SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING AND FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE OF LISTED NON- FINANCIAL COMPANIES IN NIGERIA

SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING AND FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE OF LISTED NON- FINANCIAL COMPANIES IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

The broad objective of this study was to examine the effect of sustainability reporting on financial performance of non-financial listed companies in Nigeria. To achieve that objective, the study specifically sought to ascertain the extent to which environmental sustainability reporting, social sustainability reporting, employee health and safety sustainability reporting, and economic sustainability reporting affected accounting and market performance proxies (Gross Profit after Tax, Earnings before Interest and Tax and Return on Capital Employed). In this study, ex-post facto research design was employed on panel data which was sourced from related company annual financial reports. Pooled Ordinary Least Square (POLS) regression analysis was conducted, and diagnostic test conducted to ensure that there was no violation of a vital least square assumption while the formulated hypotheses were tested based on the uniqueness of the specified model. In this study the least square dummy variable regression was employed on Return on Capital Employed and Gross Profit after Tax Margin models while Robust Least Square Regression analyses technique was employed on Earnings before Interest and Tax model. The probability values, (p- values) of the regression results formed the basis for decision making. The findings revealed that environmental sustainability reporting had a positive and significant effect on the performance measure of earnings before interest and tax, but it revealed an insignificant effect on return on capital employed and gross profit after tax margin. That was seen to be consistent with the legitimacy theory which suggested that corporate duties did not end at reaping profit but that commitment to environmental support programme and activities would result in profit for shareholders. It was found that social sustainability reporting had both positive and negative effects on performance to the extent that while it was seen to be negative on return on capital employed and gross profit after tax, its effect on earnings before interest and tax was positive. Therefore, it was recommended that policies that would sustain reporting on environmental issues (such as mandatory disclosure on environmental issues) should be encouraged since it had been shown to be beneficial to the health and survival of the firms. Furthermore, corporate managers should show genuineness in their motives and purposes while pursuing social sustainability objectives as it would minimize the risk of incurring losses. Moreover, organizations should strive towards satisfying specific needs of customers as that would go a long way to increasing the chances that policies on social sustainability engagement would get approval, and accordingly minimize corporate losses.

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