context of Vietnam's capital market, where many companies continuously issue shares, convertible bonds, options, and treasury stocks. Calculating based on the number of shares outstanding at the end of the period will inaccurately reflect the company's business operation during the period.

Stox.vn is proud to be the unit to closely monitors the detailed changes of the number of outstanding shares of all companies on both HOSE and HASTC exchanges.

Diluted average volume of shares outstanding

Diluted average volume of shares outstanding = Current average volume of shares outstanding (F5.1) + Additional shares from preferred stock + Additional shares from convertible bonds + Additional shares from stock options.

The number of additional shares from preferred stock is calculated based on the number of preferred shares that have the right to be converted into common shares in the "Stock Issuance" file. However, there is an issue that according to VAS, preferred shares are also accounted for as capital instead of debt and there is no detailed disclosure, so it is almost impossible to separate them out.

The number of additional shares from convertible bonds is the number of convertible bonds outstanding multiplied by the conversion ratio to common shares. This data is calculated from the "Convertible Bonds" file.

The number of additional shares from stock options is the stock options that have been issued and will be converted into common shares in the future. In Vietnam, some companies apply ESOP (Employee Stock Options Program) for management staff. When they achieve their business goals, they will be granted the right to purchase or receive stock options as a reward.

The Diluted average volume of shares outstanding is used to calculate per-share indices on a dilutive basis (e.g., diluted EPS). The purpose is to provide investors with a future view of the business if current profits are maintained, but while the number of shares increases, it will split the proportion of current shareholders.

Market capitalization

Calculated as the number of outstanding shares at the calculation time multiplied by the closing price of the stock on that day.

Both factors, the number of outstanding shares and the stock price, are included in the market data files provided by HOSE and HASTC.

This index measures the market value of a company's shareholder equity. Market capitalization is often lower than enterprise value (EV) because it excludes the value of loans, minority shareholders, and financial investments and funds. See the formula for calculating EV.

Basic EPS

Basic EPS is calculated according to the following formula:

"Net Income" = The net income of the parent company's shareholders (F2.112) for the year or the total of the latest 4 quarters.

"Dividends on preferred stock" can be disregarded at this stage.

"Average Outstanding Shares" = The current average number of outstanding shares (F5.1).

Currently, most uses the end-of-period outstanding shares to calculate, so the results will not accurately reflect the profitability of the company's stock when companies continuously change their capital structure.

EPS (Earnings Per Share) basic or Profit on a share measures the level of profit that a company generates per share of common stock. This is the most important indicator in making investment decisions and is an important input for calculating the P/E ratio.

When using this indicator, investors should consider whether it may be affected by policies or accounting estimates or deliberate manipulation of the company's profits. Investors can adjust the net income of the company and re-calculate the EPS based on their own adjustments.

Another drawback is that EPS does not reflect the use of equity capital in generating that profit. Two companies may have the same EPS but one company uses less capital and more debt. Therefore, investors need to consider this indicator in relation to many other indicators, such as Debt-to-Equity ratio.

Diluted EPS

According to CFA, diluted EPS is calculated as follows:

"Net income" = Net profit of the parent company's shareholders (F2.112) for the year or the total of 4 consecutive quarters.

"Preferred dividends" = Dividends on preferred shares, which cannot be separated because VAS allows for accounting in equity.

"Convertible preferred dividends" = Dividends for convertible preferred shares, currently there are no cases of issuing such shares.

"Convertible debt interest * (1-t)" = Interest expense on convertible bonds after tax. Here, t = the tax rate that the company is currently subject to (usually 28% or 14% if the company has just been IPO).

When calculating diluted EPS, it is important to note: if the ratio of after-tax interest expenses of convertible bonds/number of common shares to be converted from convertible bonds is greater than the basic EPS, then the convertible bonds have an "anti-dilutive effect" and should not be included in the calculation of diluted EPS.

Why is there diluted EPS? Simply because there are many factors that create pressure on current shareholders. Their piece of the pie will shrink when the company has committed to convertible securities or preferred stock with the right to convert into common stock in the future and share the profit. Therefore, if the company's profits do not increase, the current shareholders' portion will decrease in both ownership percentage and earnings generated for them.

Diluted EPS indicates that if the same level of profit continues in the future, the current shareholders will be "diluted" or "divided" by how many more new shareholders there are.

Usually, diluted EPS is lower than basic EPS because the reduction of interest expenses of convertible bonds or dividends of preferred stock often does not offset the dilution caused by the new shares created. Therefore, most current shareholders usually do not want dilution, unless there are good projects and capital raising with conversion factors is necessary.

Book value (BV)per share (BVS)

Book value per share calculated as Equity (F2.74) after excluding bonus and welfare fund divided by current volume of shares outstanding (R.29)

BVS is the accounting book value per share, and it often does not have much significance when accounting standards such as VAS mostly follow the original cost principle (e.g., for land, securities investments, etc.).

In a booming market, the BVS value is often much lower than the stock price. However, during a deep market correction phase, many stocks have a market value lower than their book value.

BVS is also one of the indicators to evaluate whether a stock is overvalued/(undervalued) in the stock market, and therefore it is considered a signal to sell/(buy).

This index is very useful when a company's assets are accounted for based on market principles. In terms of sector, the BVS index is very useful when considering stocks in the banking, finance, securities, and insurance sectors.

Tangible BV per share

EBITDA

EBITDA = Net profit/loss before tax + Interest expense + Fixed asset depreciation

EBITDA is calculated by year or total of 4 quarters

EBITDA is a very useful metric because it removes the effects of capital structure and depreciation policies and thus it approximates the cash flow generated by a company. EBITDA also shows a company's ability to pay principal and interest on its loans. EBITDA is not the cash flow a company generates because it does not take into account the variable cash flow due to working capital

EBIT

EBIT = Net profit/loss before tax + Interest expense

EBIT is calculated by year or Total 4 quarters

EBIT is often referred to as operating profit and it does not take into account interest expenses and tax expenses. The reason EBIT is so widely known is that it can help compare the profitability of companies in different sectors with different capital structurer and tax rates

Cash flow per share

Many analysts and investors use the Cash Flow/Shares index instead of EPS. The reason is that EPS is easy to change due to accounting policies while the value of cash flow generated per share is difficult to be biased. Therefore, the Cash Flow/Shares index is also an indicator of the strength of the enterprise in maintaining the cash flow generated for shareholders.

Sales per share

For Corporations:

Revenue per share is calculated as the total net sales (F2.94) for the year or the sum of the last 4 quarters divided by the current average volume of shares outstanding (F5.1).

For Banks:

Revenue per share = Total operating income (F3.55B) for the year or the sum of the last 4 quarters divided by the average volume of current shares outstanding (F5.1).

The Sales/Shares Index is used to assess the Company's ability to generate revenue compared to other units in the same industry. The higher this index, the more efficient the company is in using capital and vice versa.

Enterprise value (EV)

For Corporations:

EV = Capitalization (F5.7) + Short-term debt (F2.55) + Long-term debt (F5.69) – Cash and cash equivalents (F2.2).

For Banks:

EV = Capitalization (F5.7) + Debts to the Government and the State Bank of Vietnam (F3.29)

+ Minority shareholders (F3.42) – Cash, gold, silver, gems (F3.2)

Enterprise Value (EV) = Capitalization + Loans - Cash and cash equivalents

Or EV is the entire value that you must spend to buy back all equity, debt including minority shareholders. Cash and cash equivalents are excluded from the EV formula because simply, if you own the entire company, you automatically own the money the company has.

The EV indicates the market's assessment of the entire corporation, including tangible and intangible assets, while the "Capitalization" indicator only indicates the market's assessment of the share value.

Value investors tend to pay attention to companies with large cash flows relative to their EVs. These companies usually require little reinvestment capital

and thus, shareholders can receive more dividends or invest in other companies.

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