Hi Mark,

Do a search of the archives -- this is a common financial term and has already been the subject of inquiries, with responses including "like for like" among others. Good luck.

Steve

French term (edited): � p�rim�tre constant, � p�im�tre courant, � donn�es constantes

Mark, I feel sure that Sara has hit the nail on the head as far as 'périmètre constant / données constantes' is concerned; however, as suggested in my peer comment, and based on your given context, I think they are specifically differentiating here the 'périmètre courant' situation, BY CONTRAST WITH the 'périmètre courant'

The way I read it, they are saying that 'with movable goalposts', the apparent growth is 36%, but when you actually compare on a true like-for-like basis, the real growth is in fact only 4% --- lying with statistics, as usual!

It's difficult to suggest a more defined term without knowing the rest of the context; just WHAT is being compared with WHAT? I suspect your terms might have slightly different renderings in EN, depending on this wider context.

For example, one store might have a hugely increased turnover figure, but hiding a large amount of investment; if you looked at the nett margin instead of the gross, the growth figure might be less impressive. Or if you are comparing different sized stores, with different overheads... See what I mean?

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Note added at 45 mins (2005-09-26 12:31:04 GMT)
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'courant' here is probably 'current', as 'on a/the current basis' -- could be 'the current year', or many other things...

Do note, however, that in financial contexts, 'courant' also sometimes means 'running', as in 'a running average', and even sometimes 'rolling'...