Abstract:
In the current economic environment, marked by a strong instability of the markets, at the real flows and at the cash
flows, by significant social changes and with major food price increases, the likelihood of a food crisis is looming more
and more obvious. In this situation, in Romania, the agricultural sector can be the engine of economic recovery and the
determinant factor in ensuring the food security for our people. In order to streamline this sector, neglected over the past
decade, the essential condition is the correct and timely information to investors. They must be given the opportunity
and the necessary instrumentation to know the profitability profile of agricultural companies in order to make the best
financial decisions. Based on data collected in the agricultural sector companies, listed on the Bucharest Stock
Exchange (BSE), this study aims to identify and analyze a profitability profile (for the three types of return: return on
assets, return on equity, return on turnover). In analyzing the profitability profile of the firms, the activity objects of
agriculture were taken into account (animals breeding and plants crop), the membership of a particular region of the
country and the financial structure chosen by specific values of the financial leverage. Moreover, the influence of these
factors on the three types of returns examined was determined and estimated. The study was conducted based on a BSE
survey-based of 42 listed companies, based on financial information reported for the financial year 2009. In order to
obtain the research results, the data analysis methods used were the multiple correspondence factorial analysis (to obtain
the profitability profile) and the linear regression analysis with alternative variables, of the Dummy type (to estimate the
influence of the factors on the returns). Data were processed using the statistical tools SPSS 19.0 and SAS 9.2.
