Glossarytaught in M2.01, M5.01
Book value per share
Also called BVPS, net asset value per share.
Shareholders' equity divided by shares outstanding. The accounting value of each share's claim on the company's net assets.
Divide ₹3,300 crore of equity by 50 crore shares and the book value is ₹66 a share.
For an industrial or a consumer business the figure is close to meaningless, because the assets that matter are brands, processes and people, none of which are on the balance sheet. For a bank or a lender it's the central measure, since the assets are loans carried at something close to their economic value and the whole business is the spread earned on them.
So price to book is the standard lens for financials and a poor one everywhere else.
Advertisement