PROPERTIES OF EARNINGS AND CASH FLOWS IN ALGERIAN COMPANIES

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze the properties of earnings compared to cash flows based on persistence and predictive ability as fundamental attributes of relevance. Therefore, we collected financial data of 20 Algerian companies from 2011 to 2020, where 200 observations were employed using the model of Sloan (1996) that was adjusted by sales. According to the results, the earnings of Algerian companies are highly persistent, but their predictability is weak. However, cash flows are not persistent and have no predictive ability. Consequently, earnings quality in Algerian companies is better than the quality of cash flows. Based on our results, users of financial reports in Algerian companies should focus on earnings when making decisions and be cautious when using cash flows.

Keywords

• earnings
• cash flows from operations
• persistence
• predictability