Disclosure of EBITDA by Companies Listed in Brazil Stock Exchange (B3) According to the Theory of Voluntary Disclosure

Abstract

Voluntary disclosures can supply users' informational needs and support their decision-making processes, filling gaps left by mandatory disclosures. However, their voluntary nature may give rise to opportunistic disclosures by corporations, within the faculty of focusing on the most favorable information and omitting too much. In this context, the objective of this article is to identify how the voluntary disclosure of EBITDA for the year 2018 by companies listed on B3 behaved in relation to the variables indicating improvements or worsening of the relative results of this indicator. The universe is composed of all 269 companies listed on B3 that were active and able to disclose EBITDA for the years 2018 and 2017. The sample covered the 259 companies (96.3% of the universe) that had data available on Economatica and had published their annual reports for 2018. Statistical techniques of association and correlation were employed, in a descriptive and quantitative approach. The results of the research refuted two of the four hypotheses formulated, in reference to the year studied. There was confirmation: of Hypothesis 1, which states that companies with positive EBITDA disclose more than those with negative values; and Hypothesis 3, which states that companies with better ratios between EBITDA and Total Assets disclose more than those with lower ratios. The data also allow us to conclude that companies with better percentage changes in EBITDA values and higher EBITDA/ROL ratios did not disclose the indicator more than those with smaller changes, refuting the assumptions of Hypotheses 2 and 4, respectively.