170,158 research outputs found
Impairment losses and changes in the composition of CGUs: Anything new after the storm?
No full textThe rationale of the paper is that the current financial crisis, which has deeply affected the economic situation and future forecasts, may also impact on the results of the impairment test procedure and on the quality of disclosure on intangibles and impairment test. Moreover, companies may be incentivized to increase the size of their CGUs, so that the amount of possible goodwill impairment is mitigated by surplus assets.
Our research answers to the following questions, with regard to the companies included in the Italian FTSE MIB.
a) What are the results of the impairment test procedure in 2008, compared to previous years?
b) Are there any differences in disclosure in 2008, compared to the previous year?
c) Have CGUs changed from 2007 to 2008? That being the case, can we put forward implications on the “real” reasons for the change? That is to say, are there economic reasons for the change, or is the change related to earnings management purposes?
We run a specific analysis on goodwill, since the “volatility” of its value is normally greater than the one of other assets. Moreover, we separately examine banks and insurance companies (B&ICs), both because the financial crisis hit their financials severely and they are under strict control by their Regulatory Bodies. In other words, they seem an interesting field of research under both the evaluation and the disclosure perspective of analysis.
The results of this preliminary research demonstrate an increased level of impairment losses in 2008, more evident for B&ICs. Companies which record impairment losses disclose more information and present a weaker economic situation than the control group.
Such results suggest further developments of the research, both in terms of evaluation and disclosure issues
Goodwill and cash-generating units: Some evidence from the bank industry
No full textStarting from 2005, goodwill acquired in business combinations accomplished by companies listed all over European financial markets shall be tested for impairment, at least annually, in compliance with IAS 36 – Impairment of Assets.
The impairment test is realized by means of a comparison between the carrying amount and the recoverable amount of an asset (IAS 36, par. 59), where the latter value is defined as the higher of an asset’s fair value less costs to sell and its value in use (IAS 36, par. 18).
However, goodwill presents peculiar characteristics and, differently from most of assets, it does not generate independent streams of cash flows; therefore, for impairment testing purposes, it shall be allocated to the cash-generating units (CGUs) that are expected to benefit from it. As a consequence, impairment testing for goodwill becomes a matter of estimating the recoverable amount of certain groups of assets – the CGUs themselves –, which at the same time shall represent the lowest level at which the goodwill is monitored for internal management purposes and not be larger than an operating segment on which the segment reporting is based (IAS 36, par. 80).
After all, subsequently to the initial recognition, the amount of goodwill exposed in financial statement is related to the value of each CGU to which it is allocated, as impairment losses on goodwill are recognized whenever the recoverable amount of a CGU is less than its carrying amount, that is whenever the capability of the CGU to generate future cash flows and/or its market value are impaired, compared to the previous evaluation.
As for the potential effects of the impairment test on performance figures, it shall be considered that estimating the recoverable amount of each CGU means – first of all – estimating the possible consequences of changes in the economic environment in which the entity operates. Therefore, in the current market turmoil we have been dealing with starting from 2008 impairment test becomes an increasingly relevant accounting procedure. The financial crisis, for a number of different reasons, has in fact produced massive effects on financial markets and the global economy.
In other words, we expect that the recent financial crisis has evidently exercised a strong influence on the recoverable amount of firm assets, and especially of goodwill. As a matter of fact, goodwill represents the future economic benefits arising from assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized. Such future economic benefits are generally regarded as the prospective manifestation of streams of positive cash flows and profits, and these could have been hugely affected by the economic effects of the crisis.
As underlined by financial press and political institutions, an industry particularly hit from the financial crisis is the banks and insurance one.
Moreover, in the last few years the financial press has reported about the large flow of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in such industries - which have been flourishing in a rush towards market’s consolidation and have also led to an increase in the amount of goodwill accounted in their financials, thus adding material to the stimulating debate about the value-relevance of M&A and goodwill.
Considering together the lively M&As activity, the large amount of goodwill acquired by B&ICs and the subsequent financial crisis, it is reasonable to think about the effects of the crisis itself on the intangible asset mentioned within the financial industry.
That said, our paper focuses on the Italian B&ICs listed on the Milan Stock Exchange and included in the FTSE MIB index, with the aim of answering to the following questions.
a) What are the results of the impairment test procedure on goodwill for the financial year 2007-2008-2009?
b) What is the size of the CGUs in the financial year 2007-2008-2009
Valutazione della fosfatasi alcalina e della L-carnitina nel plasma seminale di cani normali e vasectomizzati
No full textGC-MS analysis and biological activity of hydroalcholic extracts and essential oils of Rhus typhina L. wood (anacardiaceae) in comparison with leaves and fruits
No full textHydroalcoholic extracts (HE) and essential oils (EO) of branches, leaves and fruits of Rhus typhina L., were characterized by GC-MS. HE (yealds: branches 68.30 mg/g, leaves 35.82 mg/g and fruits 257.76 mg/g), showed different compositions dominated by gallic acid (33.46%) in branches, its precursor 1-cyclohexane-3,4,5-hydroxy-carboxylic acid (20.55%) in leaves and malic acid (89.15%) in fruits. EO yields were 210 μg/g for branches (main component δ-cadinene, 22.00%), followed by fruits with 132 μg/g (β-pinene 32.2%) and by leaves with 54 μg/g and phenylacetaldehyde as major component (40.13%). Total phenolic content (TPC) was highest in branches HE (5.87 μg GAE/mL) and in EO leaves (17.71 μg GAE/mL). The highest value of radical scavenging activity (DPPH test) was detected in leaves HE and EO. The branches EO antimicrobial activity was strong against C. albicans and negligible against E. coli. Leaves and fruits EO showed strong activity against C. albicans and intermediate activity against Escherichia coli
Gene amplification for c-erbB-2, c-myc, epidermal growth factor receptor, int-2, and N-myc measured by quantitative PCR with a multiple competitor template.
No full textWe recently proposed a quantitative PCR procedure for the absolute measurement of c-erbB-2 oncogene amplification, based on the simultaneous polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of the target gene and of a competitor DNA molecule acting as internal standard. To increase the number of assayable oncogenes and the accuracy of the quantitative comparison of gene amplification degree within the same tumor, we have now constructed a single synthetic competitor for int-2, c-myc, N-myc epidermal growth factor receptor, and c-erbB-2 genes, and for the reference gene beta-globin. This competitor was constructed by a two-step recombinant PCR procedure and inserted as a 297-bp sequence in a plasmid. The order of primer insertion was designed to obtain competitors of comparable sizes to those of the respective genomic targets, but still easily recognizable from the latter ones by gel electrophoresis. The clone competitor was tested to evaluate the linearity range for each assay. The present application of quantitative PCR based on a multiple competitor represents the first approach for the achievement of a single reagent for the evaluation of a panel of genes potentially amplified in human tumors
Gli amministratori indipendenti: alcuni spunti per un possibile miglioramento
No full textIl presente lavoro contribuisce all’approfondimento di uno dei temi centrali del dibattito in materia di corporate governance – i.e., il ruolo degli amministratori indipendenti all’interno del sistema dei controlli aziendali – adottando una prospettiva sia giuridica, sia economico-aziendale.
Dopo il necessario inquadramento normativo, infatti, il tema viene esaminato, in primis, alla luce della letteratura e delle best practice in materia di controllo e, successivamente, alla luce delle evidenze empiriche riscontrate nel panorama delle società quotate alla Borsa Valori di Milano, fornendo – in conclusione – alcuni spunti di riflessione sulla definizione di indipendenza e sul ruolo degli amministratori indipendenti all’interno dei Consigli di Amministrazione e nel più ampio sistema dei controlli aziendali
Measuring c-erbB-2 oncogene amplification in fresh and paraffin-embedded tumors by competitive polymerase chain reaction.
No full textWe present an original application of competitive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for measuring oncogene amplification in DNA from human tumors by simultaneous PCR amplification of genomic DNA with fixed amounts of an internal standard (competitor DNA). Competitors share the same sequence as the target genes but contain an additional 15- to 20-base-pair insert, which allows resolution of the amplified products after polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and ethidium bromide staining. The gene copy number is derived from the ratio between the intensities of the bands corresponding to the amplified products. Using this procedure, we measured c-erbB-2 amplification in breast and bladder carcinomas in both fresh tumor tissues and paraffin-embedded tissue samples and assessed the precision, sensitivity, and accuracy of the assay. Competitive PCR is a simple, reliable, and accurate method for the evaluation of c-erbB-2 amplification and is potentially suitable for use in the clinical laboratory
Image analysis in quantitative PCR. An application for the measurement of c-erbB-2 oncogene amplification in DNA from human tumours.
No full textWe present an application of image analysis for the direct quantification of PCR products after gel electrophoresis and ethidium bromide staining of DNA. This procedure has been applied to the development of an assay based on competitive PCR for the measurement of the degree of amplification of c-erbB-2 oncogene in DNA from human tumours. In this method two DNA species (genomic and competitor) compete for PCR amplification. Since results are calculated from the final competitor/genomic ratio any variable affecting the rate of PCR amplification has no effect on the accuracy of the ratio measurement. Results are reported which show that even large variations in the experimental conditions (number of PCR cycles, sample volumes and extracted DNA quality) did not interfere with the precision of the measurement of the competitor/genomic ratio
Geochemistry of carbonate rocks and ferruginous horizons in the verrucano in southern Tuscany - paleoenvironmental and paleogeographic implications
No full textMineralogy and chemistry of carbonate rocks and of ferruginous shales and ironstones contained in the Permo(?)-Triassic continental sedimentary sequence from southern Tuscany (Italy) support detailed paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic reconstructions. The composition of carbonate rocks rich in Mn and Ba and low in Sr is consistent with a marine tidal depositional environment of lagoonal type where high-Mg calcite deposition predominates and mildly evaporitic conditions favoured the formation of anorganic micritic limestones, sometimes containing minor amounts of evaporitic elements (Ba). The low Sr levels suggest post-depositional diagenetic processes in which fresh water acts as diagenizing solution. The ferruginous shales and ironstones seem to be related to the development of paleosoils under tropical weathering regimes favouring the selective mobilization of more soluble elements (Na, Ca) and of iron which reprecipitates near the soil surfaces according to the formation mechanism of the ironstone caps ("cuirasses ferrugineuses") in present tropical areas. A paleogeographic reconstruction of the Early- Middle Triassic environment of southern Tuscany is presented. The Verrucano sedimentary sequence was deposited in continental basins (graben) developed during a distensive phase after the Hercynian orogeny not far from the coast, under semi-arid conditions. The continental sedimentation was interrupted by limited marine ingressions during which coastal lagoons were established that were suitable for limited carbonate sedimentation
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