By the first half of the 1970s, an obligation for listed companies to provide financial reports that divided the full financial year into shorter periods, was in force in Italy. Given the considerable diffusion of tools of public participation in venture capital, the improvement of external information - business and financial statements which provide more frequent information on companies - is regarded as fundamental in enhancing the level of investor confidence (Breton, Taffler, 2001). This paper aims to empirically investigate the various levels of interim reports of the financial statements of some Italian and foreign companies. After briefly defining the theoretical scenario referring to interim disclosures and some critical aspects, a hypothesis framework to orient the investigation is presented. The reference sample used for the empirical analysis is made up of interim reports published by 40 Italian and foreign companies listed on the FTSE MIB, with are considered representative since they reflect all sectors of activity listed present. Some critical considerations emerged from the analysis. It was found that the majority of companies produce condensed information, choosing completeness rather than timeliness. In addition, most companies draw up quarterly reports following the less schematic provisions of the Issuers' Regulation. The last period over which the analysis is based is the first half of 2010 for the half-year and the first quarter of 2010 for the quarterly reports.

Informative value of the interim report of listed companies: theoretical and applied aspects

CENTORRINO, Giovanna;PANZINO, MONICA
2013-01-01

Abstract

By the first half of the 1970s, an obligation for listed companies to provide financial reports that divided the full financial year into shorter periods, was in force in Italy. Given the considerable diffusion of tools of public participation in venture capital, the improvement of external information - business and financial statements which provide more frequent information on companies - is regarded as fundamental in enhancing the level of investor confidence (Breton, Taffler, 2001). This paper aims to empirically investigate the various levels of interim reports of the financial statements of some Italian and foreign companies. After briefly defining the theoretical scenario referring to interim disclosures and some critical aspects, a hypothesis framework to orient the investigation is presented. The reference sample used for the empirical analysis is made up of interim reports published by 40 Italian and foreign companies listed on the FTSE MIB, with are considered representative since they reflect all sectors of activity listed present. Some critical considerations emerged from the analysis. It was found that the majority of companies produce condensed information, choosing completeness rather than timeliness. In addition, most companies draw up quarterly reports following the less schematic provisions of the Issuers' Regulation. The last period over which the analysis is based is the first half of 2010 for the half-year and the first quarter of 2010 for the quarterly reports.
2013
File in questo prodotto:
Non ci sono file associati a questo prodotto.
Pubblicazioni consigliate

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11570/2550050
 Attenzione

Attenzione! I dati visualizzati non sono stati sottoposti a validazione da parte dell'ateneo

Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus ND
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
social impact