Nedskrivningsprövning av goodwill - En studie av de WACC antaganden som gjordes av svenska noterade bolag under åren 2007-2009:

Sammanfattning: PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the companies on Nasdaq OMXS Large and Mid Cap to see if there are interesting patterns regarding their WACC assumptions, used when performing impairment tests on goodwill, during 2007-2009. If so, can we explain these patterns? MethodWe have gathered information about the WACC assumptions presented in the annual reports of the 133 companies that were listed on OMXS Large and Mid Cap during the spring of 2011. To complement this quantitative information we have also conducted an interview with Peter Malmqvist and contacted eight of the companies that were in the study.ConclusionWe can conclude that not all companies present their WACC assumptions in the annual report, even though IAS 36 states that this should be done. Of the 45 companies that were included in our study, eight had lowered their WACC during 2008 and increased it in 2009. We were not able to find explanations that justify these patterns, and when contacting the eight companies only two of them replied. The answers from those two companies showed a discrepancy from what they had written in their own annual reports or stood in direct contrast to general consensus in terms of the development of the market risk premium during 2008. Earnings management, which can include management not providing the market with important information, is one of the theories that has been used to explain the behavior of the companies in our study.