PROFITABILITY AND BREAKEVEN POINT IN URUGUAYAN COMMERCIAL COMPANIES: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE

Abstract

This work is descriptive and its purpose is to characterize the profitability of Uruguayan companies based on their relationship with costs, the breakev­en point and the specific commercial sector, as a way of understanding the economic dynamics of commerce. The methodological strategy consists of the analysis of the descriptive statistics of indicators related to profitability and costs, from the data of a base made up of 33,826 financial statements of Uruguayan commercial companies. One of the most important findings is that these firms work with a reduced margin of safety with respect to their breakeven point, which is close to an average of 24%, placing them in a vulnerable situation in the face of possible drops in activity. Uruguayan commercial companies operate with a positive and stable average profit­ability of 17% based on their ROA, which amounts to 21% in companies with positive results. In companies with losses, a growth in the weight of fixed costs in sales is observed, but the percentage marginal contribution re­mains. This indicates a drop in sales without reaction in line with the drop in structural costs.