Earnings Quality and Financial Performance of Kenyan Public Listed Non-Financial Firms

Abstract

This study sought to address the effects of earnings quality on the financial performance of Non-financial firms listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange(NSE). Three attributes of earnings quality; predictive value, feedback value, and earnings accruals quality, were adopted as measures of earnings quality. The study adopted returns on assets (ROA) to measure financial performance. A 5-year data (2018-2022) for the 44 non-financial firms listed in the Nairobi Securities Exchange were obtained from secondary data sources. The data were analyzed using Stata 17, and the findings showed that accrual quality and feedback value exhibited a significant positive relationship with financial performance. The predictive value of the earnings revealed an insignificant negative relationship with financial performance. The model was significant at a 10% significance level with a coefficient of 0.492. This implies that earnings quality constructs significantly and positively affect the performance of Kenyan public-listed non-financial firms. The findings of this study have important implications for users of financial information in ascertaining the importance of earnings quality on the performance of Kenyan public non-financial firms. This study is also beneficial to standard setters in Kenya that view the earnings quality as an indirect indicator of the quality of financial reporting standards that have been issued.

Keywords

• accruals quality
• earnings quality
• feedback value
• predictive value