retained earnings
noun [ plural ]
ACCOUNTING, FINANCE ukus(also retained profit); (accumulated earnings); (accumulated retained earnings)the part of a company’s profit in a particular period that it decides to keep, rather than paying it to shareholders as a dividend:
PNC had retained earnings of $302 million that can be used to help make debt payments or be reinvested in the company.
Laing lowered its total dividend from 7.6p to 6.8p, which is being paid from accumulated earnings.
a retained earnings statement