The Concept of Financial Sustainability Measurement: A Case of Food Companies from Northern Europe

Serhiy Zabolotnyy and Mirosław Wasilewski
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Serhiy Zabolotnyy: Faculty of Economic Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences—SGGW, 02-787 Warsaw, Poland
Mirosław Wasilewski: Faculty of Economic Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences—SGGW, 02-787 Warsaw, Poland

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 18, 1-16

Abstract: A managerial approach to the financial sustainability of a company derives from the principle of value maximization for shareholders at an acceptable level of risk, using the best combination of investments and available sources of financing. The research presents the concept of financial sustainability measurement in the example of food companies from Northern Europe. We applied fuzzy logic to quantify complex interrelations among various financial factors and classify companies according to the level of their financial sustainability. A unique combination of factors formed a single complex indicator, which measured a relative level of financial sustainability of food companies. Considering the duality of financial sustainability in terms of risk and return, the relationship framework for synthetic evaluation included the vector of value and the vector of continuity that consisted of such variables as profitability, market capitalization, productivity, operating efficiency, debt, liquidity, interest coverage, and retained earnings. We received evidence that the level of financial sustainability of entities changed in 2005–2015 and was statistically different among sample companies. The proposed method can be applied as a practical tool in a decision-making process to evaluate financial sustainability or other aspects of business performance in larger groups of entities on the basis of various financial criteria.

Keywords: financial sustainability; value; risk; profitability; solvency; fuzzy logic; food companies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (16)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:18:p:5139-:d:268891

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