Debt to equity
How many borrowed units of currency fall on each unit of shareholders' capital.
Formula
Equity is taken as the parent company's, excluding non-controlling interests: that is what belongs to ordinary shareholders.
How to read the number
Shows the leverage in the financing structure. Each unit here amplifies both profit and loss: in a good year return on equity rises faster than revenue, in a bad one it falls just as fast.
When the metric lies
Where it is used
The metric is calculated across every security in the catalogue and appears on the instrument card, in the multiples table and in the screener.
Also known as: debt to equity, gearing ratio