Glossary of terms
ACT
Advance Corporation Tax paid by companies on shareholders' dividends.
ADR
American depository receipts evidencing HBOS ADSs.
ADSS
American depositary shares, each representing 1 HBOS share.
AGM
Annual General Meeting - The meeting of shareholders held to approve the accounts and to re-appoint directors and auditors. Normally held 21 days after publication of the annual report. It must be held within 18 months of the previous AGM. A meeting that should be attended by shareholders as an opportunity to question directors on business and performance prospects and results.
Annual Report
The directors' report to shareholders setting out, in both text and financial terms, details of the company's performance during the past year and the state of its finances and assets as at the latest reporting date, the balance sheet date.
AIM
The Alternative Investment Market. Launched by the Stock Exchange in 1995 as a market for smaller companies. AIM sets lower standards of entry than the Stock Exchange Offical List (main market).
BACS
Banks Automated Clearing System.
Bargain
The stock market term for a share sale or purchase.
Bear
An investor who is negative towards shares, believing prices will fall. A Bear market is one where share prices across the entire market are generally, and consistently, falling.
Big 4
Royal Bank of Scotland plc, Lloyds TSB plc, Barclays Bank plc and HSBC plc.
Broker
A person who carries out stock market transactions as the agent of the client. A broker is an intermediary who brings a buyer and seller of a given share together.
Bull
An investor who is positive towards shares, believing prices will rise. A Bull market is one where share prices across the entire market are generally, and consistently, rising.
Capital Gain
The profit you make between the buying and selling price of shares.
Capital Gains Tax
The amount of tax you are liable to pay on the total gains which arise on disposals you make (after various relief(s) have been given) in any one tax year.
Capital Growth
The rise in the value of your initial investment.
Certificate
Method of holding shares.
Chart Analysis
Investment method based on the use of charts that indicate; a share's market price over time and the number of shares of a specific stock traded over time, in order to predict future prices.
Closed Statement
Statement confirming nil shares.
Commission
The fee charged by a stockbroker for carrying out a customer's instruction to buy or sell shares.
Consideration
The money value of a transaction (number of shares multiplied by the price) before adding or deducting commission, stamp duty, etc.
Counter-signature
Second signature.
CREST
The UK electronic settlement system that was introduced by CRESTCo in July 1996.
Cum
Latin for 'with'. Used to denote rights and entitlements that come with a share at the time it is bought. For example, 'cum dividend' or 'cum rights'. The opposite of 'ex'.
CTV
Consolidated Tax Voucher.
Demutualisation
The process of converting from a Building Society to a Bank.
Designation
Name, Description or Title.
Discount
When the market price of a newly issued share is lower than its issue price. The opposite of 'premium'.
Dividend
The sum paid by the company to its shareholders as their financial reward from holding the company's shares. It is the income received from an investment in the company's shares.
EGM
Extraordinary General Meeting. Any meeting of a company's shareholders other than its AGM.
Ex
When appended to the share price, means "excluding". Thus share price quoted ex dividend (xd or ex div), means that you will not receive the announced dividend when you buy the shares. Conversely, you will still receive the dividend when you sell the shares xd, even though you do not hold the shares anymore at the actual time of the dividend payment.
Ex Dividend Date
This is the date on or after which the seller and not the buyer will retain the right to receive a dividend.
Final dividend
The dividend paid by a company at the end of the financial year.
Flotation
When a company's shares are sold to investors and quoted on the stock market for the first time, sometimes known as an Initial Public Offering or IPO.
Folio Identification
Number allocated to individual's shareholding.
FRS
Financial Reporting Standard.
FSA
Financial Services Authority.
FTSE
Financial Times Stock Exchange, the joint operation for compilation and maintenance of the indices used as the key performance benchmarks for the UK Stock Exchange.
FTSE Index
Three indices comprise the FTSE All Share index - FTSE100, FTSE Mid 250 & FTSE Small Cap.
Gross
The amount before tax has been deducted. The opposite of 'net'.
Hedging
Protecting against or limiting losses on an existing shareholding or portfolio by establishing an opposite position in the same or equivalent stock(s).
HBOS
HBOS plc.
HBOS SA
HBOS Shareholder Account.
Indemnity
Security against loss.
Indicative
An indication of the price that the shares could be traded at.
Interim
Between a period of time.
Interims
The company's results for, normally, the first 6 months of its reporting period (usually the financial year). Also the identification of the dividend declared and paid on the results for this period.
Interim Dividend
A dividend declared part way through a company's financial year, authorised solely by the directors.
Merger
The agreed joining together of two companies, usually in the same industry, to provide a new, combined entity with control still reflected in the ownership shares of the original companies.
Net
The amount after tax has been deducted. The opposite of 'gross'.
Nominal Value
The value ascribed to a share when it is first authorised and issued by a company. It bears no relationship to a share's market value. Also known as 'par value'.
Permitted/Non-Permitted Territory
Country of residence permitted or not permitted to receive shares due to government restrictions.
Preliminary Figures
A company's full-year results, declared as a prelude to the publication of the annual report and accounts.
Pre/Post Vesting Day
Vesting day was the day Halifax plc floated on the London Stock Exchange (2nd June 1997).
Premium
If the market price of a new share is higher than its issue price. The opposite of discount.
Proxy
A form by which a shareholder votes without needing to attend a meeting by appointing someone else to vote on his or her behalf. Proxies can also be used to transfer voting authority to another party.
Qualifying Dates
Dates on which account holders needed to have an account to qualify for free shares.
Quote
If a company has a quote (or is 'quoted'), its shares can be bought and sold on the stock market.
Record Date
The deadline, determined by a company's board of directors, by when an investor must be recorded as an owner of shares in order to qualify for a forthcoming dividend or share distribution.
Registrar
An organisation or an individual that takes responsibility for maintaining a company's share register.
Resolutions
Proposals made at the AGM that require shareholder approval.
SCB
Statutory Cash Bonus.
SEAQ
Stock Exchange Automated Quotations - the quote-driven, screen-based system through which market makers display their prices for buying and selling shares.
Settlement
Once a deal has been made, the settlement process transfers stock from seller to buyer and arranges the corresponding movement of money between buyer and seller.
SGM
Special General Meeting.
SME
Small and medium sized enterprises.
Stamp Duty
A duty charged on the transfer of various types of property, shares being one of them. Only payable by the purchaser and is charged at a percentage rate, which is currently 0.5% of the value of your purchase.
Stock Class
Type of stock, e.g. Ordinary Shares, Preference Share or Loan Notes.
Stock Exchange Official List
The main market. Companies on the Official List have been vetted by the Stock Exchange Quotations Department and are subject to all the listing rules in the Stock Exchange Yellow Book.
Transfer
The form signed by the seller of a share authorising the company to remove his/her name from the register and substitute that of the buyer.
Underwriter
An institutional investor who effectively insures a new issue (or rights issue) by agreeing to buy all shares which are not sold to other investors.
Volatility
The relative amount or percentage by which a share's price rises and falls during a period of time.
Volume
The total number of shares traded (bought and sold) in a given period of time.
