Interest and investment income

Interest and investment income is what a company earns on the cash and investments it holds, such as interest on bank deposits and bonds and dividends on shares it owns.

Outside banking it usually sits below operating income, because earning a return on spare cash is not what the business exists to do. Keeping it separate lets you judge the core business on its own.

The size of this line follows two things: how much cash the company holds and the interest rate it earns on it. A company holding a lot of cash can see this line jump when rates rise without anything changing in the business, so check whether profit growth came from operations or from a higher return on idle cash.