Performance e qualidade da informação

: o caso das empresas em processo especial de revitalização

Abstract

In 2012 the Portuguese Republic Assembly approved the introduction of a support mechanist to aid Portuguese companies in near-insolvency conditions to restructure their debt and sustain their activity. This mechanism, entitled Processo Especial de Revitalização (PER), was introduced in the Portuguese Insolvency Code (Código das Insolvências e Recuperação das Empresas) and is one of the main measures adopted to reduce the overall insolvency level in Portugal. The present study aims to find differences in the financial position and performance of companies that are going through the PER. For that goal, several financial ratios regarding Liquidity, Leverage, Profitability and Efficiency were compared between the companies that are in PER and a control group (selected by industry and total assets). The second issue to be discussed is the existence, as pointed by previous literature, of earnings management practices by the group of companies in PER. Previous studies by Jaggi & Lee (2002) and Ahmed & Salah (2005) point to the existence of such practice in companies that are involved in debt restructuring processes. The performed analysis shows that, firstly, there are significant differences between the evolution of the financial ratios of companies in PER and the control group and, secondly, that there are signs pointing towards the existence of income reducing earnings management practices by companies in PER, although further research and evidence must be obtained to strengthen our conclusions.

Date of Award	9 Jul 2018
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Ricardo Cunha (Supervisor) & Paulo Alves (Supervisor)