Earning per share

Earnings per share (EPS) are computed as profit attributable to equity divided by the number of shares in issue and ranking for dividends. EPS therefore represents what is available to be paid out as dividends. Clearly so if the number of shares in issue remains fixed the EPS will rise as the net profit attributable to equity increase.

The value of EPS is able to be calculated by dividing the share price by the P/E ratio. For Buntam this signifies EPS equals eight cents. In other prose the earnings per share is equal to the gross dividend payable. For Zellus the EPS is equivalent to 18 cents (270/15) which compares with a gross dividend of nine cents. On first sight thus it is tempting to view Zellus as a better investment because its EPS is higher. On the other side an investor has to pay 270 cents per share to get earning of 18 cents compared with 160 cents to get earning of eight cents. The EPS figure is of narrow value on its own it needs to be judged in conjunction with the share price and hence the P/E ratio.