DECEMBER 2002

Reviewing The Income Statement

1998 Diebold Annual Report

The following excerpt from The NAIC Investors Manual For The Individual Investor provides an overview of the Balance Sheet and its role in company stock studies.

Investors are primarily concerned with the Income Statement when studying a company.

The income statement is the most popular financial statement in an annual or quarterly report and the core financial report for the completion of NAIC Stock Selection Guides. The income statement includes revenue, net income, and earnings per share (EPS). In essence, an income statement tells you how much money a company brought in (its revenues), how much it spent (its expenses), and the difference between the two (its profit/loss), over a specified time.

The income statement is fairly straightforward. The statement is looked at from top to bottom. The top line lists revenues (sales). Each subsequent line deducts expenses and costs from the revenue figure. The bottom line is net income, or earnings per share.

Diebold's income statement for 1998 (and values for comparisons to 1997 and 1996 results) is provided below:

Click to enlarge.

Return to Income Statement Discussion

Diane Graese was formerly an officer of the Computer Group Advisory Board and a director for the BetterInvesting Las Vegas Chapter. She is an active member of i-club-list and the BetterIinvesting Community at Compuserve. Diane is well known for her seminars on cash flow and interpreting financial statements. Contact Diane at dmg1031@aol.com.