Total comprehensive income

Total comprehensive income (résultat global) is the most complete measure of a company's wealth change over a period — comprising net income plus Other Comprehensive Income (OCI) items: foreign currency translation differences, fair value changes on financial instruments, actuarial gains/losses on pension obligations and cash flow hedges. Presented in the Statement of Comprehensive Income under IAS 1, it provides a fuller picture of equity value evolution than net income alone. In financial due diligence, OCI analysis reveals embedded market risks — FX exposure, pension risk, interest rate sensitivity — invisible in reported EBITDA.

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Example: a Franco-Swiss group reports net income of CHF 3.5 million but total comprehensive income of CHF 2.8 million — the CHF 700,000 OCI gap comprises CHF 400,000 of negative translation differences (GBP depreciation on UK subsidiary) and CHF 300,000 of FX hedge losses. These OCI items reduce reported equity but are non-cash — an important distinction for understanding the company's true operational performance versus market risk exposure.

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Hectelion decomposes total comprehensive income to distinguish sustainable operating performance from market risk-driven OCI in valuation and due diligence analysis.