noun
Definition 1
Profit on ordinary activities, after tax, minority interests and preference dividends, attributable to ordinary equity shareholders.
Source: Invertext
Context: Banco Santander first half attributable profit rose to EUR 4.73 billion, up 22% from 2007, excluding capital gains.
Source: www.santander.com
Note
Accounting rules in English-speaking countries do not normally accept the profit attributable to a certain number or proportion of the shareholders of a consolidated group as constituting a recognised category of profit. Spanish accounting does, if not overtly, at least tacitly. Consequently, the standalone expression "attributable profit" or "attributable net profit" is in the majority of cases a word-for-word translation of the Spanish equivalent, of questionable meaning in English. Where the reporting company formally reports in Spanish and the English-language version is presented as a mere courtesy to non-Spanish speaking shareholders, no serious problem arises. However, in the case of ADRs trading on US exchanges, or where the company is actively seeking funds from English-speaking investors, to avoid unnecessary complications it is advisable to anglicise the expression, stating not simply THAT a proportion of the profit is "attributable" but also TO WHOM that proportion is attributable.
Appears in the following subjects