alt: alternate director

Att Inc: Attributable Income (i.e., after tax profit attributable to ordinary shareholders)

Beta: Volatility in relation to the FTSE/JSE All Share index – see Ratios and Statistics for more information

Calendar: Unconfirmed, ProfileData estimate; Estimate, provisional date provided by company; Confirmed, firm date provided by company

cps: cents per share

cum div: "cum div" means that a share qualifies to receive a dividend that has been declared (provided it is not sold on or before the Ldt)

D:E: Debt:Equity Ratio

Div Cover: a ratio of the earnings per share to the dividends per share

Directors: ne, non-executive; ind ne independent non-executive; alt, alternative director

DPLU: Distribution per Linked Unit – used for loan stock companies where shares are linked to a debt instrument (i.e., the distribution is part dividend, part interest. see DPS ).

DPS: Dividends Per Share (or Distributions Per Share in some cases)

DWT: Dividends Withholding Tax – replaced STC (secondary tax on companies) in 2012 at a flat rate of 15%

DY: Dividend Yield – see Ratios and Statistics for more information

EPLU: Earnings per Linked Unit – used for loan stock companies where shares are linked to a debt instrument (see EPS).

EPS: Earnings per Share – Earnings (profits) per share

ex div: the day on which purchasers of a security no longer qualify to receive the last declared dividend

Financials: (R), results restated; (P), pro-forma

HEPLU: Headline Earnings per Linked Unit – used for loan stock companies where shares are linked to a debt instrument (see HEPS)

HEPS: Headline Earnings Per Share -- Earnings (profits) per share after exceptional items

ISIN: International Securities Identification Number, the first two characters of which are the issuing country code

Ldt: Last day to trade to qualify for dividends or other corporate action (for dividends, the Ldt is the day before the security goes ex div)

Ldr: Last day to register (also known as the record date), usually five days after the Ldt – the date by which the shareholder's name must appear in the register of shareholders

Liquidity: value and volume traded for the 12 months up to publication date

Market Cap: Market Capitalisation (ie, total market value of shares in issue calculated as shares outstanding multiplied by the share price)

NAV: Net Asset Value

ne: non-executive

Ords: Ordinary shares (known as common stock in the USA) which entitle holders to vote and to receive dividends as determined by the directors (cf Prefs) Ords "N": Non-voting ordinary shares

(P): Pro-forma financials

P/E: Ratio of Price to Earnings (profit) – also shown sometimes as PE or P:E

PEG: Price/Earnings Growth ratio

Prefs: Preference shares, which usually entitle holders to fixed dividends that take priority over ordinary dividends

(R): Restated result

Scrip: Stock market parlance for a share certificate

Scrip/100: The number of shares a shareholder can elect to receive per one hundred ordinary share held instead of a cash dividend

Sedol: Security codes used in the UK and Ireland (the acronym stands for "Securities Exchange Daily Official List")

SENS: The JSE's Stock Exchange News Service – per JSE rules, listed companies must disseminate price-sensitive information on SENS before it appears in any other form

Shares outstanding: the number of shares in issue

Tr 5yr av grwth %: Trailing five-year average growth (i.e., average of five years to that point)

TRI: Total Return Index (i.e., price performance including reinvestment of dividends/distributions)

Volatility: Standard deviation of month-on-month percentage price change over 36 months

Warrant: A listed security which, much like a traded option, entitles the holder to buy an underlying share at a set price until the expiry of a defined time period

ZAR: South African rands

ZARc: South African cents