IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/reveco/v93y2024ipap970-984.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does annual report readability influence the design of SEOs?

Author

Listed:
  • Puwanenthiren, Premkanth
  • Azam, Md Saiful
  • Jahangir Ali, Muhammad
  • Nadarajah, Sivathaasan

Abstract

Motivated by the rapid growth in non-quantitative corporate disclosure and seasoned equity offerings (SEOs) in the U.S., we take a fresh look at the decision-making process behind accelerated offerings in SEOs, with a specific emphasis on the readability of annual reports within 10-K filings. In particular, our study explores whether readability of annual reports affects the choice of SEOs methods. Using a hand-collected sample of 3143 instances of seasoned equity issues between 2002 and 2021, we show a significantly positive relation between readability scores and accelerated offerings. These results hold across various robustness tests. We further reveal a negative relationship between abnormal operating performance and long-term stock performance following the announcements of SEOs, demonstrating that: firstly, SEOs provide valuable insights into future earnings; and secondly, these insights have a lasting impact on stock performance. Overall, our evidence strongly highlights the substantial influence of annual report readability on the design of SEOs, emphasizing the critical importance of conveying financial information concisely and effectively to the market.

Suggested Citation

  • Puwanenthiren, Premkanth & Azam, Md Saiful & Jahangir Ali, Muhammad & Nadarajah, Sivathaasan, 2024. "Does annual report readability influence the design of SEOs?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(PA), pages 970-984.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:reveco:v:93:y:2024:i:pa:p:970-984
    DOI: 10.1016/j.iref.2024.03.062
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1059056024002272
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.iref.2024.03.062?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. Stewart C. Myers & Nicholas S. Majluf, 1984. "Corporate Financing and Investment Decisions When Firms Have InformationThat Investors Do Not Have," NBER Working Papers 1396, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Lo, Kin & Ramos, Felipe & Rogo, Rafael, 2017. "Earnings management and annual report readability," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 1-25.
    3. Hongkang Xu & Mai Dao & Jia Wu & Hua Sun, 2022. "Political corruption and annual report readability: evidence from the United States," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(2), pages 166-200, February.
    4. Myers, Stewart C. & Majluf, Nicholas S., 1984. "Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 187-221, June.
    5. Bonsall, Samuel B. & Leone, Andrew J. & Miller, Brian P. & Rennekamp, Kristina, 2017. "A plain English measure of financial reporting readability," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 329-357.
    6. Koerniadi, Hardjo & Krishnamurti, Chandrasekhar & Lau, Sie Ting & Tourani-Rad, Alireza & Yang, Ting, 2015. "The role of internal and external certification mechanisms in seasoned equity offerings," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 110-127.
    7. Carol. A. Marquardt & Christine I. Wiedman, 1998. "Voluntary Disclosure, Information Asymmetry, and Insider Selling through Secondary Equity Offerings," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(4), pages 505-537, December.
    8. Edel Barnes & Martin Walker, 2006. "The Seasoned-Equity Issues of UK Firms: Market Reaction and Issuance Method Choice," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(1-2), pages 45-78.
    9. Puwanenthiren, Premkanth & Dang, Man & Henry, Darren & Puwanenthiren, Pratheepkanth & Al Mamun, Md., 2019. "Does managerial ability matter for the choice of seasoned equity offerings?," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 442-460.
    10. Ji Sun & Yi Zhou & Jiaguo (George) Wang & Jie (Michael) Guo, 2020. "Influence of media coverage and sentiment on seasoned equity offerings," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 60(S1), pages 557-585, April.
    11. Kristina Rennekamp, 2012. "Processing Fluency and Investors’ Reactions to Disclosure Readability," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(5), pages 1319-1354, December.
    12. Bernardo Bortolotti & William Megginson & Scott B. Smart, 2008. "The Rise of Accelerated Seasoned Equity Underwritings," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 20(3), pages 35-57, June.
    13. Gus De Franco & Ole†Kristian Hope & Dushyantkumar Vyas & Yibin Zhou, 2015. "Analyst Report Readability," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(1), pages 76-104, March.
    14. Kyung Soon Kim & Jin Hwon Lee & Chune Young Chung, 2015. "Accrual Quality and Opportunistic Seasoned Equity Offering in the Korean Stock Market," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(S3), pages 140-157, May.
    15. Michael J. Cooper & Huseyin Gulen & Alexei V. Ovtchinnikov, 2010. "Corporate Political Contributions and Stock Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(2), pages 687-724, April.
    16. Wu, YiLin, 2004. "The choice of equity-selling mechanisms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(1), pages 93-119, October.
    17. Ritter, Jay R., 2003. "Investment banking and securities issuance," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, in: G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Finance, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 5, pages 255-306, Elsevier.
    18. Cremers, Martijn & Yan, Hongjun, 2016. "Uncertainty and Valuations," Critical Finance Review, now publishers, vol. 5(1), pages 85-128, May.
    19. Mark D. Walker & Keven Yost & Jing Zhao, 2016. "Credibility and Multiple SEOs: What Happens When Firms Return to the Capital Market?," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 45(3), pages 675-703, August.
    20. Dang, Man & Puwanenthiren, Premkanth & Truong, Cameron & Henry, Darren & Vo, Xuan Vinh, 2022. "Audit quality and seasoned equity offerings methods," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    21. Chan, Yue-Cheong & Saffar, Walid & Wei, K.C. John, 2021. "How economic policy uncertainty affects the cost of raising equity capital: Evidence from seasoned equity offerings," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    22. Don M. Autore & Irena Hutton & Tunde Kovacs, 2011. "Accelerated Equity Offers and Firm Quality," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 17(5), pages 835-859, November.
    23. Chen, Chen & Hanlon, Dean & Khedmati, Mehdi & Wake, James, 2023. "Annual report readability and equity mispricing," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(3).
    24. Oliver Zhen LI & Zili Zhuang, 2012. "Management Guidance and the Underpricing of Seasoned Equity Offerings," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(3), pages 710-737, September.
    25. Demiralp, Ilhan & D'Mello, Ranjan & Schlingemann, Frederik P. & Subramaniam, Venkat, 2011. "Are there monitoring benefits to institutional ownership? Evidence from seasoned equity offerings," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(5), pages 1340-1359.
    26. Fangjian Fu, 2010. "Overinvestment and the Operating Performance of SEO Firms," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 39(1), pages 249-272, March.
    27. Altinkilic, Oya & Hansen, Robert S, 2000. "Are There Economies of Scale in Underwriting Fees? Evidence of Rising External Financing Costs," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 13(1), pages 191-218.
    28. Eckbo, B. Espen & Masulis, Ronald W., 1992. "Adverse selection and the rights offer paradox," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 293-332, December.
    29. Gibson, Scott & Safieddine, Assem & Sonti, Ramana, 2004. "Smart investments by smart money: Evidence from seasoned equity offerings," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(3), pages 581-604, June.
    30. Tim Loughran & Bill Mcdonald, 2016. "Textual Analysis in Accounting and Finance: A Survey," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(4), pages 1187-1230, September.
    31. Nagar, Venky & Schoenfeld, Jordan & Wellman, Laura, 2019. "The effect of economic policy uncertainty on investor information asymmetry and management disclosures," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 36-57.
    32. Chemmanur, Thomas J. & He, Shan & Hu, Gang, 2009. "The role of institutional investors in seasoned equity offerings," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(3), pages 384-411, December.
    33. Yen†Jung Lee, 2012. "The Effect of Quarterly Report Readability on Information Efficiency of Stock Prices," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(4), pages 1137-1170, December.
    34. Nemit Shroff & Amy X. Sun & Hal D. White & Weining Zhang, 2013. "Voluntary Disclosure and Information Asymmetry: Evidence from the 2005 Securities Offering Reform," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(5), pages 1299-1345, December.
    35. repec:cup:judgdm:v:2:y:2007:i::p:371-379 is not listed on IDEAS
    36. Teoh, Siew Hong & Welch, Ivo & Wong, T. J., 1998. "Earnings management and the underperformance of seasoned equity offerings," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 63-99, October.
    37. Shane A. Corwin, 2003. "The Determinants of Underpricing for Seasoned Equity Offers," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(5), pages 2249-2279, October.
    38. Esther Cheung & Elaine Evans & Sue Wright, 2010. "An historical review of quality in financial reporting in Australia," Pacific Accounting Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 22(2), pages 147-169, September.
    39. Rjiba, Hatem & Saadi, Samir & Boubaker, Sabri & Ding, Xiaoya (Sara), 2021. "Annual report readability and the cost of equity capital," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    40. Myers, Stewart C., 1984. "Capital structure puzzle," Working papers 1548-84., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management.
    41. Lawrence, Alastair, 2013. "Individual investors and financial disclosure," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(1), pages 130-147.
    42. Kim, Ju Hyun & Song, Kyojik, 2020. "The choice of SEO method in Korea: Rights vs. public offers," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    43. Ertugrul, Mine & Lei, Jin & Qiu, Jiaping & Wan, Chi, 2017. "Annual Report Readability, Tone Ambiguity, and the Cost of Borrowing," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 52(2), pages 811-836, April.
    44. Ari Pandes, J., 2010. "Bought deals: The value of underwriter certification in seasoned equity offerings," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(7), pages 1576-1589, July.
    45. Myers, Stewart C, 1984. "The Capital Structure Puzzle," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 39(3), pages 575-592, July.
    46. Opare, Solomon & Houqe, Muhammad Nurul & van Zijl, Tony, 2020. "IFRS adoption and seasoned equity offering underperformance," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    47. Ahsan Habib & Mostafa Monzur Hasan, 2020. "Business strategies and annual report readability," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 60(3), pages 2513-2547, September.
    48. Samuel B. Bonsall & Brian P. Miller, 2017. "The impact of narrative disclosure readability on bond ratings and the cost of debt," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 608-643, June.
    49. Sabri Boubaker & Dimitrios Gounopoulos & Hatem Rjiba, 2019. "Annual report readability and stock liquidity," Financial Markets, Institutions & Instruments, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(2), pages 159-186, May.
    50. Stewart C. Myers, 1984. "Capital Structure Puzzle," NBER Working Papers 1393, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    51. repec:bla:jfinan:v:59:y:2004:i:4:p:1553-1583 is not listed on IDEAS
    52. Konan Chan & Nandkumar Nayar & Ajai K. Singh & Wen Yu, 2018. "Information Content of Offer Date Revelations: A Fresh Look at Seasoned Equity Offerings," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 47(3), pages 519-552, September.
    53. Dang, Man & Puwanenthiren, Premkanth & Thai, Hong An & Mazur, Mieszko & Jones, Edward & Vo, Xuan Vinh, 2021. "Policy uncertainty and seasoned equity offerings methods," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Dang, Man & Puwanenthiren, Premkanth & Truong, Cameron & Henry, Darren & Vo, Xuan Vinh, 2022. "Audit quality and seasoned equity offerings methods," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    2. Dang, Man & Puwanenthiren, Premkanth & Thai, Hong An & Mazur, Mieszko & Jones, Edward & Vo, Xuan Vinh, 2021. "Policy uncertainty and seasoned equity offerings methods," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    3. Chen, Chen & Hanlon, Dean & Khedmati, Mehdi & Wake, James, 2023. "Annual report readability and equity mispricing," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(3).
    4. Daniel Broxterman & Tingyu Zhou, 2023. "Information Frictions in Real Estate Markets: Recent Evidence and Issues," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 66(2), pages 203-298, February.
    5. Leye Li & Louise Yi Lu & Yi Wang & Yangxin Yu, 2023. "Workforce diversity and financial statement readability," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(S1), pages 1599-1631, April.
    6. Muhammad Jahangir Ali & Seema Miglani & Man Dang & Premkanth Puwanenthiren & Mazur Mieszko, 2022. "Do family firms pay less for external funding?," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 47(2), pages 225-250, May.
    7. Fahd Alduais & Nashat Ali Almasria & Abeer Samara & Ali Masadeh, 2022. "Conciseness, Financial Disclosure, and Market Reaction: A Textual Analysis of Annual Reports in Listed Chinese Companies," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-22, November.
    8. Drago, Carlo & Ginesti, Gianluca & Pongelli, Claudia & Sciascia, Salvatore, 2018. "Reporting strategies: What makes family firms beat around the bush? Family-related antecedents of annual report readability," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 142-150.
    9. Adrian Melia & Paul Docherty & Steve Easton, 2020. "The impact of regulation on the seasoned equity offering decision," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 45(1), pages 94-113, February.
    10. Sun, Li, 2023. "Asset redeployability and readability of annual report," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    11. Rjiba, Hatem & Saadi, Samir & Boubaker, Sabri & Ding, Xiaoya (Sara), 2021. "Annual report readability and the cost of equity capital," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    12. B. Espen Eckbo, 2008. "Equity Issues and the Disappearing Rights Offer Phenomenon," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 20(4), pages 72-85, September.
    13. Hatem Mansali, 2005. "Les performances opérationnelles à long terme des entreprises françaises émettrices d’actions," Revue Finance Contrôle Stratégie, revues.org, vol. 8(2), pages 207-231, June.
    14. Soliman, Marwa & Ben-Amar, Walid, 2022. "Corporate social responsibility orientation and textual features of financial disclosures," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    15. de Souza, João Antônio Salvador & Rissatti, Jean Carlo & Rover, Suliani & Borba, José Alonso, 2019. "The linguistic complexities of narrative accounting disclosure on financial statements: An analysis based on readability characteristics," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 59-74.
    16. Jia, Jing & Li, Zhongtian, 2022. "Risk management committees and readability of risk management disclosure," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(3).
    17. Gao, Xiaohui & Ritter, Jay R., 2010. "The marketing of seasoned equity offerings," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(1), pages 33-52, July.
    18. Marc Zenzius & Christian Flore & Dirk Schiereck, 2022. "Tough times for seasoned equity offerings: performance during the COVID pandemic," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 92(9), pages 1491-1510, November.
    19. Levis, Mario & Meoli, Michele & Migliorati, Katrin, 2014. "The rise of UK Seasoned Equity Offerings (SEOs) fees during the financial crisis: The role of institutional shareholders and underwriters," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 13-28.
    20. Li, Jay Y. & Mauer, David C., 2016. "Financing uncertain growth," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 241-261.

    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:reveco:v:93:y:2024:i:pa:p:970-984. 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/620165 .

    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.