Correlation between asset impairment and profitability of Serbian listed companies

The purpose of this paper is to analyse profitability indicators of business entities listed on Belgrade Stock Exchange and correlation with disclosed amount of asset impairment. Namely, entities that have negative financial result or lower financial performance might be motivated to use some of the methods of earnings management. Impairment of a company’s assets is sometimes used to manipulate the amount of disclosed result, especially when the observed entity outperforms or under-performs considerably. The research sample includes 400 public companies and their financial statements for 2017 reporting period. The results of this research might be useful for potential investors, as well as other stakeholders, such as financial institutions and tax administration.