Diageo FAQs - Stock Market terms

A share confers ownership of a portion of the company, entitling the owner to a share in the profits.

A "settlement period" is the completion of a transaction. This is the time between the transaction and settlement when monies and stock are due either to or from the market. Standard stock market settlement is currently two working days or T+2. Our service normally operates on a T+2 basis unless you are dealing in non-Link Administered Company shares in which case settlement will take up to ten working days, or T+10.

CREST is the electronic settlement system used by Stock Market participants for UK and Irish shares. See https://www.euroclear.com/en.html for more information.

RSP stands for Retail Service Provider. They are 'market making' institutions, which means they quote prices at which they will buy and sell a given quantity of shares in an individual company.

The price per share you will get when you sell your shares.

The price per share you would pay if you want to buy shares.

A corporate action refers to any alteration to a company's share capital or a distribution of benefits. A corporate action might come about as a result of a takeover or merger, capital reorganisation, dividend or rights issue.

A dividend is the cash sum paid periodically to shareholders as a distribution of a company's profits.

The PTM Levy is a flat rate charge of £1.00 collected on all UK trades over £10,000 to finance the Panel on Takeovers and Mergers (PTM).

The Irish Takeover Panel Levy (ITP Levy) is a flat-rate levy of €1.25 collected on all trades over €12,500.

A contract note is a document confirming details of your transaction; this is sent to you each time you have bought or sold shares that confirms the details of your transaction including any commission charges. You should keep them for capital gains tax purposes.

The Price/Earnings ratio (P/E) is derived by dividing the current share price by its earnings per share (itself calculated by dividing the historic earnings figure by the number of shares in issue). The P/E figure shows how many years of earnings it would take to equal the current share price.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is the single statutory regulator responsible for regulating investment business, deposit taking and insurance in the UK. Link Market Services Trustees Limited is authorised and regulated by the FCA. See www.fca.org.uk/register for more information.