Firms’ financial performances and economic recession: evidence from Macedonian listed firms

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyze financial performance of 23 firms listed on the Macedonian Stock Exchange. Selected firms are non-financial entities. Analyzed period covers 2011-2015 and is divided into two sub-periods. The first sub-period presents the period in which positive growth rates have been evidenced in the country’s GDP, whereas the second one represents the respectively negative growth rate. Results denoted that, on the overall term, selected financial ratios are, statistically, not significantly different from the sub-periods perspective. But, whereas liquidity has a positive trend, profitability has a negative one. During the economic recession period, there is an emphasized decline of profitability. On the other hand, one year after the recession liquidity significantly increased. This implies that effects of economic recession were reflected in the respective ratios.