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  • Profits are to business what was smiley is in text messaging.

    公司看到利潤,就像我們在簡訊裡看到笑臉符號一樣。

  • When a company tells us in one of its regular announcements that it's making good profits, we assume it's doing well.

    每當公司於例會宣布收益良好的時候,我們便會認定這家公司經營的還不錯。

  • Unfortunately, it may not be that simple.

    但很不幸地,這件事可沒那麼簡單。

  • The company may be pulling the wool over our eyes.

    我們很有可能都被公司蒙在了鼓裏。

  • It may even be about to go belly up.

    事實上,公司說不定已經搖搖欲墜了。

  • Most people think that profits are what a company has left over after meeting its expenses.

    多數人認為利潤是扣除成本後的盈餘。

  • For a can of fizzy drink, this would be the retail price minus the cost of buying it at wholesale, and less any overheads, such as paying staff.

    以一罐汽水來說,它的利潤就是零售價減去批發價。還要減去營運成本,像是工資。

  • Thank you.

    謝謝您。

  • Profits come in different varieties just like fizzy drinks.

    利潤就跟汽水一樣,種類繁多。

  • But sometimes they can leave investors feeling decidedly flat.

    但有時候,利潤會讓投資者感到無所適從。

  • Understanding why companies emphasize different measures at different times gives us clues as to what they're really thinking.

    瞭解為什麼公司要隨時間變換計算措施,就能瞭解公司到底葫蘆裡賣的是什麼藥。

  • Profits before tax is the measure often quoted by FT journalists.

    金融時報的記者常說的利潤,指的是稅前利潤。

  • Sometimes to the irritation of big companies.

    這種利潤常讓大企業感到懊惱。

  • A simple definition is sales minus operating costs and interest payments, plus a share of returns from partner companies.

    簡單來說,稅前利潤就是企業的營業收入扣除成本和利息,再加上一部分來自於合夥企業的收益。

  • Operating profits are seen as an even more straightforward measure.

    營業利潤則是更直接了當的計算法。

  • On the face of it, these are nothing more than sales minus operating costs.

    表面上,營業利潤就只是營業收入減去營業成本。

  • But even this is a little more complicated.

    但這背後有許多複雜的因素。

  • First, sales may include money that the company hasn't received yet.

    第一,營業收入可能還包括公司尚未入帳的金額。

  • Second, businesses have to deduct something for assets that are wearing out, like machinery, even if there's no cash cost.

    再者,公司還得算進資本折舊,像是耗損的機器,即便並沒有算在現金成本裡面。

  • As a result, companies and investors prefer a measure with a dreadful acronym.

    因此,公司和投資者會偏向使用另一種不太好的計算措施,簡稱 Ebitda。

  • This is Ebitda, which stands for earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization.

    意指為扣除利息、稅項、折舊、攤銷後的利潤。

  • Businesses also make up their own definitions of profits.

    公司也常常自己定義計算利潤的方式。

  • The more convoluted these are, the less reliable they tend to be.

    越複雜的計算機制,通常就越不可信。

  • Usually someone is trying to hide something.

    通常會這樣做是因為有人在試圖掩蓋實際情況。

  • A company with simple operation that's doing well, is more likely to highlight a statutory measure like profits before tax than a rival that's doing badly.

    一家運作透明、營運良好的公司,相較於另一家營運不佳的公司,更會去強調如稅前利潤等法定的計算措施。

  • No discussion of profits and losses will be complete without a mention of kitchen sinking.

    既然談到了利潤和虧損,就不不提到「廚房水槽清除法」。

  • When a new boss comes in to run a large corporation and clear up a mess left by the previous one, they may write off the value of assets such as liabilities and subsidiaries by quite large amounts.

    每當新任執行長來接管大公司的營運並收拾前任的爛攤子時,他們可能會大量註銷掉過去的資產金額,像是公司負債和子公司營業額。

  • They may include everything up to, and including, the kitchen sink.

    他們會盡一切努力,想把不必要的東西都清除掉,包括廚房水槽。

  • Those write downs might have no cash cost, but the shares might fall anyway.

    那些被註銷的資產金額雖然不含現金成本,但股票值仍會下跌。

  • They then have scope to rebound more steeply if profits recovered, assisted perhaps by write backs of value.

    如果公司利潤回本,他們或許就能藉著撥回資產金額,在股市急速反彈。

  • The write backs in turn could boost the bonus of the chief executive.

    被撥回的款項就能大大提高執行長的紅利。

  • Accountants don't have many zingers, so it's worth quoting one of their few snappy lines: "Sales are vanity, profits are sanity, but cash is reality."

    會計師很少口出妙語,難得說出一句,當然要洗耳恭聽: 「收益不切實際,利潤過於理性,不如保錢為先。」

  • It's meant to discourage companies going hell for leather for sales.

    這句話的意旨是為了讓公司不要只是卯足全力拼營收數據而已。

  • The message is that bosses should prioritize cash receipts over profits too, which as we've seen can be pretty unreliable.

    它也在告誡企業主應注重現金流而非利潤。畢竟正如我們所見,利潤有時並沒有那麼可靠。

  • Jonathan Gutherie, Financial Times, London.

    金融時報記者 Jonathan Gutherie ,倫敦報導。

Profits are to business what was smiley is in text messaging.

公司看到利潤,就像我們在簡訊裡看到笑臉符號一樣。

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