Original Research
A comparison of the value relevance of interim and annual financial statements
Submitted: 12 November 2015 | Published: 30 March 2017
About the author(s)
Mbalenhle Zulu, Department of Accounting, University of Pretoria, South AfricaMarna de Klerk, Department of Accounting, University of Pretoria, South Africa
Johan G.I. Oberholster, Department of Accounting, University of Pretoria, South Africa
Abstract
Aim: It explores whether the value relevance of interim financial statements is higher than the value relevance of annual financial statements. Finally, it investigates whether accounting information published in interim and annual financial statements has incremental value relevance.
Setting: Data for the period from 1999 to 2012 were collected from a sample of non-financial companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
Method: The Ohlson model to investigate the value relevance of accounting information was used for the study.
Results: The results show that interim book value of equity is value relevant while interim earnings are not. Interim financial statements appear to have higher value relevance than annual financial statements. The value relevance of interim and annual accounting information has remained fairly constant over the sample period. Incremental comparisons provide evidence that additional book value of equity and earnings that accrue to a company between interim and annual reporting dates are value relevant.
Conclusion: The study was conducted over a long sample period (1999–2012), in an era when a technology-driven economy and more timely reporting media could have had an effect on the value relevance of published accounting information. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate and compare the value relevance of published interim and annual financial statements.
Keywords
Metrics
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Crossref Citations
1. COMPARING THE VALUE RELEVANCE OF SELECTED ACCOUNTING INFORMATION IN CONSOLIDATED AND SEPARATE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS: THE CASE OF NIGERIAN LISTED FINANCIAL SERVICE FIRMS
Kassim Busari, Muhammad Mustapha Bagudo
JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS AND SUSTAINABILITY vol: 3 issue: Number 2 first page: 16 year: 2021
doi: 10.32890/jes2021.3.2.2