The Effect of Sustainability Reporting on Profitability of Quoted Consumer Goods Manufacturing Firms in Nigeria

Abstract

This study aims to: examine the effect of both (i) social disclosures, (ii) environmental disclosures, (iii) economic disclosures on the profitability of listed consumer goods manufacturing companies in Nigeria. The sample of this study comprises of 15 out of 23 consumer goods manufacturing companies in Nigeria based on secondary data from 2009 to 2018. The hypotheses were tested with t-test statistics. The results suggest that economic and social performance disclosures have an insignificant positive impact on both earnings per share and return on equity, whereas, environmental disclosures have a strong positive and significant effects only on earnings per share. Furthermore, sustainability reporting had a positive and significant impact on the profitability of selected companies. It was recommended that companies publish useful sustainability reports as this would improve their profitability.