Book value per share

Shareholders' equity divided by shares outstanding. The accounting value of each share's claim on the company's net assets.

A company with ₹3,300 crore of equity and 50 crore shares has a book value of ₹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 is 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.

Which is why price to book is the standard lens for financials and a poor one everywhere else.