Vinstmått
En jämförelse av marknadens definitioner och antaganden rörande vinst
This thesis investigates whether it is accordance between the different profit measures in the financial market. The first aim of the thesis is to examine if it exists a difference between the profit measures that companies publish in their fourth quarter interim report and the measures that they state in their annual report, issued some months later. The second aim is to examine whether there is a divergence in definitions and the assumption regarding the risk of bankruptcy between profit measures published by companies and analysts. The study focuses on Swedish companies listed on the OMX Stockholm Large Cap and concerns the years of 2006 and 2007. The analysts interviewed are working in Sweden with listed Swedish companies. One of the major findings of the study is that it does not exists a divergence between the profit measures that companies report in their fourth quarter interim report and the measures that they state in their annual report. Hence, companies are not publishing false figures. The companies are though often indistinct in their definitions of the profit measures they choose to emphasize. It can also be concluded that, to some extent, there is a divergence between the definitions of profit used by companies and analysts. The assumption regarding the risk of bankruptcy of both parties are though in accordance since analysts tend to exclude that type of risk, a presumption that is indirectly stated when a surviving company issues a report. For investors, the main implication of the study is that to avoid incorrect comparisons, one has to be attentive regarding what definition of profit measure that are used in each specific case.