What is writing down?

This refers to the lowering of the book value of assets, such as real estate, machinery, or financial instruments, when their market value has fallen. A well-known example of this is the write-down of assets by banks during the financial crisis of 2007-2008, where significant write-downs were implemented on mortgage-related securities.

Write-downs can also occur with oil and gas reserves, such as when Royal Dutch Shell had to write down its proven oil reserves in 2004. In English, this process is often referred to as write-off or write-down.

In addition to lowering the value of assets, the term "write-down" can also be used in the context of investment recommendations, where analysts lower their advice for a share due to changed outlooks.