preference

/ˈprefərəns/ adjective

Definition

› used to describe a company's shares that have the right to fixed dividends (= payments from profits) before the dividends on its ordinary shares are calculated and paid in a particular period, or in periods when dividends on these shares are not paid at all: Nokia is to increase its capital with about $100 million of new preference stock.

(Definition of preference adjective from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)