Dilution

The diluted EPS calculation is 50 years out of date

Published

It will soon be the 50th anniversary of the publication of the Black-Scholes model for option valuation. The fair value of options has since been incorporated into several aspects of financial reporting. However, in the case of diluted earnings per share, the accounting still pre-dates Black-Scholes.

The treasury stock method for calculating diluted earnings per share only considers the intrinsic value of written equity options, such as warrants and employee stock options. We explain why this is a problem and the further reasons why the full economic value dilution resulting from these securities is not reflected in financial statements.

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Convertible accounting: New US GAAP inflates earnings

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Changes to convertible bond accounting under US GAAP will mean higher reported debt but, paradoxically, a lower (and sometimes zero) interest expense. In our view, the resulting increase in earnings is artificial, fails to faithfully represent the cost of convertible financing and will not benefit investors.

The recent surge in convertible issuance, and the use of so-called convertible bond hedges, may have more to do with favourable accounting than favourable economics. We use the recent convertible issue by Twitter to illustrate the revised US GAAP and compare this with the more realistic approach under IFRS.

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Zero coupon convertibles do not have a zero cost

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Convertible bond issuance is at a record high, with companies ‘benefiting’ from low interest rates and high equity volatility. A recent $1.44bn convertible bond issue by Twitter, with a zero coupon and conversion premium of 67%,­ is a good example.

Convertibles are not the cheap form of financing that is sometimes claimed, nor do we think that so-called ‘hedging’ transactions, which often accompany convertible issues, create value for investors. We present an interactive model to demonstrate how to calculate the cost of capital for a convertible.

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