The corona crisis has affected not only the economic sphere, but also the sphere of health, health care, employment, safety, and health protection in the workplace, shopping habits, and future expectations, to which people adapt their decisions in various areas of daily life. The COVID-19 pandemic, called a global health crisis, was an unpredictable risk of global proportions that paralyzed the entire world. The main aim of this paper is to quantify the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the construction sector, which is considered a crucial sector of the Slovak economy, to evaluate changes in the development of key indicators using adequate quantitative methods. First, a sample of 2000 businesses were analyzed using the 12 financial indicators that were chosen. Second, using the non-parametric Friedman test, a more thorough study was carried out with a focus on analyzing the existence of statistically significant variations in the values of computed indicators as a result of changes in the development of key financial ratios. The Bonferroni adjustments were employed to pinpoint the areas of stochastic dominance at the conclusion of the study. A detailed analysis of the calculated financial indicators showed that the arrival of the pandemic had a negative impact on many aspects of business in the construction sector and affected the financial and economic situation of companies in the construction sector of the Slovak Republic. However, due to the fact that this sector is characterized by slower reactions to changes in the economy, the most significant impacts will be even more noticeable in the future.

Research background: In creative accounting, the primary goal of every enterprise is to increase and strengthen its market position. Over the years, manipulation of financial statements has also reached the territory of Central European countries, including the Slovak Republic. Therefore, an analysis was conducted to identify enterprises that handle accounting. This article focuses specifically on Sector A: agriculture, forestry, and fisheries. Purpose of the article: The aim of the article was to reveal the creative accounting practices of a sample of enterprises operating in the Slovak business environment in a sector using the Beneish model. Methods: The Beneish model was used to calculate the manipulation of enterprises? financial statements. Both variants, that is, the 5-parameter model and 8-parameter model, were used for the calculation. The results of these models were plotted using graphs and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Findings & value added: Based on the use of both variants of the Beneish model, it was proven that enterprises in the analyzed sector use the possibility of manipulating financial statements. The added value of the article is the detection of the use of creative accounting in a specific sector, which makes the study original in its application and space-time orientation.

Business companies have many kinds of products that they sell to other businesses, consumers, etc. They are a driving force of economies, especially in developing countries. The aim of this article is to analyse business companies in the Czech Republic using artificial neural networks and subsequently to estimate the development of this branch of the national economy. An analysis is performed to create a significant number of clusters of businesses. An analysis of the most significant clusters is also carried out. The result can be generalized and we can predict the number of companies that will be creditworthy or bankrupt in the following period. This makes it possible to estimate not only the overall growth or decline of business companies in the Czech Republic, but also to estimate the structure of the companies in terms of their size, turnover or volume of sales.

Transport is one of the key sectors of the European economy. Effectiveness of transport companies depends mainly on the changes in the given environment. Transport companies differ from other types of companies especially in higher focus on ecology, not storing the services offered or high cost investments. The aim of each business is generally the increase of the value of the company. The objective of this contribution is thus to identify the value drivers of a transport company in the Czech Republic, provided that the value of the company is measured by means of the EVA equity indicator. The data set contains complete financial statements of 1500 transport companies in the Czech Republic for the year 2016. For each company, the EVA equity value is calculated. For the analysis, the Statistica software and the method of artificial neural networks are used. 1000 neural networks are generated, out of which 5 showing the best results are retained. In total, 12 variables are chosen that enter/play a part in the process of the company value creation. Based on the sensitivity analysis, the most important components of the variable are the financial result, consumption of material and energy and the profit on ordinary operations.

Value generators mark factors that influence the given enterprise´s success most. Thus, they refer to activities and abilities that increase profitability, decrease risk, and support the company´s growth. The aim of this contribution is to identify value generators in a building enterprise. The main presumption, however, is that the enterprise value will be measured by the EVA Equity indicator (Economic Value Added for the shareholders – owners). Data to be analysed come from the Albertina database. They include complete financial statements of building enterprises that operated on the market between 2006 and 2015. The data is organized into a table the EVA Equity in each enterprise is calculated per each year of its operation on the market. The table is subsequently imported into the Statistica software which searches for the extent to which the EVA Equity indicator is dependent on the individual items of financial statements. The result is a created adequate methodology and identification of value generators in building industries from 2006 to 2015 in the Czech Republic. The following variables are marked as the most significant: economic growth per current accounting period, equity, bank loans and bailouts, trade receivables, and current assets.