From Longman Business Dictionaryreservesre‧serves /rɪˈzɜːvz-ɜːr-/ noun [plural]1FINANCE a company’s profits from previous periods of time that have not been paid to shareholdersThey have invested their reserves very conservatively.It may dip into (=use part of) its cash reserves of $800 million to pay the company in cash.2American EnglishACCOUNTING amounts kept aside by a company in its accounts to be used if needed. The amount a company has in reserves has to be taken away when calculating profit for a particular period of timeThe company had a loss of $15.2 million, or 74 cents a share, after setting up reserves to reflect property depreciation (=falls in the value of property it owned).3 (also bank reserves)FINANCEBANKING money held by a bank and used to pay out money to customers when they ask for it. The amount that must be kept in this way is decided by governmentThe Bank of Japan slashed by 40% the reserves banks must keep at the central bank.4an amount of something valuable such as oil, gas etcPetroleum reserves now amount to the equivalent of 142 days’ supply.The company needs to focus on building its coal and copper reserves. → proven reserves → see also capitalization of reserves
