extraordinary item

An unusual and unexpected one-time event that must be explained to shareholders in an annual or quarterly report, e.g., write down for a discontinued operation, employee fraud, a lawsuit, or other one-time events. Results are often presented with and without these items. The logic of excluding these items is that investors have a better notion of future performance if one-time events are excluded. Differs from an unusual item in that extraordinary items are (1) material; (2) non-recurring; and (3) outside the ordinary nature of the business. Bloomberg Financial Dictionary

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Part of a company's profit and loss account. Items which are material, possess a high degree of abnormality, are not expected to recur and are derived from events or transactions outside of the ordinary activities of a company. Note that, because the definition of ordinary activities is extremely wide, it is extremely unlikely that a company will show an extraordinary item in its accounts in any one year. Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein financial glossary

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extraordinary item extraordinary item ➔ item

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   A non-recurring item which shows gains or losses outside normal business activities. An extraordinary item is shown in the profit and loss account and affects the balance sheet. It can be, for example, the sale of property or loss from selling part of the company.

   ► See also Exceptional Item.