The standard concerning the impairment testing for goodwill is often considered to be one of the most difficult standards in IFRS to comply with, which is largely due to the subjective and complex nature of the standard. Despite, the obvious issues with the standard it has remained fairly unaltered since its implementation back in 2005. The purpose of this research was to investigate to what extent companies listed on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm comply with the disclosure requirements in IAS 36, paragraph 134. This research also intended to answer whether there is an association between the companies’ compliance level and certain company characteristics, more specifically company size, profitability, goodwill intensity and industry type. The study also considered how time affected the compliance level. We devised hypotheses for each of the company characteristics, and these were formulate with both previous research and theory in mind. The theories that were utilized in this study were the agency theory, the political cost theory and the cost-benefit theory. The hypotheses that lacked a concrete linkage to one of the theories were instead justified using the reasoning’s found in pre-existing disclosure studies. The necessary data was collected from companies’ annual reports, which we accessed from either Business Retriever or directly from the companies’ official websites. An own interpretation of IAS 36, paragraph 134 was made in order to able to assess each company on equal terms. The collected data was then transferred to a disclosure index in order to get a compliancy score for each company investigated. The empirical findings of this research showed that two out of five hypotheses were significantly associated with the companies’ compliance level. The analysis rejected hypotheses related to profitability, goodwill intensity and industry type. The findings however showed that both year and company size are associated with the compliance level. The positive association between compliance and year, implies that compliance increases as companies get more accustomed to the standard. The findings further suggest that larger companies comply better with standard because they are under more political pressure and more inclined to please their stakeholders.

This paper examines the stock performance around initiation announcements of open market share repurchase programs, the price impact of repurchase trading and the long-run abnormal stock performance following the initiation announcements in a European regulatory framework. The study uses a unique dataset on initiation announcements and actual repurchases conducted by firms listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange during the period 2000-2009. The results show that initiation announcements of open market repurchase programs exhibit a two-day abnormal return of approximately 2%. The price impact on the actual repurchase days is positively correlated with the daily repurchase volume, and is both statistically and economically significant during the first 3 repurchase days in a repurchase program. The long-run abnormal stock performance is positively associated with the fraction of shares bought in the program and is approximately 7% the first year following the initiation announcement. The results indicate that repurchase trading provides price support and that the market participants detect and perceive the initiation announcement and the first repurchase days in a repurchase program as a signal of undervaluation. / <p>QC 20130515</p>

We examine differences in market performance of Swedish firms that initiate repurchase programs infrequently (1-2 programs), occasionally (3-4 programs) and frequently (5 or more programs) over the period 2000-2009, and examine the relationship between abnormal return and repurchase size in repurchase months. We find that infrequent repurchase programs are greeted with a stronger positive reaction than occasional and frequent programs. However, over long term, infrequent repurchase programs show no abnormal return while occasional and frequent repurchase programs show a significant positive abnormal return. A positive relationship between abnormal return and repurchase size in repurchase months is documented on average for all types of repurchase programs. / <p>QC 20130515</p>

We examine the market liquidity impact of open market share repurchases in a computerized order driven market. Using a detailed dataset of daily repurchase transactions on the Stockholm Stock Exchange together with intraday data on bid-ask spreads and order depths enable us to examine liquidity effects on the actual repurchase days. Overall, we find that repurchase trades inside the order driven trading system contributes to market liquidity through narrower bid-ask spreads and deeper market depths. After controlling for total trading volume, price, and volatility we still find a significant decrease of the bid-ask spread on repurchase days relative to surrounding non-repurchase days. However, repurchases executed as block trades outside the order driven trading system have a detrimental effect on the bid-ask spread, consistent with a negative response to the presence of informed managerial trading. / <p>QC 20130515</p>

With contribution of Modigliani and Miller in 1958, capital structure has attained animportant place in finance field. The path breaking contribution has stimulated subsequentresearchers to put emphasis on this topic. Therefore, other theories and researches have beenrevealed and many aspects have been included to capital structure studies so far. However, it has always been controversial topic and the consensus has not been reached yet. Nevertheless,there are many important theories and hypotheses, which explain and investigate this topicvery well such as agency cost theory, trade-off theory, pecking order theory, signalling theory,efficiency-risk hypothesis and franchise-value hypothesis. When we reviewed the literature and extended our understanding of these theories andhypotheses, we found that the relationship between capital structure and firm performance isinteresting aspect and worthwhile to research. Therefore, we started an extensive literaturereview and found a research gap, which is the relationship between capital structure and afirm's financial performance from the perspective of capital structure theories in the Swedishcontext during the period 2002-2011. Since researchers investigate the relationship betweencapital structure and firm performance in many different countries and there is nothing in theSwedish context, we thus decided to write the thesis about it. Accordingly, our study began with discussing the problem background. We also stated theresearch question, the objectives, and the expected contribution to clarify the scope ofresearch. After that, we present the existing theories regarding capital structure and providetheir interplay with firm performance. After we constituted research question and reviewed literature, we knew what kind of data weneeded to utilize. Therefore, we started to search the best database provider for our study. Asa result, we decided on using Thomson Reuter’s database, DataStream. The study sampleincluded 174 non-financial Swedish firms listed on Nasdaq OMX (Stockholm StockExchange). We used ordinary least squares regression analysis over a period of ten years from2002 to 2011. After we collected the data, we imported it to SPSS and ran regression anddescriptive analysis. According to our empirical findings and analysis, we identify that there is a significantnegative relationship between capital structure and firm performance of listed Swedish firms.In other words, the financial performance of Swedish listed firms for the past decade isnegatively influenced by its leverage ratio. In practical terms, the more debt in relation toassets that firm takes in to finance its operations, the worse does the firm perform financially.When we elaborated our investigation and looked at each industry, we found no differencefrom the general results when dividing the Swedish firms into four major industry categories.However, health care industry has a different relationship. With this study, we provide further evidence about the interplay between capital structure andfinancial performance and make a contribution both to theory regarding capital structure andfinancial performance as well as giving practical insight for Swedish CFO’s and CEO’s.

No description available.

Aktieåterköp är ett fenomen som indikerar undervärdering av ett bolag och har historiskt lett till en positiv avvikelseavkastning vid offentliggörandet. Diskretionära periodiseringars påverkan vid offentliggörandet av aktieåterköp är inte lika undersökt. I denna uppsats undersöks diskretionära periodiseringars påverkan på avvikelseavkastningen vid offentliggörandet av aktieåterköp på den svenska marknaden från 2010 till 2019. Urvalet består av 25 observationer för att bestämma diskretionära periodiseringars roll vid den initiala marknadsreaktionen. Resultatet för studien visar en positiv avvikelseavkastning vid offentliggörandet av aktieåterköp vilket går i linje med tidigare forskning. Regressionsanalysen visar ingen kortsiktig effekt vid offentliggörandet av diskretionära periodiseringar. Slutsatsen är att diskretionära periodiseringar inte har en signifikant kortsiktig effekt på avvikelseavkastningen vid offentliggörande av aktieåterköp på den svenska marknaden under perioden.

This paper explores how the five largest trading venues in the Nordic region compete after theimplementation of MiFID in November 2007. I investigate: (1) if NASDAQ OMX’s market sharehas increased post the introduction of major changes to its market structure, and (2) how anexchange operator can attract equity share order flow in the near future. By applying event studiesto NASDAQ OMX’s market share over time, I find that introducing a faster trading system andadmitting a high frequency trading firm as a member both have a negative impact on NASDAQOMX’s market share. The reductions in market share can be explained by high frequency tradingfirms’ trading behaviour. Introducing central counterparty clearing has a positive effect onNASDAQ OMX’s market share, which highlights market participants’ appreciation of a securetrading environment, and confirms that it is not only posting the best bid and ask quotes thatattracts order flow to an exchange. It can be concluded that NASDAQ OMX in the future needs toaddress an important trade-off between total turnover and market share, as the two are not alwayspositively correlated.

Background: In financial markets, decisions to buy or sell securities are highly influenced by the aim of making a profit and avoiding losses. The signals that insider transactions send to external investors can significantly impact those decisions. The signals can differ depending on the type of transaction, within which sector, and the company's size. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to investigate whether insider transactions employ a more potent influence when buying or selling stocks. A partial purpose is distinguishing between small- and mid-cap stocks and between the technology and industrial sectors on the Nasdaq Stockholm Stock Exchange. Methodology: A quantitative approach was utilised with the event Study model. Hypotheses were constructed, and statistical tests in STATA were conducted to determine if the results were significant. The insider trading that was analysed took place between 2018-2023. Thirty-one companies are in the industrial sector, and twenty-eight are in the technology sector, with 3601 insider transactions employed. Conclusion: The results showed the existence of signalling effects and the possibility of achieving abnormal returns, especially if shorting when insiders are selling, particularly technology stocks, with the most prominent returns from mid-cap firms. However, the results contradict most previous research proposing that purchase transactions yield higher abnormal returns and have a more substantial signalling effect.

Bakgrund: Relationen mellan avkastning och risk har länge varit debatterad. Den klassiska modellen Capital Asset Pricing Model, CAPM, är en av standardmodellerna inom finans. CAPM har dock brister och kompenserar inte investerare för den företagsspecifika risken som tas. Senare forskning har visat på att det är den företagsspecifika risken som utgör den största delen av total aktierisk och har fortsatt att öka under de tre senaste decennierna. Detta medför att det finns ett intresse att undersöka och analysera sambandet mellan den interna risken som företag har och den aktievolatilitet som återfinns på marknaden. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka och analysera sambandet mellan företags interna risk i form av nyckeltal och aktievolatilitet på svenska noterade bolag på Nasdaq OMX Stockholm under perioden 2007 till 2018. Studien kommer att specifikt undersöka sambandet mellan två typer av risk; finansiell risk och operationell risk. Metod: För att uppnå syftet med studien har en deduktiv ansats och en kvantitativ metod tillämpats för att undersöka och analysera två dataset bestående av aktievolatilitet och nyckeltal baserad på data från kvartalsrapporter. Studien har använt en obalanserad paneldata av kort karaktär. Resultat: Studiens resultat tyder på att omkring hälften av aktievolatilitet kan förklaras av den interna risken. Intressant är att resultaten även indikerar att investerare värderar den finansiella och operationella risken som lika värdefulla vid bedömningen av den interna risken. Författarnas slutsats blir att den företagsspecifika risken har en relativt stor påverkan på aktievolatilitet och att det är värt i framtiden att diskutera hur investerare adekvat ska kompenseras för den faktiskt tagna risken. / Background: A long debated area within financial theory is the relationship between risk and return. The classic Capital Asset Pricing Model, CAPM, has long been the preferred model within finance. CAPM is however not without its flaws and do not compensate the investors for the idiosyncratic risk that is taken. Recent research has suggested that it is the idiosyncratic risk that is the main driver of the total risk in stock volatility, and that the impact of this risk have continued to increase over the last three decades. Considering this, it is of interest to examine and analyze the relationship between the internal risk of companies and the stock volatility reflected on the market. Aim: The aim of this study is to examine and analyze the effect the internal risk, in the form of key ratios, has on stock volatility on Swedish public companies listed on Nasdaq OMX Stockholm during the time period of 2007 to 2018. The study will especially focus on two types of internal risk; financial risk and operational risk. Methodology: This study has used a deductive approach and a quantitative methodology to fulfill the aim of the study. The study has used an unbalanced panel data of short character to examine and analyze the datasets consisting of stock volatility and data retrieved from quarterly reports. Results: The results indicate that approximately half of the stock volatility can be attributed to the internal risk. The results further indicate that investors value the financial and operational risk equally when assessing the internal risk in the company. The authors conclusion from the study is that the idiosyncratic risk has a relatively large effect on stock volatility and that a future discussion, about the compensation investors receive is adequate to the actual risk that is taken, is needed.