Motives of mergers and acquisitions in the European public utilities: an empirical investigation of the wealth-anomaly

© 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the motivation and post-merger operating performance (OP) of European utility sectors following mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Design/methodology/approach: Motives behind M&A are examined by looking into the relationships between total gains, target gains and acquirer gains. Post-merger OP is measured by comparing the sample of European utilities with a matched portfolio based on size and market to book ratio with respect to five accounting indicators: growth in turnover, growth in earnings before interest and tax, return on assets, net profit margin and growth in fixed assets. Findings: Synergy is the primary motive for M&A in the European utility firms. This study also found that post-merger OP is negative and significant across all the five accounting indicators matched by size, and market to book ratio suggesting that utility mergers underperform in the long term. The findings suggest that gains accruing to utilities involved in acquisitions are short term in nature. Practical implications: Negative post-merger OP bears important policy implications as in future antitrust/competition authorities should be more vigilant before approving utility mergers. Originality/value: Public utilities possess several characteristics that are different from industrial firms and therefore need to be examined separately. Empirical literature on M&A is very limited on utilities. This study has addressed this gap by examining the motivation and post-merger OP of the European utility firms

Non-compliance, board structures and the performance of financial firms during crisis: UK Evidence

This paper examines the effectiveness of internal corporate governance mechanisms for improving the performance of financial firms in the UK. The research is first of its kind to look into the relationship between corporate governance and performance of financial firms in the UK before and during the financial crisis. Using Generalised Methods of Moments (GMM) estimates that control for dynamic endogeneity, this study shows that firm performance as measured by Total Shareholder Returns (TSR) and Return on Equity (ROE) is negatively associated with the level of non-compliance with the UK Corporate Governance Code. The study also finds that having higher number of internal controls is most effective monitoring mechanism and is positively associated with firm performance. However, board independence represented by the number of non-executive directs (NEDs) is the least effective monitoring mechanism and is negatively associated with the performance of firms. The study also shows that directors’ share ownership is an effective incentive mechanism for aligning their interests with shareholders as it is positively associated with firm performance. However, the findings suggest that remuneration is negatively associated with performance. Finally, the study provides evidence which indicates that board size impact the performance of firms differently in different time periods. As proposed by agency theory the study provides evidence that shows the positive impact of effective monitoring and incentive alignment for performance. It also provides support for the resource dependence view that directors are a critical resource during difficult economic times

Post Privatisation Operating and Financial Performance of Newly Privatised Firms: Evidence From Pakistan

This study investigates post privatisation operating and financial performance of newly privatised firms in Pakistan. The sample consists of fifteen firms privatised in the period 2002 - 2008. Operating performance of newly privatised firms in this study is measured over a four year period including the year of privatisation. The three years trend of post privatisation operating performance is compared to operating performance in the year of privatisation. Financial performance is measured using buy-and-hold abnormal returns (BHAR). Results of the study show that post privatisation, profitability, efficiency and pay out increases, while leverage decreases for more than 50% of the sample firms. The results also indicate that firms privatised through different methods of privatisation show different trends in post privatisation operating performance. Findings regarding the post privatisation financial performance show that BHAR are negative for all of the sample firms over the three years horizon, while different methods used to privatise state owned enterprises (SOEs) does not affect post privatisation BHARs of newly privatised firms

Internal Corporate Governance Mechanisms and the Performance of Firms in the Context of the Recent Financial Crisis: Evidence From the UK

Various theories that underpin corporate governance research predict that strong internal corporate governance mechanisms enhance the operating and financial performance of firms. These theories also predict that strong internal corporate governance mechanisms would increase firms’ chances of survival during a financial crisis. This thesis tests these theoretical claims and makes a contribution by analysing the underlying governance-performance relationship from multiple theoretical perspectives (i.e. agency theory, stewardship theory and resource dependence theory) across three time periods. Adopting an index-based approach, the thesis investigates the impact of non-compliance with the UK corporate governance code on the performance of firms. The thesis also contributes to methodological approaches in this context by investigating the impact of non-compliance on the survival of firms during the financial crisis. Applying fixed and random effects models, a sample of 274 UK listed firms is analysed for the period 2003-2010. The results show that non-compliance is, unexpectedly, positively associated with the performance of non-financial firms. This indicates that non-compliant firms outperformed compliant firms. However, although statistically not significant, the results also show that for non-financial firms, non-compliance decreases a firm’s chances of survival during the financial crisis. For financial firms the results are mixed for different measures of performance and across different time periods. The thesis extends knowledge of the governance-performance relationship by showing that non-compliance has different implications for firms across different time periods and industries. The thesis makes another contribution to knowledge by investigating the. relationship between individual corporate governance mechanisms and performance. In this regard, it makes three contributions. First, it shows that board independence is negatively associated with performance, which supports the stewardship theory. For non-financial firms as predicted by resource dependence theory board independence is positively associated with performance only in the crisis period. Second, it provides evidence that extra board committees are negatively associated with the performance of firms and renders support to the agency theory. Third, it shows that internal control mechanisms are positively associated with performance in the period before the financial crisis, but during the financial crisis they negatively affect the performance of firms in both financial and non-financial sectors. This finding supports the two alternative views from the agency theory perspective in this context. These results demonstrate the benefits of the ‘comply or explain’ principle of corporate governance which provides firms with a choice either to comply with the recommended codes or explain their non-compliance. The results also imply that the effect of various corporate governance mechanisms on the performance of firms varies between the financial and non-financial sectors. Finally, the results imply that the governance-performance relationship is very complex and could be better explained by adopting multiple theoretical perspectives rather than using a single theory to understand it

Enhancing Physical Layer Security in AF Relay Assisted Multi-Carrier Wireless Transmission

In this paper, we study the physical layer security (PLS) problem in the dual hop orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) based wireless communication system. First, we consider a single user single relay system and study a joint power optimization problem at the source and relay subject to individual power constraint at the two nodes. The aim is to maximize the end to end secrecy rate with optimal power allocation over different sub-carriers. Later, we consider a more general multi-user multi-relay scenario. Under high SNR approximation for end to end secrecy rate, an optimization problem is formulated to jointly optimize power allocation at the BS, the relay selection, sub-carrier assignment to users and the power loading at each of the relaying node. The target is to maximize the overall security of the system subject to independent power budget limits at each transmitting node and the OFDMA based exclusive sub-carrier allocation constraints. A joint optimization solution is obtained through duality theory. Dual decomposition allows to exploit convex optimization techniques to find the power loading at the source and relay nodes. Further, an optimization for power loading at relaying nodes along with relay selection and sub carrier assignment for the fixed power allocation at the BS is also studied. Lastly, a sub-optimal scheme that explores joint power allocation at all transmitting nodes for the fixed subcarrier allocation and relay assignment is investigated. Finally, simulation results are presented to validate the performance of the proposed schemes.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, accepted in Transactions on Emerging Telecommunications Technologies (ETT), formerly known as European Transactions on Telecommunications (ETT

Association of hypoadiponectemia with smokeless/dipping tobacco use in young men

Background: Low levels of adiponectin, an adipocytokine with anti-diabetic, antiatherogenic and cardioprotective properties, is associated with increased risk of coronary disease in young men. Previous studies have demonstrated that smokeless tobacco is linked with a reduction of plasma adiponectin levels. However, the influence of smokeless tobacco (dipping tobacco) on plasma adiponectin levels still remains unknown. This study was conducted to assess the plasma adiponectin levels in young men who were using dipping tobacco. Methods: This was a community based study, which consisted of 186 young lean healthy males aged 20 to 35 years. Among these, 96 men were dipping tobacco users (BMI = 23.07 ± 2.68) and 90 were non-dipping tobacco users (BMI = 23.67 ± 1.46). Serum adiponectin levels were assessed by Enzyme Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay (ELISA). Results: A statistically significant difference in the mean adiponectin level between tobacco dipper and non-dipper groups was observed (p = 0.0001). A significant difference between the two groups was also observed in baseline parameters including triglyceride and random blood sugar levels (p < 0.05). However, no significant difference was observed between the two groups in other clinical parameters. Conclusions: Findings of this study suggest that dipping tobacco use was significantly associated with low level of adiponetin in community dwelling young males. This emphasizes the importance of developing community intervention to reduce the use of dipping tobacco, which will reduce the tobacco associated disease burden in the community and will improve public health

Procjena različitih razina Bacillus sp. (HCYL03) fitaze u brojlera hranjenih obrocima na bazi kukuruza i soje s niskim udjelom nefitatnog fosfora

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the impact of various levels of phytase derived from Bacillus sp. (HCYL03) in corn-soy diets fed to broilers. Experimental treatments included a positive control (PC) with a calculated non-phytate phosphorus (nPP) level of 4.0g/kg for the 35 days of trial. The negative control (NC) diet included a reduction in nPP to 3.0g/kg during the experiment, and commercially available phytase (@500FTU/kg), as well as new bacterial phytase added to the NC diet in increasing amounts of 500, 800, and 1100FTU/kg. Treatment effects on growth performance, the apparent digestibility of P, tibia mineralization, and Ca and P status in blood plasma were evaluated on day 35. The NC diet decreased feed intake (P<0.05), body weight gain (BWG) (P<0.05), and improved feed conversion ratio (FCR) (P<0.05) compared to the PC. Phytase addition improved all growth parameters. Birds fed the NC diet displayed lower (P<0.05) digestibility of P, reduced (P<0.05) tibial mineralization, and decreased (P<0.05) P and Ca concentrations in blood plasma compared to birds fed the PC diet. Improvements in digestibility of P, tibia mineralization, and mineral contents in blood plasma were observed with phytase addition. High level inclusion of phytase (1100FTU/kg) yielded the greatest improvement in bird performance, nutrient digestibility, and bone mineralization in the NC group and low levels of phytase treatments. It may be concluded that inorganic P incorporated in the normal-nPP diet of chickens could be effectively replaced by a Bacillus sp. (HCYL03) phytase diet without any adverse effect on the performance and nutrient use of broilers.Cilj istraživanja bio je procijeniti utjecaj različitih razina fitaze izdvojene iz Bacillus sp. (HCYL03) i dodane u obroke od kukuruza i soje kojima se hrane brojleri. Istraživanje je uključilo pozitivnu kontrolu (PC) s izračunatom razinom nefitatnog fosfora (nPP) od 4,0 g/kg tijekom 35 dana trajanja istraživanja. Prehrana brojlera u negativnoj kontroli (NC) uključila je smanjenje nPP-a na 3,0 g/kg tijekom trajanja pokusa, komercijalno dostupnu fitazu (@500FTU/kg), kao i novu bakterijsku fitazu dodanu NC prehrani, u količini koja se povećavala na 500, 800 i 1100 FTU/kg. Učinci na rast, probavljivost fosfora, mineralizaciju tibije i razinu kalcija i fosfora u krvnoj plazmi procijenjeni su 35. dan pokusa. U skupini NC smanjeni su unos hrane (P<0,05) i prirast tjelesne mase (BWG) (P<0,05), dok je stopa konverzije hrane povećana (FCR) (P<0,05) u usporedbi sa skupinom PC. Dodatak fitaze pozitivno je utjecao na sve pokazatelje rasta. Brojleri u skupini NC pokazali su manju probavljivost fosfora (P<0,05), smanjenu mineralizaciju tibije (P<0,05) te smanjenu količinu fosfora i kalcija (P<0,05) u krvnoj plazmi u usporedbi s brojlerima iz skupine PC. Utvrđeno je da dodatak fitaze poboljšava probavljivost fosfora, mineralizaciju tibije i sadržaj minerala u krvnoj plazmi. Dodatak veće količine fitaze (1100 FTU/kg) rezultirao je najvećim poboljšanjem u istraženim svojstvima brojlera, probavljivosti hrane i mineralizaciji kosti u skupini NC. Zaključeno je da bi se anorganski fosfor uključen u uobičajenu nPP prehranu pilića mogao učinkovito zamijeniti Bacillus sp. (HCYL03) fitazom, bez štetnih učinaka na prehranu i svojstva brojlera

Quantitative Relationships between Circulating Leukocytes and Certain Enteric Bacterial Infection in Children with Acute Diarrhea

Various pathogenic microorganisms have been implicated as the cause of infectious diarrhea in children as a result of water and food contamination. The study's goal is to determine the reliability of complete blood count (CBC) in peripheral blood of children with acute diarrhea which infected by certain enteric bacteria, with an emphasis on leukocytes (WBCs). A study conducted to examine the pattern of bacterial distribution in children with acute diarrhea's stool, as well as the relationship between the presence of pathogenic bacteria in stool samples and the number of total WBCs and differential leukocyte count in peripheral blood. Samples size includes (76) of health none diarrhea and (174) diarrheal patients, statistical analysis revealed that co-infection by E. coli and Klebsiella sp. was significantly higher (P&lt;0.001) among children which suffered by diarrhea in compare to health individuals. In addition, the logistic regression shows co-infections and infections by Klebsiella sp. (OR: 29.44, 16.288 respectively) more likelihood leads to acute diarrhea compare to E. coli infection alone (P&lt;0.001). Neutrophils/ Lymphocyte ratio (NRL) was (2.412) times higher and neutrophils (1.069) times more in diarrheal group (P&lt;0.001), also the AUC for NRL was 0.833(sensitivity: 81.61 and specificity: 68.42), while for percent of neutrophils was less 0.671 (sensitivity: 46.24 and specificity: 85.71). Concluded that peripheral leukocyte count, particularly the NRL index, is helpful in children with acute diarrhea and additionally that the prevalence of diarrhea is altered by different bacterial infections