Scholarly record

CHANGES IN THE FINANCING STRUCTURE OF POLISH LISTED COMPANIES IN THE YEARS 2009-2016

G. Musialik, R. Musialik

Abstract

The current knowledge of the management of the capital structures of companies does not enable clear determination of optimum ratios of debt to equity. The factors considered by managers in their decisions concerning ways to finance their companies only partly match the theoretical findings on those matters. Empirical studies mention the following factors affecting the financial leverage: legal and institutional constraints, size of the company, profitability of the company, and growth prospects of the company. The latter factor is the key item discussed in this article. It presents the results of a pilot study based on an assumption that growth prospects apply to the entire market, i.e. to almost all companies. Based on observations of the Warsaw Stock Exchange index (WIG), the period of 2009-2016 was identified as a period of improved economic outlooks in Poland. The conclusion was made that the financing structure of listed companies that did not face the risk of bankruptcy changes in a specific way together with a change in the economic outlooks in the market. This statement was verified based on the results of an analysis of the trend in the debt-to-equity ratio of selected Polish listed companies in three sectors.

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