Intellectual Capital of a Trading Company: Comprehensive Analysis Based on Reporting

The study is devoted to the analysis of the efficiency of use and the effectiveness of disclosing the intellectual capital (IC) of a trading company operating in the market of the Russian Federation. The subject of the research is an assessment of the quality of disclosure of information about the IC company involved in the creation of financial results of activities and the growth of the company’s value. The study examines the assessment of IC and the search for links between the involvement of IC in the formation of the financial result of a trading company and the degree of its reflection in the company’s annual reports. Methods of using intellectual value-added coefficients (VAIC) such as the trademark logo (written as ™), Calculated Intangible Value (CIV) and content analysis of the company’s annual reports are used to assess the IC and its elements. The influence of IC and its components, on the financial results of a trading company are also investigated and calculated using various methods. It is shown that there are no statistically significant relationships between the assessments of IC and its elements obtained using financial ratios, and those obtained using content analysis. This indicates that the opinions and assessments of the heads of a trading company regarding IC are formed regardless of the size of IC involved in the formation of economic results and testifies to the absence of an effective investment management policy in the studied company. Some of the results obtained confirm the trends in IC structures previously observed for companies in other industries. The results also indicate that the existing system for preparing annual reports does not sufficiently consider the size, dynamics and efficiency of using the intangible assets of a trading company. The results of this study are likely to be useful to management and academics.