Recognising, measuring and disclosing intangible assets under IAS 38 and IFRIC 12: Evidence from the Portuguese listed companies

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics

This research analyses the recognition, measurement and disclosure of intangible assets in Portuguese listed companies for the period 2011-2012, with emphasis in the energy business. The findings suggest that reporting intangible assets according to IAS 38 shows distortions in recognition, lack of information about measurement, and issues in disclosure levels. The size of the firm, the weight of intangibles on total assets and the classes of intangibles are positively correlated with the Intangibles Disclosure Index designed during the research. Furthermore, in the energy regulated sector, reporting according to IFRIC 12 completely changed the balance sheet profile namely regarding license concessions.