Legal Definitions - core earnings

Core earnings refer to a company's operating earnings, which are the profits earned from its main business activities. This excludes any one-time gains or losses, such as the sale of assets or restructuring costs. It is a measure of a company's sustainable earnings and is used to evaluate its financial performance.

• A company's core earnings for the year were $10 million, which excluded a one-time gain of $2 million from the sale of a subsidiary.
• A retailer's core earnings were $500,000, which excluded the costs of closing down a few unprofitable stores.

These examples illustrate how core earnings are calculated by excluding any one-time gains or losses that are not part of a company's ongoing business operations. This provides a more accurate picture of a company's financial health and its ability to generate sustainable profits.