The use of graphic representations in financial statements

Abstract

This article replicates Beattie and Jones (1992) study and aims to verify if companies with profit, utilizes graphs in a different way, in their annual reports, than the companies who do not present such good condition (companies with losses). It is an exploratory study which utilized a non probabilistic sample (convenience sample). The study analyzed 37 annual reports of 17 Brazilian public companies, which trade their stocks at Bovespa, the Brazilian stock exchange market. The reports were obtained directly from the companies' homepages. The study investigates if there were differences in the quantity of graphs, the area utilized by them, and the nature of the graphs content. The study reveals that reports with profit present more graphs, more area to them and graphs of different nature, than reports with losses. The study also reveals that annual reports with profit lower than the previous year have a tendency to present additional graphs, explaining the causes of the reduction in profit.