ISSUE 2024, No. 4, Article 3, Year of publication: 15, December, 2024
Profitability and Liquidity from the Perspective
of the Largest and Smallest Joint-Stock
Companies Listed on the Banja Luka Stock
Exchange
AUTHORS
Nikola Rakić
*Assistant, University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Economics Subotica, Department for Accounting and Business Finance
ABSTRACT
ARTICLE INFO
This paper analyzes the profitability and liquidity of the ten largest and ten smallest companies listed on the Banja Luka Stock Exchange
during the period from 2021 to 2023. The companies were classified based on their total assets, and the analysis was conducted using
aggregated financial statements publicly available on the official website of the Banja Luka Stock Exchange. The aim of the study is to
examine the earning capacity of these companies measured by ROA and ROE, as well as their liquidity position, the trends of these indicators
over a three-year period, and to determine whether there is a significant difference in these indicators depending on the company
size. The research results, including the Mann-Whitney U test, indicate that profitability indicators are higher in larger companies, while
liquidity indicators are higher in the smallest companies. However, a statistically significant difference between profitability and liquidity
indicators of the largest and smallest companies exists only in the return on assets (ROA). For the return on equity (ROE) and liquidity
indicators, company size, measured by its total assets, does not create a statistically significant difference and is not a prerequisite for
achieving higher levels of these indicators..
Keywords: profitability, liquidity, largest companies, smallest companies, Banja Luka Stock Exchange