Does Book Values and Earnings Affect Equity Values of Corporate Entities in Nigeria?

Abstract

In this study, we appraised the effect which book values and earnings would have on equity values of quoted corporate entities in Nigeria. In view of this, we obtained secondary data from the published reports of 105 firms selected for this study. The study period was 10 years (2005 – 2014). The regression technique was employed to analyse the data sourced from the annual accounts of sampled entities. Additionally, the Breusch-Pagan/ Cook-Weisberg Test was employed along with the VIF Test to verify whether the sourced data were normally distributed or whether there was presence of multicollinearity among the explanatory variables. Results from our analysis revealed inter alia, that book value per share and earnings jointly had significant and positive effect on equity values of Nigerian quoted firms. Given the level of significance of earnings in attempting to ascertain equity values of Nigerian firms, it was thus recommend that regulatory bodies like the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria among others should develop enforceable strategies and sanctions that would discourage and eliminate any form of earnings manipulation that may distort the information reported in the financial statements of quoted corporate entities in Nigeria.