IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finana/v41y2015icp52-61.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Is forward-looking financial disclosure really informative? Evidence from UK narrative statements

Author

Listed:
  • Hassanein, Ahmed
  • Hussainey, Khaled

Abstract

Forward-looking financial disclosure (FLFD) is potentially uninformative if it does not change from the previous year, especially after a significant change in firm performance. This study aims to examine whether and to what extent FLFD is changed in response to changes in firm performance. Then, it investigates the effect of such change in FLFD on firm value. The study uses a sample of UK narrative statements over the period from 2005 to 2011. It finds an association between change in FLFD and change in firm earnings performance. However, it finds weak evidence that firms with larger changes in earnings performance are likely to change their FLFD more than those with smaller performance changes. In addition, when we distinguish between well-performing and poorly performing firms, it finds that the change in FLFD is more positively associated with poorly performing firms compared to well-performing firms. Finally, the change in FLFD has no effect on the value of well-performing firms, while, it negatively affects poorly performing firms. The results suggest that forward-looking financial information in UK narratives contains some relevant information about firm performance. However, it neither affects the value of well-performing firms nor enhances investors' valuation of poorly performing firms.

Suggested Citation

  • Hassanein, Ahmed & Hussainey, Khaled, 2015. "Is forward-looking financial disclosure really informative? Evidence from UK narrative statements," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 52-61.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finana:v:41:y:2015:i:c:p:52-61
    DOI: 10.1016/j.irfa.2015.05.025
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1057521915001076
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.irfa.2015.05.025?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Khaled Hussainey & Thomas Schleicher & Martin Walker, 2003. "Undertaking large-scale disclosure studies when AIMR-FAF ratings are not available: the case of prices leading earnings," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(4), pages 275-294.
    2. Beyer, Anne & Cohen, Daniel A. & Lys, Thomas Z. & Walther, Beverly R., 2010. "The financial reporting environment: Review of the recent literature," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 296-343, December.
    3. Paul M. Healy & Amy P. Hutton & Krishna G. Palepu, 1999. "Stock Performance and Intermediation Changes Surrounding Sustained Increases in Disclosure," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(3), pages 485-520, September.
    4. Rogers, Jonathan L. & Van Buskirk, Andrew, 2009. "Shareholder litigation and changes in disclosure behavior," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(1-2), pages 136-156, March.
    5. Brown, Lawrence D. & Caylor, Marcus L., 2006. "Corporate governance and firm valuation," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 409-434.
    6. Li, Feng, 2008. "Annual report readability, current earnings, and earnings persistence," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(2-3), pages 221-247, August.
    7. Elzahar, Hany & Hussainey, Khaled & Mazzi, Francesco & Tsalavoutas, Ioannis, 2015. "Economic consequences of key performance indicators' disclosure quality," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 96-112.
    8. Peter Cheng & Lixin (Nancy) Su & Xindong (Kevin) Zhu, 2012. "Managerial ownership, board monitoring and firm performance in a family-concentrated corporate environment," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 52(4), pages 1061-1081, December.
    9. Carol Marquardt & Christine Wiedman, 2005. "Earnings Management through Transaction Structuring: Contingent Convertible Debt and Diluted Earnings per Share," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(2), pages 205-243, May.
    10. Barakat, Ahmed & Hussainey, Khaled, 2013. "Bank governance, regulation, supervision, and risk reporting: Evidence from operational risk disclosures in European banks," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 254-273.
    11. Hassan, Omaima A.G. & Romilly, Peter & Giorgioni, Gianluigi & Power, David, 2009. "The value relevance of disclosure: Evidence from the emerging capital market of Egypt," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 79-102, March.
    12. Officer, Micah S., 2011. "Overinvestment, corporate governance, and dividend initiations," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 710-724, June.
    13. Verrecchia, Robert E., 1983. "Discretionary disclosure," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 179-194, April.
    14. Feng Li, 2010. "The Information Content of Forward‐Looking Statements in Corporate Filings—A Naïve Bayesian Machine Learning Approach," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(5), pages 1049-1102, December.
    15. Stephen V. Brown & Jennifer Wu Tucker, 2011. "Large‐Sample Evidence on Firms’ Year‐over‐Year MD&A Modifications," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(2), pages 309-346, May.
    16. Healy, Paul M. & Palepu, Krishna G., 2001. "Information asymmetry, corporate disclosure, and the capital markets: A review of the empirical disclosure literature," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-3), pages 405-440, September.
    17. Vasiliki Athanasakou & Khaled Hussainey, 2014. "The perceived credibility of forward-looking performance disclosures," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(3), pages 227-259, June.
    18. Cheung, Yan-Leung & Jiang, Ping & Tan, Weiqiang, 2010. "A transparency Disclosure Index measuring disclosures: Chinese listed companies," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 259-280, June.
    19. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    20. Luzi Hail, 2002. "The impact of voluntary corporate disclosures on the ex-ante cost of capital for Swiss firms," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(4), pages 741-773.
    21. Gregory S. Miller, 2002. "Earnings Performance and Discretionary Disclosure," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(1), pages 173-204, March.
    22. Mitchell A. Petersen, 2009. "Estimating Standard Errors in Finance Panel Data Sets: Comparing Approaches," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(1), pages 435-480, January.
    23. Lowry, Michelle, 2009. "Discussion of [`]shareholder litigation and changes in disclosure behavior'," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(1-2), pages 157-159, March.
    24. Schleicher, Thomas & Hussainey, Khaled & Walker, Martin, 2007. "Loss firms’ annual report narratives and share price anticipation of earnings," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 153-171.
    25. Mark H. Lang & Karl V. Lins & Darius P. Miller, 2004. "Concentrated Control, Analyst Following, and Valuation: Do Analysts Matter Most When Investors Are Protected Least?," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(3), pages 589-623, June.
    26. Elshandidy, Tamer & Fraser, Ian & Hussainey, Khaled, 2013. "Aggregated, voluntary, and mandatory risk disclosure incentives: Evidence from UK FTSE all-share companies," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 320-333.
    27. Wallace, R. S. Olusegun & Naser, Kamal, 1995. "Firm-specific determinants of the comprehensiveness of mandatory disclosure in the corporate annual reports of firms listed on the stock exchange of Hong Kong," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 14(4), pages 311-368.
    28. Lucian Bebchuk & Alma Cohen & Allen Ferrell, 2009. "What Matters in Corporate Governance?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(2), pages 783-827, February.
    29. Lang, M & Lundholm, R, 1993. "Cross-Sectional Determinants Of Analyst Ratings Of Corporate Disclosures," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(2), pages 246-271.
    30. Khaled Hussainey & Basil Al‐Najjar, 2011. "Future‐oriented narrative reporting: determinants and use," Journal of Applied Accounting Research, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 12(2), pages 123-138, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hassanein, Ahmed, 2022. "Risk reporting and stock return in the UK: Does market competition Matter?," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    2. Ahmed Hassanein & Mohamed M. Mostafa, 2023. "Bibliometric network analysis of thirty years of islamic banking and finance scholarly research," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 57(3), pages 1961-1989, June.
    3. Elshandidy, Tamer & Ahmed, Yousry, 2023. "Stock price informativeness of risk disclosure: Does time orientation matter?," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 149-162.
    4. Ahmed Hassanein & Alaa Zalata & Khaled Hussainey, 2019. "Do forward-looking narratives affect investors’ valuation of UK FTSE all-shares firms?," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 52(2), pages 493-519, February.
    5. Hidaya Lawati & Khaled Hussainey & Roza Sagitova, 2021. "Disclosure quality vis-à-vis disclosure quantity: Does audit committee matter in Omani financial institutions?," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 557-594, August.
    6. Liu, Qigui & Chi, Wenqiang & Wang, Junyi, 2024. "How informative is question-and-answer similarity to financial analysts? Evidence from Chinese earnings communication conferences," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    7. Ahmed Hassanein & Jamal Ali Al-Khasawneh & Hany Elzahar, 2022. "R&D expenditure and managerial ownership: evidence from firms of high-vs-low R&D intensity," Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 21(3), pages 654-672, January.
    8. Luminita Enache & Khaled Hussainey, 2020. "The substitutive relation between voluntary disclosure and corporate governance in their effects on firm performance," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 54(2), pages 413-445, February.
    9. Noha Elberry & Khaled Hussainey, 2021. "Governance Vis-à-Vis Investment Efficiency: Substitutes or Complementary in Their Effects on Disclosure Practice," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-16, January.
    10. Nadezda Gulko & Catriona Hyde & Nina Seppala, 2017. "Disclosure of corporate risks and governance before, during and after the global financial crisis: case study in the UK construction industry in 2006–2009," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 14(3), pages 207-223, August.
    11. Chiara Mio & Pier Luigi Marchini & Alice Medioli, 2020. "Forward‐looking information in integrated reports: Insights from “best in class”," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(5), pages 2212-2224, September.
    12. Ali Meftah Gerged & Rami Salem & Eshani Beddewela, 2023. "How does transparency into global sustainability initiatives influence firm value? Insights from Anglo‐American countries," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(7), pages 4519-4547, November.
    13. Khaleed Omair Alotaibi & Khaled Hussainey, 2016. "Determinants of CSR disclosure quantity and quality: Evidence from non-financial listed firms in Saudi Arabia," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 13(4), pages 364-393, November.
    14. Abbasi, Kaleemullah & Alam, Ashraful & Bhuiyan, Md. Borhan Uddin, 2020. "Audit committees, female directors and the types of female and male financial experts: Further evidence," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 186-197.
    15. Alkaraan, Fadi & Albitar, Khaldoon & Hussainey, Khaled & Venkatesh, VG, 2022. "Corporate transformation toward Industry 4.0 and financial performance: The influence of environmental, social, and governance (ESG)," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ahmed Hassanein & Alaa Zalata & Khaled Hussainey, 2019. "Do forward-looking narratives affect investors’ valuation of UK FTSE all-shares firms?," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 52(2), pages 493-519, February.
    2. Luminita Enache & Khaled Hussainey, 2020. "The substitutive relation between voluntary disclosure and corporate governance in their effects on firm performance," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 54(2), pages 413-445, February.
    3. Moumen, Néjia & Ben Othman, Hakim & Hussainey, Khaled, 2015. "The value relevance of risk disclosure in annual reports: Evidence from MENA emerging markets," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 177-204.
    4. Elzahar, Hany & Hussainey, Khaled & Mazzi, Francesco & Tsalavoutas, Ioannis, 2015. "Economic consequences of key performance indicators' disclosure quality," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 96-112.
    5. Omaima Hassan & Claire Marston, 2010. "Disclosure measurement in the empirical accounting literature - a review article," Accountancy Discussion Papers 1004, Accountancy Research Group, Heriot Watt University.
    6. Issal Haj-Salem & Salma Damak Ayadi & Khaled Hussainey, 2020. "The joint effect of corporate risk disclosure and corporate governance on firm value," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 17(2), pages 123-140, September.
    7. Vasiliki Athanasakou & Khaled Hussainey, 2014. "The perceived credibility of forward-looking performance disclosures," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(3), pages 227-259, June.
    8. Miihkinen, Antti, 2013. "The usefulness of firm risk disclosures under different firm riskiness, investor-interest, and market conditions: New evidence from Finland," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 312-331.
    9. Stephan Hollander & Maarten Pronk & Erik Roelofsen, 2010. "Does Silence Speak? An Empirical Analysis of Disclosure Choices During Conference Calls," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(3), pages 531-563, June.
    10. Volkan Muslu & Suresh Radhakrishnan & K. R. Subramanyam & Dongkuk Lim, 2015. "Forward-Looking MD&A Disclosures and the Information Environment," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 61(5), pages 931-948, May.
    11. Christian Leuz & Peter D. Wysocki, 2016. "The Economics of Disclosure and Financial Reporting Regulation: Evidence and Suggestions for Future Research," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2), pages 525-622, May.
    12. Elshandidy, Tamer & Fraser, Ian & Hussainey, Khaled, 2013. "Aggregated, voluntary, and mandatory risk disclosure incentives: Evidence from UK FTSE all-share companies," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 320-333.
    13. Orhun, Eda, 2019. "Voluntary disclosure and market competition: Theory and evidence from the U.S. services sector," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 354-370.
    14. Van Geyt, Debby & Van Cauwenberge, Philippe & Vander Bauwhede, Heidi, 2014. "Does high-quality corporate communication reduce insider trading profitability?," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 1-14.
    15. Liao, Chih-Hsien & San, Ziyao & Tsang, Albert, 2024. "Corporate governance reforms and voluntary disclosure: International evidence on management earnings forecasts," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    16. Andy Lardon & Marc Deloof, 2014. "Financial disclosure by SMEs listed on a semi-regulated market: evidence from the Euronext Free Market," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 42(2), pages 361-385, February.
    17. Leung, Sidney & Parker, Lee & Courtis, John, 2015. "Impression management through minimal narrative disclosure in annual reports," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 275-289.
    18. Bravo, Francisco, 2016. "Forward-looking disclosure and corporate reputation as mechanisms to reduce stock return volatility," Revista de Contabilidad - Spanish Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 122-131.
    19. Mouselli, Sulaiman & Jaafar, Aziz & Hussainey, Khaled, 2012. "Accruals quality vis-à-vis disclosure quality: Substitutes or complements?," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 36-46.
    20. Kentaro Koga & Satomi Uchino, 2012. "Bank-Firm Relationships and Security Analyst Activities: Evidence from Japan," The Japanese Accounting Review, Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration, Kobe University, vol. 2, pages 49-73, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Narrative reporting; OFR; Forward-looking financial disclosure; Firm performance; Firm value;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M40 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - General
    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting
    • M48 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • G10 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:finana:v:41:y:2015:i:c:p:52-61. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/620166 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.