Financial Reporting Quality and Financial Performance of Quoted Banks in Nigeria

The study examined the effect of financial reporting quality on financial performance of quoted banks in Nigeria using secondary data obtained from Nigeria stock exchange spanning from 2007 to 2016. Relevance of accounting information (measured by earnings and book value of equity predictive ability-EBVEP) and timeliness of accounting information (measured by audit report lag-ARL) were subjected to Hausman test and also regressed against performance variable: Price to earnings ratio -PER, Earnings yield -ENY and Dividend yield –DVY. Findings indicate a significant positive effect of EBVEP on PER and significant negative effects on ENY and DVY implying that an increase in EBVEP increases PER but decreases ENY and DVY. Similarly, a positive significant effect of ARL is found on PER and DVY but with a negative insignificant effect on ENY, implying that an increase in ARL increases PER and DVY but decreases ENY. The study therefore confirms that accounting information is value relevant and could be used for evaluation of accounting standards as well as for the investigation of the economic consequences of new accounting standards on the performance of quoted banks in Nigeria. We recommend that policy makers such as SEC, CBN, and FRCN should look into the audit report lag of quoted financial institutions in Nigeria and formulate policies to enforce compliance with the stipulated reporting requirements. This will assist in restoring investors’ confidence in financial reporting. KEYWORDS: Financial reporting quality, Relevance, Timeliness, Financial Performance, Price/ earnings ratio, Earnings yield, Dividend yield, Nigerian Banks. DOI : 10.7176/RJFA/10-9-08 Publication date :May 31 st 2019