Jelena Popović-Stefanović

This paper presents an analysis of the repercussions of economic crises on pharmaceutical companies located in Serbia and neighboring countries. The focal point of this research is to delineate the influence that economic crises, spanning the period from 2007 to 2021, have exerted on the operations of pharmaceutical companies. The primary objective of this study is to underscore the significance of economic crises in shaping the financial performance indicators of pharmaceutical companies. The fundamental hypothesis, validated in this paper, posits that economic crises have affected pharmaceutical companies, although in diverse manners and with varying degrees of intensity. Throughout the research, two pivotal questions guided the investigation. First, the study explored whether there is a correlation between the macroeconomic indicators of the countries in which the observed companies operate and their financial indicators. The second question addressed whether all observed financial indicators of pharmaceutical companies decline during periods of economic crisis. This research focuses on three distinct periods: the initial phase of the global economic crisis, the second period encompassing the year 2011, and the third period marked by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the crisis it induced. The principal contribution of this paper lies in emphasizing that economic crises influence the operational dynamics of pharmaceutical companies; however, the origin of a crisis cannot serve as a reliable predictor of its potential impact on a company's operations.

This research analyzes EBITDA as operating cash and an indicator of the company's earning capacity and cash on account at the end of the business year. The study underlines the difference between EBITDA as operative cash and cash that is really on the account at the end of the business year and shows whether there is an interdependence between these two coefficients. The paper accepts the null hypothesis and rejects the alternative, so it can be concluded that there are differences between operating cash (EBITDA) and cash on the bank account at the end of the business year. The difference between a company's annual earnings and what is on the account at the end of the business year is clarified. Some of the relevant questions are: Are EBITDA and cash on bank account the same? What are the differences between these two concepts? As the answer to the first question is negative, internal and external stakeholders cannot save time in calculating the EBITDA ratio by observing only the account balance at the end of the business year. The second question was used for research for a more detailed explanation of these two concepts.