Asset Growth and Profitability of PLCs in SAARC Economies

Purpose: Past research concerning companies' asset growth and profitability comparisons within and across SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) economies is extremely limited and the purpose of this research is to fill that gap.Design/methodology/approach: This research accessed data (2009 to 2013) from Thomson Reuters Data stream, drawn comparisons for years 2009-13, and used Tukey's HSD test for analyses.Findings: Findings reveal that profitability of Pakistani, Indian, and Bangladeshi companies was overall better in 2010 and 2011 pointing towards these countries' successful exit from crisis. These years marked higher asset growth as well among Indian, Bangladeshi, and Sri Lankan companies. Importantly, countries' cross comparisons reveal that profitability of Bangladeshi companies was better than others in all years, however, Sri Lankan companies also had higher profitability than Indian ones during 2011-13 and had higher asset growth compared to Pakistani companies in 2012 and 2013. Overall, Pakistani companies had lowest asset growth.Implications/Originality/Value: The study updates information concerning SAARC economies’ corporate and business world and demonstrates that asset growth and profitability trends could be inspired from international events and an economy's condition. Future studies could be industry specific; include other SAARC countries using a different criterion; and use different ratios for analysis.