Economic assessment of residential PV systems with self-consumption and storage in Portugal

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Mainstream investors are mostly interested in how they can benefit financially from a specific investment. Although this is the case, an increasing number of so-called responsible investors are also beginning to integrate environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) aspects into their investment analysis and ownership practices. Corporate governance compliance is often the first level of ESG interest for these investors.
Previous researchers considered the relationship between corporate governance and various financial performance measures, but reported inconclusive evidence on the nature of the relationship. Even though the three King Reports provide a well-developed framework for corporate governance compliance in South Africa, no comprehensive academic study has previously been conducted on the above-mentioned relationship in the South African context. The primary objective of the current study was therefore to investigate the relationship between corporate governance and the financial performance of selected JSE industries. The chosen study period (20022010) coincided with the launch of the King II Report and included the 20072009 global financial crisis.
A combination of convenience and judgement sampling was used to draw a sample from six JSE industries. In an attempt to reduce survivorship bias, the sample included both listed firms and firms that had delisted during the study period. The complete sample comprised 227 companies (1 417 annual observations). When the study commenced, there was a lack of reliable, readily available ESG data for JSE-listed firms. An existing corporate governance research instrument was therefore refined to develop standardised data on the corporate governance compliance of the selected firms. An annual corporate governance score (CGS) was compiled for each of the firms by means of content analysis of its annual reports. Five financial performance variables were considered, namely return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE), earnings per share (EPS), total share return (TSR) and risk-adjusted abnormal return (alpha). The selection of these measures was based on previous research. The secondary financial data were sourced from the McGregor BFA database and the Bureau for Economic Research.
The resulting panel dataset was analysed by means of various descriptive and inferential analyses. The descriptive statistics revealed an overall increasing corporate governance compliance trend. Both the disclosure and acceptability dimensions of the sample companies’ CGSs improved over time. The sample firms complied with approximately 68 per cent of the corporate governance criteria on average.
The panel regression analysis showed a significant positive relationship between CGS and the accounting-based EPS ratio. Although this result is encouraging, it should be kept in mind that managers can have an influence on both these variables. On the other hand, a significant negative relationship was observed between the market-based TSR measure and CGS.
The TSR…

Corporate governance and the financial performance of selected Johannesburg Stock Exchange industries

Generation and transmission investment planning in deregulated markets faces new challenges particularly as deregulation has introduced more uncertainty to the planning problem. Traditional planning techniques and processes cannot be applied to the deregulated planning problem as generation investments are profit driven and competitive. Transmission investments must facilitate generation access rather than servicing generation choices. The new investment planning environment requires the development of new planning techniques and processes that can remain flexible as uncertainty within the system is revealed. The optimisation technique of Stochastic Dual Dynamic Programming (SDDP) has been successfully used to optimise continuous stochastic dynamic planning problems such as hydrothermal scheduling. SDDP is extended in this thesis to optimise the stochastic, dynamic, mixed integer power system investment planning problem. The extensions to SDDP allow for optimisation of large integer variables that represent generation and transmission investment options while still utilising the computational benefits of SDDP. The thesis also details the development of a mathematical representation of a general power system investment planning problem and applies it to a case study involving investment in New Zealand’s HVDC link. The HVDC link optimisation problem is successfully solved using the extended SDDP algorithm and the output data of the optimisation can be used to better understand risk associated with capital investment in power systems. The extended SDDP algorithm offers a new planning and optimisation technique for deregulated power systems that provides a flexible optimal solution and informs the planner about investment risk associated with uncertainty in the power system.

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Power System Investment Planning using Stochastic Dual Dynamic Programming

This is the publisher’s version of a work published in The Forestry Chronicle 87:2 (2011) The version on the publisher's website can be viewed at http://pubs.cif-ifc.org/doi/abs/10.5558/tfc2011-013

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Benefit–cost Analysis of Vegetation Management Alternatives: An Ontario Case Study

The aim of the current study is to explore the perception of managers of companies listed on Abu Dhabi exchange about dividend policy. Thirty-four out of fify-nine managers of companies listed on Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange were asked to reflect their experience about different aspects of dividend policy. The bird- in- hand theory received the highest support. The current study extends limited previous research based on questionnaire and survey related dividend policy. It thus provides new evidence from an emerging and fast growing economy.

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Managers' perception of dividend policy: Evidence from companies listed on Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange

List of Figures. List of Tables. About the Authors. Preface. Acknowledgments. Part I: The Foundation. Chapter 1 Introduction to Financial Management. 1.1 Financial Management and the Financial Manager. 1.2 Corporate Form of Business Organization. 1.3 The Goal of Financial Management. 1.4 Accounting Profit versus Economic Profit. 1.5 The Agency Relationship. 1.6 Organization of the Book. Chapter 2 Interpreting Financial Statements. 2.1 Basics of Annual Reports and Financial Statements. 2.2 Balance Sheet. 2.3 Income Statement. 2.4 Statement of Cash Flows. 2.5 Statement of Retained Earnings. 2.6 Common--size Statements. 2.7 Notes to Financial Statements. 2.8 Quality of Earnings. 2.9 Other Issues. Chapter 3 Interpreting Financial Ratios. 3.1 Financial Ratio Analysis. 3.2 Liquidity Ratios. 3.3 Debt Management Ratios. 3.4 Asset Management Ratios. 3.5 Profitability Ratios. 3.6 Market Value Ratios. 3.7 Uses of Financial Ratios. 3.8 Limitations of Financial Ratio Analysis. Chapter 4 The Time Value of Money. 4.1 Central Concepts in Finance. 4.2 Future Value of a Present Amount. 4.3 Present Value of a Future Amount. 4.4 Future Value of an Annuity. 4.5 Present Value of an Annuity. 4.6 Present Value of a Perpetuity. 4.7 Compounding Frequencies. 4.8 Nominal and Effective Interest Rates. 4.9 Solving for an Unknown Interest Rate. 4.10 Other Time Value Applications. Chapter 5 Valuation. 5.1 Valuation Fundamentals. 5.2 Bond Characteristics and Features. 5.3 Bond Valuation. 5.4 Bond Pricing Relationships. 5.5 Interest Rate Risk. 5.6 Bond Yields. 5.7 Bond Trading and Price Reporting. 5.8 Preferred Stock Features and Valuation. 5.9 Common Stock Characteristics and Features. 5.10 Common Stock Valuation. Part II: Working Capital Management Decisions. Chapter 6 Working Capital Management. 6.1 Introduction to Working Capital Management. 6.2 Approaches to Working Capital Management. 6.3 Operating and Cash Conversion Cycles. 6.4 Cash Management. 6.5 Accounts Receivable Management. 6.6 Inventory Management. Part III: Long--term Investment Decisions. Chapter 7 Capital Investments and Cash Flow Analysis. 7.1 Capital Investment Decisions. 7.2 Project Classifications. 7.3 Capital Budgeting Process. 7.4 Guidelines for Estimating Project Cash Flows. 7.5 Cash Flow Components. 7.6 Tax Effects of Selling Depreciable Assets. 7.7 Applying Cash Flow Analysis. 7.8 Capital Budgeting for the Multinational Corporation. Chapter 8 Capital Budgeting. 8.1 Project Classifications and Analysis. 8.2 Net Present Value. 8.3 Profitability Index. 8.4 Internal Rate of Return. 8.5 Modified Internal Rate of Return. 8.6 Payback Period. 8.7 Discounted Payback Period. 8.8 Summary of Capital Budgeting Techniques. 8.9 Mutually Exclusive Project Decisions. 8.10 Capital Rationing Decisions. 8.11 Capital Budgeting Techniques in Theory and Practice. Chapter 9 Risk Analysis. 9.1 Types of Risk in Capital Budgeting. 9.2 Assessing Single--Project Risk. 9.3 Assessing Market Risk. 9.4 Adjusting for Risk. 9.5 Risk Analysis in Multinational Corporations. 9.6 Risk Analysis in Theory and Practice. Part IV: Long--term Financing Decisions. Chapter 10 Raising Funds and Cost of Capital. 10.1 Financial Markets. 10.2 Investment Banks. 10.3 The Decision to Go Public. 10.4 Different Methods of Issuing New Securities. 10.5 Public Offer. 10.6 Private Placement. 10.7 Costs of Issuing New Securities. 10.8 Cost of Capital Concept. 10.9 Cost of Capital Components. 10.10 Weighted Average Cost of Capital. 10.11 Marginal Cost of Capital. Chapter 11 Capital Structure. 11.1 The Financing Mix. 11.2 Understanding Financial Risk. 11.3 Capital Structure and the Value of the Firm. 11.4 Modigliani--Miller Theorem with Corporate Taxes. 11.5 The Costs of Financial Distress. 11.6 Tradeoff Theory of Optimal Capital Structure. 11.7 Pecking Order Theory of Capital Structure. 11.8 Stakeholder Theory of Capital Structure. 11.9 Capital Structure in Practice. 11.10 Bankruptcy. Chapter 12 Dividend Policy. 12.1 Dividends and Dividend Policy. 12.2 The Dividend Puzzle. 12.3 Factors Influencing the Dividend Decision. 12.4 Dividend Policies. 12.5 Stock Repurchases. 12.6 Cash Dividends versus Stock Repurchases. 12.7 Dividend Reinvestment Plans. 12.8 Stock Dividends. 12.9 Stock Splits and Reverse Splits. Glossary. Index

Gary E. Powell

Papers

Understanding Financial Management: A Practical Guide