Preference shares are shares in a company that are owned by people who have the right to receive part of the company's profits before the holders of ordinary shares are paid. Theyalso have the right to have their capital repaid if the company fails and has to close. Compare ordinary shares.
[British, business]regional note: in AM use preferred stock
preference shares in British English
plural noun
British and Australian
shares representing part of the capital issued by a company and entitling their holders to priority with respect to both net profit and net assets. Preference shares usually carry a definite rate of dividend that is generally lower than that declared on ordinary shares
US and Canadian name: preferred stock. Compare ordinary shares, preferred ordinary shares
Examples of 'preference shares' in a sentence
preference shares
`... A block of a thousand pounds of eight per cent priority preference shares, issued just for that purpose.