Seeking for the optimal capital structure lasts for more than 50 years and still is very topical, especially during the market turmoil as it happened in 2008. No perfect answer is yet provided to the question of how large debt amount should be kept on the accounts. The main objective of the present paper is to analyze the impact of capital structure decisions on the equity performance and on the profitability of the companies located in Baltics. The study covered the time period of 4 years (from 2007 till 2010) and the sample data of 36 “blue-chip” companies listed on the Baltic Stock exchanges. The results of the study discover positive relationship between stock performance and sufficiency of equity capital. Besides, there was found an inverse relationship between the level of debt and capital profitability confirming the pecking order theory that in the best case the company should use self-generated funds. Santrauka Optimalios kapitalo struktūros siekiama daugiau nei 50 metų ir tai vis dar yra labai aktualu, ypač per finansų krizę, įvykusią 2008 m. Kol kas nėra gauta galutinio atsakymo į klausimą – kokio dydžio skola turi būti laikoma sąskaitose. Pagrindinis šio straipsnio tikslas – išnagrinėti kapitalo struktūros sprendimų įtaką akcijų rinkai ir Baltijos šalių įmonių pelningumui. Tyrimas apėmė ketverių metų laikotarpį (nuo 2007 m. iki 2010 m.) ir 36 patikimiausių akcijų ,,blue chips“ duomenų, įtrauktų į Baltijos vertybinių popierių biržų sąrašus, pavyzdžius. Atlikus tyrimą nustatytas teigiamas ryšys tarp akcijų ir akcinio kapitalo pakankamumo. Be to, buvo nustatytas atvirkštinis ryšys tarp skolos lygio ir kapitalo pelningumo, patvirtinančio kapojimo kvotos teoriją, kad geriausiu atveju kompanija panaudos savo sukuriamus išteklius.

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Previous research on Central and Eastern European countries showed that the lower is corporate governance quality the better is the firm's financial performance. One of the explanations for this phenomenon is that weak corporate governance is associated with the low earnings quality, which the present study looks into. The analysis, which was made on 118 companies quoted on Central and Eastern European stock exchanges, shows a prove to the negative relationship between the quality corporate governance and the level of accruals. The statistically significant results are based on the cash flow accruals, while balance sheet accruals, though showing a consistent pattern, do not provide significant evidence. Net income and operating cash flow discrepancy also detect lower than average earnings quality if a company has weak corporate governance system, while sufficiently good earnings plausibility in case of the well-managed companies.

Frequent accounting frauds, research and development cost cuts, agency problem -these factors tend to lead to short-term gains, while providing eroded long-term performance to equity investors. The present study looks into the conflict between the short-term and longterm return to understand which factors can provide sustainable long-term return. Based on the content analysis of the academic literature, contemporary scientific publications and mission statements of the public companies, the authors propose hypothetical model of sustainable shareholder value. According to the model, the key elements, which achieve maximum long-term return of the company, are plausible corporate governance structure, high earnings quality, high innovative potential and optimal capital structure to ensure low cost of capital.

Innovation is one of the most commonly used word in the business and academic world. Naturally the firms are willing to innovate to leverage on future profits and growth generated by the new products and supported by temporary monopolistic positions on the market. However, the question is about how much the companies should invest to record higher profitability. The authors tried to answer this question analyzing the companies within the Central and Eastern European region taking intangible assets as innovation proxy. It was concluded that the companies having higher investments in the intangible assets are able to generate higher margins. However, positive effect of possibly higher innovation potential is seen only if investments in intangibles are substantial, i.e. over 10%.