A 9-year analysis of the impact of goodwill and other intangible assets on the EBITDA of FMCG companies listed on the Euronext: 2009 - 2017

The importance of intangible assets has been constantly increasing for the past couple of years (Ocean Tomo, 2017). Firms have progressively seen their industries being drastically reshaped by the disruptive technological wave. The definition of competitive advantage shifted from power and size to competencies, capabilities and knowledge (Thum-Thysen et al., 2017). While the effect of intangible assets on profitability has been thoroughly explored in the literature (Emmanouil & Dimitros, 2017; Li & Wang, 2014), the precise case of FMCG companies listed on the Euronext remains understudied. Our research combines theory gathering different concepts such as: (i) intangible and tangible assets (ii) goodwill (iii) valuation methods, and (iv) accounting procedures. Those concepts helping in the assessment of the evolution of goodwill, tangible and intangible assets impact on a company's profitability. After defining our objectives concerning this work, pursuing a meticulous literature review, identifying the key elements/gaps, and clustering them into several groups, we constructed our hypotheses. Following that, we conducted a multiple regression analysis on the fifty-three FMCG companies forming our sample during a time period running from 2009 to 2017. The results suggest that the evolution of tangible assets impact is significant, positive and increasing throughout the years. Concerning the evolution of intangible assets, it is as well significant, positive and increasing to a higher extent. Finally, the impact of goodwill was nonsignificant. A significant, positive but decreasing impact can only be assessed while the goodwill is combined with other variables Property, Plant and Equipment or intangible assets).