股票回购：友还是敌
距我的著作《增长会计》出版已近 20 年，如今我再揭会计规则中的另一处漏洞，它让公司得以在未创造价值时，却显得好像创造了价值。
Almost 20 years on from publishing my book, Accounting for Growth, I am exposing another loophole in the accountancy rules which is allowing companies to appear to have created value when they have not.
今天，我发布一份文件，对当下流行的股票回购做法进行审视——它们对股东是友是敌？它们是在创造还是摧毁价值？你或许觉得答案显而易见，但请三思。
Today I am publishing a paper scrutinising the in vogue use of share buybacks - are they a friend or foe to shareholders? Do they create or destroy value? You might think the answer is obvious, but think again.
问题在于，公司回购股票时，这些股票便从资产负债表中消失，而这可能被用来扭曲公司业绩的衡量指标。仅仅通过执行股票回购而非支付股息，公司就能抬高每股收益（EPS），因而几乎普遍被视为为股东创造了价值，而实际上多数情况显然并非如此。
The problem is that when a company repurchases shares they disappear from the balance sheet and this can be used to distort measures of company performance. Simply by executing a share buyback rather than paying out dividends, companies can inflate their Earnings Per Share (EPS) and are almost universally seen to have created value for shareholders when mostly they clearly have not.
资本配置决策是公司管理层代表股东所做的最重要决策之一。然而，股票回购并未得到公司投资者和评论人士的充分理解，甚至公司管理层自身可能也是如此。一个持续被忽视的关键事实是：只有当回购的股票交易价格低于内在价值，且没有能产生更高回报的更好现金用途时，股票回购才创造价值。
Capital allocation decisions are amongst the most important decisions which management of companies make on behalf of shareholders. Yet share buybacks are not sufficiently understood by company investors and commentators, and maybe even by company management. One of the most important facts that is continually overlooked is that share buybacks only create value if the shares repurchased are trading below intrinsic value and there is no better use for the cash which would generate a higher return.
大多数股票回购会摧毁剩余股东的价值，而管理层却能安然无恙，因为现行股票回购会计处理掩盖了其真实效果。
Most share buybacks destroy value for remaining shareholders, and management is able to get away with this as current accounting for share buybacks conceals their true effect.
那么，需要做何改变？
So what needs to change?
1. 管理层应被要求参照支付价格、隐含回报以及现金的其他用途，来论证股票回购的合理性。
1. Management should be required to justify share buybacks by reference to the price paid and the implied return as well as comparing this with alternative uses for the cash.
2. 投资者和评论人士应像分析公司购买其他公司股票一样，以完全相同的基础来分析股票回购。
2. Investors and commentators should analyse share buybacks on exactly the same basis as they would if the company bought shares in another company.
3. 投资者和评论人士应使用净资产收益率来分析股票回购的效果，而非每股收益的变动。
3. Investors and commentators should use return on equity to analyse the effect of share buybacks rather than movements in earnings per share.
4. 当管理层激励与每股收益增长挂钩的公司进行股票回购时，投资者和评论人士应持超出寻常的怀疑态度。
4. Share buybacks need to be viewed with more than average scepticism when done by companies whose management are incentivised by growth in EPS.
5. 股票回购的会计处理应作修改，使回购股票在计算回报时，既保留在股东权益中，也作为资产负债表中的权益核算资产。
5. Accounting for share buybacks should be changed so that the shares remain a part of shareholders funds as well as an equity accounted asset on the balance sheet in calculating returns.
我的详细分析以文件形式呈现，并附有配套的 PowerPoint 幻灯片（可通过下方点击获取）——对于任何股东、分析师或董事，我保证都值得细读。
My detailed analysis is presented in the form of a paper with accompanying PowerPoint slides (which can be accessed by clicking below) - for any shareholder, analyst or director, I can guarantee it is worth a close read.
股票回购 PDF
Share Buybacks PDF