BNDES to measure intangible assets of companies
Valor Econômico 10/29/2007
The BNDES will start measuring the presence of intangible assets in the companies for which it lends money. The intention is to develop a risk classification grade based on the weight of the "intelligence" factor inside the companies. This rating may benefit the client in the analysis of credit made by the bank, reducing the cost of capital. This rating will include governance practices, human resource training, management practices, processes of relationship with clients, design, software, information technology, policies for the minorities, R&D, trademarks and patents, among others. In order to implement the innovation in the operational policies, the bank, together with Coppe/UFRJ, has developed a methodology intended to measure the intellectual capital in the universe of its credit applicants. The result of the work between the BNDES and Coppe, which has never been seen in the country before, will be presented in the workshop "Avaliando os capitais intangíveis no Brasil (Evaluating intangible assets in Brazil)", today and tomorrow in the bank headquarters. The initiative of the BNDES was well received by small-sized companies such as Genoa, a Biotechnology company, which is structured over intangible assets with prominence to R&D. "What we have of tangible is very little", said Ana Paula Wirthmann, financial officer of the company. Ana expects that Genoa, with the BNDES' risk grade, can be best valued in the financial market and can open space in order to capitalize the company by means of funds from venture capital. Jose Rogério Luiz, Vice-President of Management and Relations with Investors of Totvs, which produces management software and has sales of almost R$ 500 million, foresees that the introduction of intangible assets in the analysis of credit of the bank will strengthen the idea that there is no risk in lending to companies that have more intangible than tangible capital in their composition. Genoa and Totvs, together with Embraer and Suzano, have been chosen to have their intangible assets measured by the study of the BNDES/Coppe. They are national and even international references in this area, as it is the case of Embraer, in addition to belonging to different sectors and being of different sizes, what qualified them to a pilot project. Each company was visited by researchers and answered an extensive questionnaire on 53 quality indicators that have generated reports and an Action Plan for the future.