| Intermediate balance |
Calculation |
Interpretation |
| Trade margin |
Sales of goods - purchases of goods + Goods inventory change |
Relevant indicator to determine the gross margin of an activity of reselling such distribution or trading. |
| Value added |
Trade maring + Production - purchases of raw material - other purchases and external charges |
Represents the creation of value that the company provides to goods and services purchased from third parties. The value added must be sufficiently high to absorb all other expenses of the company. |
| operating profit before depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) |
Value added - tax - wages and salaries - payroll taxes |
Remaining amount after deduction of operating expenses to value added. It is a key indicator of profitability and business performance as it is independent of the financial policy of the company. EBITDA should maintain and develop the means of production and pay the capital invested. |
| Operating profit |
EBITDA - depreciations and provisions |
Operating profit includes the amortization of fixed assets and provisions for risk (eg accrual of bad debts). |
| Financial result |
Financial income - financial charges |
This purely financial result is often negative because firms are generally consumers of financial products (lines of bank overdrafts, bank loans, factoring etc ...). A significant negative financial result often reflects a weak financial structure and an excessive recourse to banks. Warning! |
| Result before tax |
Operating profit + financial result |
Final result calculated from operating income and expenses. It is independent of taxation and exceptional income and expenses. |
| Exceptional result |
Exceptional income - Exceptional expenses |
This result relates to unusual activity. For example, a capital structure transaction can create an exceptional result. Be careful because it can distort the true profitability of the business and distort an analysis that would be based solely on net income. |
| Net income(profit or loss) |
Result before tax + exceptional result - income tax |
The net income represents the profit or loss at the end of the year (the difference between total revenue and total expenditure). It is increasing (if positive) or decreasing (if negative) the equity. If positive, it can remain invested in the company or be partially distributed to shareholders as dividends.
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Compare the evolution of the turnover and the profitability on last 3 financial years (5 so possible) to determine the medium-term viability of your client.
Turnover and profitability are two key indicators for any business, second one even more than the first one. 
