Can Fundamental Analysis Support Shareholder Value In A Transitional Market? Perspectives From Egypt

This study examines the informativeness of fundamental financial information to three levels of shareholder value. In general, the results show that the fundamental financial information is quite informative to shareholders using the MB ratio as a measure of shareholder value. According to the sensitivity analysis, (1) the balance sheet items are not quite informative, (2) the income statement items are consistently informative to shareholders at the three classes, and (3) the financial ratios, as a form of co-integrated financial information, are quite informative to the high and low shareholder value classes. The results regarding the fundamental analysis indicate that (a) in the three levels of MB firms, investors are concerned with the short-term horizon, (b) in the low MB firms, the investors are concerned with the long-term horizon, (c) in the high and low MB firms, the operating and total expenses are regarded as a capital investment, (d) in the high MB firms, the trend is to finance operations using equity rather than debt financing, (e) profitability affects low MB firms only rather than high and medium firms, (f) in the high and medium MB firms, investors do not regard the elements related to firms operations, (g) in the low MB firms, investors are concerned with the effects of capital structure on firms value although the results show that dividends have a reverse effect on firms market value

Robustness of Firm-Specific and Macroeconomic Determinants of Exploration Investments: Implications from Egyptian Oil & Gas Industry

The uncertainty that surrounds Oil and Gas exploration environments call for an examination at different angles. In terms of robustness, this study focuses on three performance measurements: (a) the amount of exploration investments, (b) the growth rate of exploration investments and (c) the Value at Risk (VaR) of exploration investments.The study utilizes the properties of discriminant analysis for deriving Z-score models that can be used for monitoring firms\u27 performance. A co-integration analysis is utilized as well in order to examine the level of co-integration between predictors of each performance measure. The sample includes annual data for forty one firms (local and multinational) working in the Oil and Gas industry in Egypt for the period 2009-2014.The results show that (a) amount and growth of exploration investment are quite robust performance measures in the Oil and Gas industry, (b) VaR of exploration investment is sporadic as it firm-specific, (c) GDP, Capital expenditure and operating expenditure are quite relevant for managing and monitoring growth of exploration investments.The study offers robust evidence that amount and growth of exploration investment are quire relevant firm performance in the Oil and Gas Industry

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P < 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

Market Risk-Adjusted Dividend Policy and Price-to-Book Ratio Market Risk-Adjusted Dividend Policy and Price-to-Book Ratio

Abstract This paper offers a new mathematical formulation that addresses the relationship between expected price-to-book ratio, dividend per share, dividend payout ratio, systematic and unsystematic risks. The sample includes the non-financial firms in the DJIA covering the period 1997-2006. The general results show that expected price-to-book ratio is: (1) positively associated with squared current stock price, (2) negatively associated with squared expected book value per share; squared unsystematic risk-adjusted dividend per share; squared systematic and unsystematic dividend payout ratio (e.g., negative signaling). The paper contributes to the current literature in two ways. First, systematic and unsystematic risks are to be considered when deciding on the dividend per share and dividend payout ratio. Second, the relationship between expected price-tobook ratio and the risk-adjusted dividends per share and dividend payout ratio is intrinsically nonlinear, which is not addressed in the relevant literature. JEL classification: G32, G3

CAN THE NORMALITY OF THE SEMI VARIANCE BE IMPROVED? EVIDENCE FROM FINANCIAL STOCK INDEXES WITH HOURLY, DAILY, QUARTERLY AND ANNUAL DATA OF DJIA AND SP500

This study examines the financial and statistical properties of the variance and semi variance (SV). Since the mean-variance approach and its extended mean-semi variance approach assume normality of returns, it has been observed that practical and computational problems emerged in the cases of portfolio optimization and estimation risk. The reliability of the semi variance has to be re-examined. This paper shows that the variance and its partial domain (semi variance) produce non normal estimates when the mean returns are normally distributed. Accordingly, a new proposed measure of risk, Mean Semi Deviations (MSD), is introduced which focuses on the measurement of the percentage returns lost from the average. The financial and statistical properties of the three measures of risk are tested and examined taking into account the risk-return theoretical relationship using data from index returns (DJIA and S&P500). The data patterns used are hourly, daily, quarterly and annual data. The financial results of the paper show that the MSD outperforms the variance and the SV in terms of its association to mean returns. The statistical properties show that the MSD produces estimates that are normally distributed and less volatile for all patterns of data (except for daily data) which outperforms the variance and the SV. The contribution of the paper is that it shows a prerequisite approach to be followed for testing the normality and volatility of any downside risk measure before using it for portfolio optimization, selection and estimation risk.Risk measures, Variance, Semi Variance, Mean Semi Deviations, DJIA, S&P500

The contribution of sales revenue management to firm growth: a test of two competing models

This paper examines the firm growth-size and growth-learning theories using sales revenue ratios and cost ratios. The results show that: 1) the DJIA firms' focus on the short-term leads to reduced growth rates; 2) low-growth firms are characterised by increasing costs and increasing debt financing; 3) high growth is associated with lower sales and lower costs; 4) in the high growth firms, the consistency of sales revenue ratios reflects the highly likely contribution of revenue management to promote high-growth rates; 5) the explanatory powers of the sales and costs models are relatively low which indicates that firms' growth depends upon other factors; 6) a new measure of firm growth is offered that improves the quality of the estimated models. This paper contributes to the literature by offering extended research possibilities to further examine the contribution of other financial determinants of firm growth.growth-size theories; growth-learning theories; DJIA index; Dow Jones Industrial Average; sales-weighted growth; fixed assets; sales revenue ratios; cost ratios; short-term strategies; reduced growth rates; low-growth firms; increased costs; debt financing; debts; high growth firms; financial determinants; firm growth; revenue management.