DEGREE OF FINANCIAL LEVERAGE DFL

A leverage ratio summarizing the affect a particular amount of financial leverage has on a company's earnings per share (EPS). Financial leverage involves using fixed costs to finance the firm, and will include higher expenses before interest and taxes (EBIT). The higher the degree of financial leverage, the more volatile EPS will be, all other things remaining the same. The formula is as follows:

Most likely, the firm under evaluation will be trying to optimize EPS, and this ratio can be used to help determine the most appropriate level of financial leverage to use to achieve that goal.