Comparison of the Financial Condition of Milk Processing Enterprises in Poland and Ukraine

Abstract

The study aimed to compare and evaluate the effectiveness of enterprises processing and trading dairy products in Poland and Ukraine. Milk processing is an important sector of food production. Milk and milk products account for about 14% of world trade in agricultural products. The five largest companies from Poland and Ukraine were selected for the study. Evaluation of the effectiveness of dairy enterprises required the adoption of appropriate indices. Therefore, the research considered, above all, the indices characterizing the profitability of the surveyed companies as the basic ones in the evaluation of the financial condition of enterprises. In addition, the evaluation included the surveyed enterprises’ return on sales, assets, and equity. The analyses were performed based on data available in the EMIS database for 2016-2020. In Poland, the milk processing sector was in a relatively good financial condition, although the profitability ratios were not too high. Profitability ratios have long been lower than the food industry average and have fallen even further in recent years. The data show that the return on equity slightly exceeded the interest rate on bank deposits and treasury bonds. In Ukrainian enterprises, the return on equity, assets, and sales was much higher, but it was also characterized by high volatility.