G32 - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; GoodwillReturn

The article examines the market valuation approach using industry market multiples as this method has recently attracted increasing interest from appraisers. It investigates whether constructing one’s own industry market multiples for company valuation which are based on a market approach provides better results than using Damodaran’s market multiples in terms of the resulting valuation accuracy. The study uses a sample of 162 German companies publicly traded in 2010–2019 and analyses some of the most frequently adopted multiples: EV/EBITDA, P/BV and P/E. Moreover, the presented results may guide the appraisers in selecting the most appropriate valuation approach. Based on the statistical error analysis, the results prove better valuation accuracy of the own-built market multiples compared to Damodaran’s multiples. Nevertheless, this study is limited to German listed companies and should not be relied upon with respect to other European markets. Furthermore, its scope is limited to only 15 industries which are listed by Damodaran and subsequently included in the test sample.

A number of indicators can be assessed for a company’s financial health, with indebtedness indicators being one of the important ones. The formation of the financial structure is influenced by a huge number of factors. The subject of this research is the indebtedness of companies in the Transportation and storage industry. The companies come from the V4 countries, Austria, Bulgaria, Slovenia, and Romania, between 2010 and 2018. In total 25,246 companies are analysed according to their size for medium and large companies. The aim of the research is to find out whether profitability, liquidity, asset structure, non-debt tax shield, GDP growth rate, reference interest rate, and inflation rate affect the level of total, long-term and short-term debt. The main finding is that corporate debt is significantly affected (measured by the value of coefficients) by non-corporate determinants and specifically the development of the reference interest rate. However, if we look at the most numerous determinants, it is profitability. Companies in the selected industry should focus primarily on the various forecasts within the external environment of the company and include them in their analyses when financing their activities.

It is generally acknowledged that one of the risks faced by any company is FX risk, especially when the business operates internationally. For individual companies, exposure to FX risk results in different financial implications, stressing such parameters as the industry affiliation and the company’s size with respect to the level of FX risk exposure. In this paper we analyse how FX exposure of companies of different size and operating in industrial and service sectors affects their stock market returns. Using the panel regression with macroeconomic and companies’ specific factors for 208 European companies analysed over the period 2012–2018, we show that the link between changes in the exchange rate and the stock return is statistically significant and that medium-size companies as well as firms operating in the service sector of economy are more exposed to this impact.

This paper investigates the implications and effectiveness of Basel III leverage requirements for the banking sector in the Czech Republic and its comparison with the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region. We discuss the relationships between the leverage and capital ratios and analyse their constraining effects and cyclical qualities. The empirical analysis consists of examination of the correlation patterns between the leverage and capital ratio in relation to the changes in the business cycles. We propose an empirical model that allows testing how the leverage ratios and their variables respond to the changes in the economic cycles of the CEE region. The analysis of correlation patterns among the variables suggests that the total assets or exposure in contrast to the Tier 1 capital are the main contributors to the cyclical movements. The regression analysis shows that the leverage ratio in normal times is strongly pro-cyclical to the capital ratio and counter-cyclical in the crisis period. The empirical evidence indicating the active balance sheet management in response to the cyclical changes advocates in favour of constraining regulations on the leverage.

Young, high growth internet/online companies are an attractive topic for market analysts and hot shots of Initial Private Offerings. At the same time, it is very complicated to provide a robust valuation for such companies, as shown by often unpredictable paths of share prices, resulting in the dot.com bubble burst in the past. This paper aims to explain why traditional valuation techniques fail to identify the value of a company with a fair degree of probability and tries to identify new metrics reported by managerial accounting that should be included in the valuation procedure. Assuming the condition of technological interchangeability of processes and practices, the presented paper concludes that using the New Economy specific metrics, such as traffic and various conversion factors explaining top-line traffic monetization, it is possible to adopt a conventional valuation technique, i.e. the DCF, with a very high degree of confidence for the incremental revenue and profit estimations. The interchangeability is also a proof of an innovative potential of the newly introduced technologies and explains the high frequency of strategic acquisitions on this market. Needless to say, the key information sources for valuation of companies under consideration are not financial statements, but managerial records instead, especially web analytics and search algorithm entries.

One of the elements of company´s evaluation is an analysis of bankruptcy risk metrics. In this study, the accuracy of bankruptcy predictions generated by EBITDA-based and cash flow-based liabilities-coverage ratios is evaluated within a sample of data from the Polish market. The study is based on a sample of 92 companies, in which case a bankruptcy filing was announced in a period between the beginning of 2009 and the end of the first half of 2016. The statistical analysis has confirmed the usefulness of the investigated liabilities-coverage ratios. Even though the sample covers wide variety of businesses, the logit models with only one ratio used as an explanatory variable are capable of identifying bankrupt firms (with one-period-ahead forecast horizon) in about 66-76% of cases. However, this research has not confirmed the supremacy of operating cash flows over EBITDA in predicting financial distress.

The paper deals with payment discipline in the building industry in the Czech Republic. The aim of this paper is to identify, compare and evaluate the financial situation of building companies with different payment practices in the Czech Republic in the period 2010 - 2014. The paper uses enterprise and statistical methods. The payment discipline of companies is expressed by a payment index, which is constructed by Bisnode. The results are based on analysis of 1374 companies which are operated in the building industry. The analysis shows that payment habits increase with higher index IN05, Taffler's model, index IN99 and with larger size of the firms. Payment habits of building companies are very good. However, about 2 % of solvent companies have poor payments habits.

One of the elements of company's evaluation is ratio analysis. It includes computation of bankruptcy risk metrics. There are multiple such measures, of which two seem to be quite universal and commonly applied. These are current ratio and indebtedness ratio. In this study, the accuracy of bankruptcy predictions based on these two ratios is evaluated within a sample of data from the Polish market. Also, the safety thresholds (meant as values at which the probability of bankruptcy exceeds fifty percent) are estimated. The study is based on a sample of 84 companies, in which case a bankruptcy filing was announced in a period between the beginning of 2009 and the end of the first half of 2015. This sample of bankrupt firms is compared to the counter-sample of companies in which case no any bankruptcy filing occurred. The statistical analysis has confirmed the usefulness of both ratios. Even though the sample covers wide variety of businesses, the logit models with only one ratio used as an explanatory variable are capable of identifying bankrupt firms in about 70-73% of cases. Our research has also shown that the estimated safety thresholds lie near the typically assumed "rules of thumb".

This paper investigates the relationship between growth rate and shareholder value creation, using a sample of 243 non-financial Standard and Poor's 500 (S&P500) companies, which have 22 years of consecutive data available (1993-2014). Sustainable Growth Rate Model (SGR) is used to divide the sample into two groups as high growth firms and moderate growth firms. Using Panel data approach, it is shown that sales growth below sustainable growth rate (SGR) enhance shareholder value at a significantly higher rate compared to growth above sustainable growth rate. The findings suggest that shareholder value creation maximizes around sustainable growth rate and decreases sharply once SGR exceeded.

This paper analyses the foreign exchange rate exposure of Hungarian firms and its determinants on the basis of corporate cash flows and stock prices. The analysis focuses on the HUF/EUR exchange rate using monthly data from 2000 - 2014, resp. 2003 - 2012 in case of cash flow analysis. Stock prices exposure analysis showed that significant number of these firms is exposed: 18.4 % of publicly listed companies were significantly exposed in period 2007 - 2014 which is significantly higher than in previous period. According to the cash flow analysis results, 34 % of firms are exposed, whilst 45.3 % of small firms are significantly exposed. The measuring of exchange rate risk and hedging is therefore crucial for reduction of the firms' uncertainty. Cross-sectional analysis suggests that the turnover and foreign sales are also important determinants of firms' exchange rate exposure.

Market situation and business environment of construction companies influence significantly decisions met by this group of entities. These decisions are reflected in financial statements, later on. The evaluation of financial condition, which aims at diagnosing corporate crisis, must not disregard a market situation. Taking this assumption into account a classification of publicly quoted construction companies using k-means method was conducted. This procedure enabled to divide the examined sample into five clusters of companies characterized by 'the best', 'good', 'acceptable', 'weak' and 'the poorest' financial condition. The application of the aforementioned algorithm helped also to determine levels of financial ratios typical for each cluster. This kind of analytical approach is particularly useful for investors, since it informs how particular companies perform in comparison to their competitors.

Fisheries are an important economic sector in the EU subject to an important restructuring in the most recent years. The Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (FIFG) has been the tool deployed by the European authorities to increase the competitiveness and to modernize this industry. As far as Spain is concerned, it has been verified that it is the European country receiving more funds in the recent years. The aim of this paper is to examine the financial situation of the Spanish fisheries firms, determining their indebtedness, solvency, and profitability. We also analyse if those firms included in the Fisheries sector show differences statistically significant. Along the same lines, one of the aims of the study is to carry out an analysis of the financial needs of these firms, considering the extent to which the European funds received along the latest years may have helped Fisheries the industry in Spain.