DIVULGAÇÃO DE INFORMAÇÕES POR SEGMENTO: PANORAMA DA APLICAÇÃO DO CPC 22

The aim in this research was to outline a panorama of segment disclosure in the financial statements of publicly traded companies active in Brazil, which were published in 2010, the first year in force of CPC 22. Therefore, the researchers attempted to identify how the segments were defined and how many were published, besides analyzing these results with regard to the company’s corporate characteristics: size, activity sector and listing status according to corporate governance levels. A bibliographic and descriptive study with a descriptive focus was undertaken. The data were surveyed in the notes to the financial statements of 81 publicly traded companies, selected among the largest companies in the 2010 edition of Revista Melhores e Maiores. Data analysis was based on descriptive statistics and correlation analysis. The research results showed that some companies did not refer in any way to segment information. The definition of the segments mainly followed the criterion of the business line, and 27% of the companies grouped the activities in a single segment. The correlation analysis showed that only the asset size showed a significant and positive relation with the characteristics of the definition and the number of segments published. Great heterogeneity was found in the structure of the segment reports published.