Como a pandemia Covid-19 afetou o desempenho das empresas do setor de agronegócio?

Abstract

The main objective of this article is to compare the economic, financial and market performance of agribusiness companies listed on B3, considering two periods: before (2Q2017-4Q2019) and during (1Q2020-3Q2022) the pandemic, by segment. And for a specific objective, verify if there is differentiation of the performance indices between the segments: input, primary, agroindustry and agroservice, in these periods. Quantitative, descriptive and documentary research techniques were used, with a sample of 55 companies. Wilcoxon and Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric tests were applied. Descriptive statistics show a high average dependence on third-party capital (PCT), with high variability around the average, in addition to highlighting the presence of companies with unsecured liabilities in the four segments, before and during the pandemic. The Wilcoxon test by segment shows that several performance indicators showed statistically significant changes during the pandemic period, suggesting that the resulting socioeconomic conditions affected the agribusiness sector differently. This perception is confirmed by the Kruskal-Wallis test, which shows that there are statistically significant differences in performance indices between the four segments. Between the two periods, there was an increase in general debt (EG) for the following segments: primary, agroindustry and agroservices. The ebitda margin (ME) indicates that the primary segment was the one that grew the most during the pandemic period, while the agroindustry had the lowest performance. This study brings contributions by showing statistically that the pandemic affected the segments differently. And it shows the presence of companies with unsecured liabilities, even in a period of historical growth of Brazilian agribusiness