Reporting of financial ratios by (Polish) public companies

Abstract

The article is the result of an original empirical study and complements the cognitive gap in existing studies on the reporting of financial indicators – no comparisons have been made so far between different types of messages. The purpose of the article is to identify and compare the scope of voluntary disclosures of financial ratios in the announcements of public companies included in the WIG20 index. The study includes the analysis the content of messages posted by companies on websites, such as financial statements, annual report, auditor's report, letter of the president to shareholders, presentation of results for investors, spreadsheet with financial data and data published directly on the website. In total, 106 messages were examined. Content analysis, descriptive and comparative analysis, and the induction method were used. As a result of the conducted research, it was found that selected financial indicators (out of a total of 22 reported indicators in the surveyed population) are presented in various messages, while companies make different choices regarding the type of indicators, place of publication and calculation formulas used. The EBITDA-based ratios were the most popular, which is a surprising finding.

Keywords

• financial ratio
• reporting
• investor relations
• accounting communication