CapEx (Capital Expenditure)

“CapEx” (also “CAPEX” or “capex”) stands for “capital expenditure” or “capital expense.” “OpEx” (also “OPEX” and “opex”) stands for “operational expenditure” or “operational expense” or “operating expenditure” or “operating expense.”  CapEx is the irregular expense for capital improvements; OpEx is the regular expense for running operations.
 
Both “CapEx” and “OpEx” have been cited in print since at least 1987.
   
   
Wikipedia: Capital expenditure
Capital expenditures (CAPEX or capex) are expenditures creating future benefits. A capital expenditure is incurred when a business spends money either to buy fixed assets or to add to the value of an existing fixed asset with a useful life extending beyond the taxable year.
 
Usage
CAPEX are used by a company to acquire or upgrade physical assets such as equipment, property, or industrial buildings.[1] In the case when a capital expenditure constitutes a major financial decision for a company, the expenditure must be formalized at an annual shareholders meeting or a special meeting of the Board of Directors. In accounting, a capital expenditure is added to an asset account (“capitalized”), thus increasing the asset’s basis (the cost or value of an asset adjusted for tax purposes). CAPEX is commonly found on the cash flow statement under “Investment in Plant, Property, and Equipment” or something similar in the Investing subsection.
 
Google Books
Modular Subsea Production Systems
By Society for Underwater Technology (SUT)
London: Graham & Trotman Limited
1987
Pg. 147:
The merits of each combination will then be assessed against several economic criteria which will involve consideration of capex, opex, expenditure phasing, availability etc., but also a judgement (often subjective) will be made as to the technical risk.
   
Google Books
Reliability Achievement: The Commercial Incentive:
Proceedings of the 10th Annual Symposium of the Society of Reliability engineers, Scandinavian Chapter, held at Stavanger, Norway, 9-11 October 1989
By Terje Aven; Society of Reliability Engineers. Scandinavian Chapter. Symposium
London: Elsevier Applied Science
1989
Pg. 3:
capital expenditures (capex)
operational expenditures (opex)
(...)
The main cost elements considered in Troll life cycle cost evaluations are: capital expenditures (capex) operational expenditures (opex) production output.
 
OCLC WorldCat record
Privatization-Increased Capex, Higher Prices, Tougher Regulations
Publisher: Denver, CO : American Water Works Association, c1975-
Edition/Format:   Article : English
Publication: Proceedings / (1993): 455
Database: ArticleFirst
 
OCLC WorldCat record
CapEx : a study of capital expenditures in the US hotel industry.
Author: International Society of Hospitality Consultants.
Publisher: Memphis, Tenn. : International Society of Hospitality Consultants, ©1995.
Edition/Format:   Book : English
 
OCLC WorldCat record
Surveying to Reduce the Capex and Opex of Subsea Operations
Author: C Mott
Edition/Format:   Article : English
Publication: SPECIAL PUBLICATION- HYDROGRAPHIC SOCIETY, 37, (1997): 5
Database: British Library Serials
 
OCLC WorldCat record
Subsea pig launcher option - Machar deployment, like other applications on marginal or deepwater fields, rationalizes CAPEX, OPEX costs.
Publisher: Tulsa, OK : PennWell Company, 1993-
Edition/Format:   Article : English
Publication: Offshore. 58, no. 4, (1998): 112
Database: ArticleFirst
 
Oil & Gas Journal
Iranian options most economically viable for exporting Caspian oil
03/17/2003
(...)
Oil pipeline costs include three categories: Capital expenditures (Capex), operating expenditures (Opex), and host country expenditures.
 
OCLC WorldCat record
Reduced capex reflected in higher opex
Edition/Format:   Article : English
Publication: TELECOM MARKETS, no. 453, (June 3, 2003): 5
Database: British Library Serials
   
Zero Hedge
Will CapEx Come Back?
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/11/2013 16:09 -0500
(...)
Today, we were happy to see that the issue of the disappearing CapEx - both in the US and globally - is the main topic of an analytical piece from UBS titled, simply enough, “Will capex come back?” And while we disagree with UBS, who has a more optimistic conclusion than ours, which we believe is a function of them incorrectly identifying the reason for plunging CapEx, we are happy that more and more strategists have narrowed down what is without doubt the main hurdle to promoting a true, sustainable corporate recovery, instead of one where the only EPS beats are driven from one-time restructuring charges (which are now recurring on a quarterly basis), non-cash items, and most of all, even more layoffs of workers: something which in turn continues to eat away at the heart of any given economy, forcing even more monetary intervention, and even more CapEx spending cuts.