FIRM ATTRIBUTES AND FINANCIAL REPORTING TIMELINESS OF LISTED CONSUMER GOODS FIRMS IN NIGERIA

Abstract

This study examines the effect of firm attributes on financial reporting timeliness of listed consumer goods companies in Nigeria within the period of 2017-2021. The sample size of the study is the entire consumer goods firms listed on the Nigeria Group Exchange (NGX) from 2017-2021. The study used secondary data extracted from the annual reports of the various sampled firms, the Generalized Least Square (GLS) regression technique was used to analyze the data used in testing the hypothesis. The outcome of the regression analysis showed that firm size and financial leverage had a negative and significant effect on financial reporting timeliness. Based on the findings, the study recommends that listed consumer goods firms should increase their size as this will lead to the reduction in the time taking to publish their financial reports. The firms should also restructure their capital structure with a reasonable increase in debt equity as more debts equity will lead to a reduction in the reporting timeliness of the firms’ financial information and in turns helps to promote value relevance of accounting information.