Authors: Evangelos Chytis, Periklis Salmas

Title: First - Time adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standards (I.F.R.S.) and its impact on Financial Statement Analysis: The case of Greece

Abstract

The year 2005 was a pivotal year for all companies listed on the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) due to the mandatory application of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The purpose of this research is to assess the impact of IFRS adoption on the financial statements of companies listed on the ASE. Using a sample of ninety-five (95) firms from the commerce and industry sector and fifteen (15) representative financial ratios, we analysed and assessed the impact of IFRS adoption three years before (2002-2004) and three years after (2005-2007) their mandatory application. Findings suggest that IFRS adoption had a significant impact on return on equity and return on capital employed, net profit margin, debt to equity ratio and interest coverage ratio.