Financial Ratios: A Tool for Conveying Information and Decision Making
Global Review of Accounting and Finance
Vol. 6. No. 1. , March 2015, Pages: 151 – 164Financial Ratios: A Tool for Conveying Information and Decision Making
This paper aims to examine the extent of financial ratio information communicated in the annual reports of Malaysian listed companies. The sample is selected from top 100 companies on Bursa Malaysia for year 2011. The annual reports are gathered and the data are hand collected. A regression model measures the Extent Financial Ratio Disclosure (EFRD) using 10 mostly referred and cited financial ratios. Findings reveal that on average, the sample firms disclose 18.4% of selected financial ratios in their annual reports. The Net Asset Per Share (NAPS) ratio is among the popular ratios presented in the annual reports. For the corporate governance score (CGS), almost 50% of the board of directors are independent. The average percentage of shareholding of 80.63% and this implies that Malaysian shareholding is consider to be concentrated. Corporate Governance (CG) element does have a positive relationship with EFRD. Higher numbers of independent directors increase the extent of the financial ratio disclosures. It explains that the role of independent directors as proposed in the Malaysian Code on Corporate Governance (MCCG) actually works and it helps to add value to the quality of financial reporting.Field of Research: Accounting
JEL Codes: M4, O1, and I2