?
Are Sustainable Growth Indicators in Gas Market Companies Comparable? The Evidence from China and Russia
This study explores examples of sustainable growth in Chinese and Russian natural gas companies. The topic of sustainable growth has become a priority focus for studies in market development. Company growth encounters many obstacles, and any such study necessitates a multivariate analysis of interrelated financial and non-financial factors. The authors aim to highlight two fundamental issues in this study. The first is the choice of those indicators which characterise company growth. The second is the identification of factors that have a sustainable impact on growth. Additionally, we try to answer the question: “Are the sustainable growth factors of Russian and Chinese gas market companies comparable?”. The primary purpose of this study is to analyse Chinese and Russian gas market companies’ financial growth strategies using the ‘Geniberg Z-matrix’, as well as enhanced Financial Sustainability Indicators System indices by identifying which indicators have a greater influence on the Sustainable Growth Rate. The scientific novelty of this study is related to the process of constructing financial reports with a focus on sustainable factors, and the implementation of a sustainable financial growth matrix to the appropriate information of Chinese and Russian oil and gas companies. Through this approach, a relationship between sustainable growth and energy companies’ financial strategy was confirmed. Chinese and Russian gas companies’ financial growth strategy was analysed by employing the Geniberg-Z matrix as well as enhanced Financial Sustainability Indicators System indices. We found that ROCE, WACC, ROL, and CGDummy influence Chinese gas companies’ sustainable growth rate and recommended the implementation of an FSIS calculation. In the same way, ROCE, ROFA, CR, DOL, ROL influence Russian gas companies’ sustainable growth rate, and we recommend an FSIS calculation. Evaluation results also show that Chinese and Russian gas companies are financially attractive and have stable results, but could improve their financial strategies from a sustainable growth perspective.