Many preference shares, however, are cumulative preference shares, which means that if the profits in any year are insufficient to provide their dividend, the stipulated rate must be made up out of succeeding profits before the ordinary shareholders can receive anything. In the case of preference shares which are not cumulative, each year is complete in itself. They may be entitled to 4 per cent., but if the profits of the year suffice to pay only 3 per cent., that is all they get. Even if the profits of the next year are so good as to enable the payment of the full 4 per cent. dividend on the preference shares, and 2 per cent. or even 5 per cent. on the ordinary shares, the preference shares receive only their 4 per cent., because they are not cumulative. If they were cumulative, they would receive 5 per cent. to make up for the 1 per cent. lacking in the preceding year, and the ordinary dividend would be reduced accordingly. Of course, there may be first, second, and third preference shares, cumulative or non-cumulative, just as there can be different series of debentures, one ranking after another. It will be seen that while the dividend on preference shares is more certain than that on the ordinary shares of a company, it is at the same time limited, whereas the dividend on the ordinary shares is only limited by the profit-earning capacity of the company. In the case of a well-established and prosperous concern, therefore, the price of the ordinary shares may be very much higher than the price of the preference shares ranking before them. In such a company the preference shares may receive a certain 4 per cent., while the ordinary shares may receive 10 per cent., which, although by no means so certain, may be certain enough for all practical purposes. In the case of many companies, of course, the dividend on the ordinary shares varies considerably year by year, and the price of the shares accordingly fluctuates widely.