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Financial lexicon

Par

See Nominal.

Pay Out Ratio

This is the proportion of the profit distributed to shareholders.

Pension fund

Self-funded retirement plan where people in work voluntarily make contributions to prepare for their own retirement. The fund is then reinvested on the financial markets. They are currently the main players on the financial marketplaces.

PER (Price earnings ratio)

This ratio is extensively used to calculate whether a share is expensive or not in relation to comparable companies or the stock market as a whole.

Phasing out of share certificates

Eliminating the material representation (paper) of transferrable securities.

Ping ping

A new brand for micro-payments which stands as a symbol for mobile payments. This brand and its related logo will indicate where customers can make mobile payments, with all its advantages. Fast, user-friendly, interactive, requiring no small change, etc., the system can be accessed by all mobile phone users, regardless of their operator.

Portfolio

A portfolio represents all securities held by an investor.

Portfolio manager

Individual management or management on behalf of customers of a portfolio of transferrable securities.

Position

A market position means you are on the market, either by holding shares or acting as a short seller.

PPI

The production price index reflects the change in prices for factors of production.

Pre-opening

Period when orders are accumulating on the market sheet, without any transactions being made, until the market opens.

Primary market

The primary market is the site for issuing new securities.

Profit margin

Ratio between profit and turnover expressed as a percentage.

Profit taking

Term used to describe the partial sale of shares to achieve a return. In this case investors sell part of their portfolios and retain the balance.

Profit warning

A profit warning is a signal a company gives to warn that its profit or loss forecasts will be less than its original predictions. A profit warning is often synonymous with a fall in the security price.

Profitability

The increased value obtained after transferring shares, plus the return received.

Prospectus

A prospectus is a legal document that institutions and businesses use to describe the securities they are offering for participants and buyers. A prospectus commonly provides investors with material information about mutual funds, stocks, bonds and other investments, such as a description of the company's business, financial statements, biographies of officers and directors, detailed information about their compensation, any litigation that is taking place, a list of material properties and any other material information. In the context of an individual securities offering, such as an initial public offering, a prospectus is distributed by underwriters or brokerages to potential investors.

Public offer of exchange

This takes the form of exchanging securities rather than in-cash payments. In this case, the buyer pays the shareholders of the company being targeted with the buyer's own securites, according to an exchange parity determined in the light of the relative value of the two companies.

Public share offer

A public share offer involves selling a number of securities at a fixed price.

Put

Financial instrument allowing underlying assets to be sold at a designated price.