EBITDA may sound complicated, but the concept is relatively straightforward.

EBITDA stands for Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation. It is a measure of the earnings generated by a company’s core operations before taking into account:

• Interest;

• Tax;

• Depreciation; and

• Amortisation.

Why Is EBITDA Important?

EBITDA provides an indication of the underlying strength of a company’s main business activities.

Investors and banks often review EBITDA to assess the performance of a company’s core operations before financing decisions, tax charges and non-cash depreciation and amortisation expenses are considered.

It helps answer the question:

Is the core business generating strong operating earnings?

However, EBITDA is not the same as cash flow. A company may report strong EBITDA but still have significant capital expenditure, working capital requirements, debt repayments or other cash commitments.

The Basic Formula

A commonly used formula is:

EBITDA ≈ Operating Profit + Depreciation + Amortisation

It may also be derived as:

EBITDA ≈ Net Profit + Interest + Tax + Depreciation + Amortisation

The exact calculation should be checked against the company’s financial statements and the definitions used in its reporting.

EBITDA vs Net Profit

EBITDA is like checking whether the engine of the business is strong.

Net profit is the final result after the company has taken into account all relevant expenses, including interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.

Both measures are useful, but neither should be viewed in isolation.

In simple terms:

EBITDA shows the strength of the core operations. Net profit shows the final accounting result.

So, the next time someone mentions EBITDA, you can think of it as a measure of how strong the company’s main business activities are.

CCS | Beyond Numbers

EBITDA 是什么？如何看公司的核心业务实力？

EBITDA 这个名字虽然很长，但概念其实没有想象中复杂。

EBITDA 是 Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation 的缩写，中文通常称为息税折旧摊销前利润。

简单来说，EBITDA 是在扣除以下项目之前，观察公司核心业务所产生的盈利：

• 利息；

• 税项；

• 折旧；以及

• 摊销。

EBITDA 为什么重要？

EBITDA 可以帮助我们了解公司主要经营活动的基本盈利能力。

投资人和银行通常会参考 EBITDA，评估公司的核心业务表现，而暂时不考虑融资安排、税务负担，以及折旧和摊销等非现金费用的影响。

它主要帮助回答一个问题：

公司的核心业务本身是否具备良好的经营盈利能力？

不过，EBITDA 并不等于现金流。

一家公司即使拥有不错的 EBITDA，仍然可能面对大量的资本性支出、营运资金需求、偿还债务及其他现金付款责任。

基本计算公式

常见的计算方式是：

EBITDA ≈ 营业利润 + 折旧 + 摊销

也可以通过以下方式推算：

EBITDA ≈ 净利润 + 利息 + 税项 + 折旧 + 摊销

不过，实际计算时仍应参考公司的财务报表，以及公司在报告中采用的具体定义。

EBITDA 与净利润有什么不同？

EBITDA 就像是在检查公司的经营引擎有没有动力。

净利润则是公司在扣除所有相关费用，包括利息、税项、折旧及摊销之后，最后得到的会计结果。

两者都具有参考价值，但不能只盯着其中一个数字。

简单来说：

EBITDA 反映核心业务的经营实力；净利润反映最终的会计盈利结果。

所以下次有人提到 EBITDA 时，可以把它理解为：

“这个数字是用来看看我的主业到底强不强，对吗？”

CCS | Beyond Numbers