Analysis of financial statements from companies in the Brazilian health sector (2009-2015): concentration, centralization of capital, and expressions of financialization

Abstract

The Brazilian health system is characterized by major participation by the private sector. In the current decade, companies working in health-related sectors have stood out in the corporate world due to the results and size of their financial operations. The study analyzed the companies’ trajectory from the perspective of financialization, defined as the dissemination of a pattern of accumulation, characteristic of contemporary capitalism. The article aimed to to analyze the expressions of financialization in the accounting-financial dimension of companies and corporate groups in the Brazilian health sector. The study describes the trajectory of accounting items and indicators from 2009 to 2015, based on an examination of financial statements from 43 companies in 5 subsectors (health plans, hospitals, retail pharmacies, pharmaceutical industry, and diagnostic and therapeutic support services). The results are analyzed in four categories: size, performance, indebtedness, and relevance of financial operations. The results were compared to the overall results for large and open-capital corporations in Brazil. The study reveals central aspects of financialization such as the sector’s growth, the expansion of leading companies, and capital centralization, corroborating hypotheses concerning the concentration and centralization of capital. Other hypotheses, such as the relevant impacts of financial operations on revenues, were not confirmed. Finally, the evidence provided by a strictly accounting-based analysis suggest the need to incorporate other dimensions, especially such strategies as mergers, acquisitions, and other equity operations.