Effects of Sustainability Reporting on Corporate Performance of Selected Manufacturing Companies in Nigeria

Abstract

Activities carried on by corporate organizations tell on the immediate and remote environment in which they operate. In recent times, sustainability has become an issue of major concern around the globe. Environmental catastrophes brought environmental issues to the forefront since the late 1960s, and such events stimulated a flow of concern which has led to sustainability reporting. It is observed from most financial statements of corporate organizations that it has engendered disclosures of information which totally exclude environmental issues, at best where reported, are grossly inadequate. Environmental disclosures have become critically important to an informed public and financial stakeholders. It is as a result of this that this study evaluates the effect of sustainability reporting on corporate performance of quoted manufacturing firms in Nigeria. The study obtain secondary data from the annual report of quoted manufacturing firms on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) spanning from 2010 to 2017. The Panel regression technique was adopted to analyse data collected. The result showed positive significant effect on return on equity as indicated by coefficients (0.4852 and 0.0500) prob (0.0000 and 0.0036) respectively at 5% level of significant. The study concludes that sustainability reporting has significant effect on corporate performance of quoted manufacturing firms in Nigeria. The study therefore recommends that Management of manufacturing firms should develop a positive disposition towards cost of environmental remediation and adopt pollution control friendly practice in order to restore and guarantee stable and smooth operations. This will in turn improve performance of their respective companies and employees with a view to yielding optimal performance in future.