Content Analysis of the Effect of Audit Committee Characteristics on Earnings per Share of Quoted Companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange 2006-2012

The spate of corporate failures in recent times calls for serious examination of their causes and possible solution. Audit committees are statutorily compulsory component of the management of corporate organizations in Nigeria (CAMA 1990) and constitute a credible component of corporate government element. For quite some time now, audit committees have been instituted to add teeth to corporate governance in publicly quoted companies. In spite of this, corporate failures are still rampant. It becomes necessary to ask: how significant is the contribution of the audit committees to corporate performance of quoted companies in the Nigerian Stock Exchange. The earlier study had used opinion survey through a structured questionnaire administered on company administrators and managers to evaluate the relevance of the audit committee on corporate performance and   discovered that the quality of audit committee rather than its mere existence impacts on the performance of companies through a positive impact on corporate governance. This current  study  uses secondary data on corporate financial performance represented by earnings per share; as dependent variable and  Audit Committee sizes, Composition,  frequency of meetings ,and regularity of members’ attendance, as independent variables, all collected from annual financial reports of the companies quoted on the stock exchange within the study period to test the hypothesis that : Audit Committee size, composition and frequency of meetings have  significant positive effect on the financial performance of quoted non financial companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. The Micro soft Special Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) is used to do the regression analysis which showed that there is a significant positive relationship between the Audit Committee Size , composition, frequency of meetings, regularity of members’ attendance   and performance of quoted non financial companies as in the earlier study on perception. Most of the companies had very low financial performance and had ineffective Audit Committees. This study could not simply corroborate the earlier one because while the perception of the managers reflected their expectations of the role and impact of the audit committees, the reality on ground as shown by the relationship between the quality of audit committee and financial performance show that Nigerian companies have not really benefited from the existence of these audit committees. Critically, these firms generally score very low in these indices hence their equally low earnings per share. Therefore, like in the previous study the recommendation is being made that  the entire legal and regulatory framework together with the necessary institutional and environmental architecture for proper constitution and operation of an efficient Audit Committee should be maintained at all times to enhance corporate governance and improve financial performance of listed companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Keywords: Audit Committee, Corporate Governance, Control, Corporate Performanc

Content Analysis of Effect of Board Size, Composition, Frequency of Meetings and Regulrity in Attendance at Meetings on Financial Performance of Quoted Companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange 2006-2012

The rampant corporate failures in recent times both within and outside Nigeria make safety of investors’ wealth an interesting and important area of research in Accounting.  The safety investment and its growth can be deciphered from the trend in the earnings per share of a company. Once the earnings per share falls below acceptable levels the company is bound to wound up. The cases of Enron, Xerox, Adelphia et cetera internationally and Cadbury, NITEL, NEPA, NRC and many banks in Nigeria are very well known. Interestingly the Board of Directors as the top management of these corporate entities is where the bulk stops. The quality of the board, its efficiency and by extension the corporate performance of the entity could be affected by the size and composition of the Board, and frequency of meetings and regularity in attendance at meetings, as critical elements of corporate governance. Therefore, the question normally asked is to what extent do Board size, Board composition/structure, frequency of board meetings and regularity of attendance at meetings by board members impact the corporate performance of companies? The earlier study had used opinion survey of company administrators and managers to assess their perception on the impact of Board size and composition and the related variables on the financial performance of Non-Financial Companies quoted on the Nigerian stock exchange through a structured questionnaire administered to three top ranking managers/accountants in each company and used the Micro soft Special Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) to analyze the responses presented in a 5-point liker scale where the regression showed that there is a significant positive relationship between the Board size, composition, frequency of meetings, regularity of members’ attendance   and performance of quoted non financial companies. That study had been documented with a recommendation among others that the Board should not be unnecessarily weighty in size but more importantly, the Board should be composed more of outsiders with proven integrity, acumen, experience and skill in corporate management. The current  study uses secondary data on corporate financial performance, with a single index of Earnings Per Share (EPS) as dependent variable and  Board size, Board composition, Frequency of Meetings and Regularity of Members’ Attendance, as independent variables, all collected from Annual Financial Reports of the companies quoted on the stock exchange within the study period to test the hypothesis that : Board size, composition, frequency of meetings and regularity of members’ attendance have significant positive effect on corporate financial performance of quoted non – financial companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. The Micro soft Special Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16.0 is used to do the regression analysis. It was shown that that there is a significant positive relationship between the Board size, composition, frequency of meetings, regularity of members’ attendance and performance of quoted non financial companies as in the earlier study on perception. With R, the correlation coefficient which has a value of 0.535, though much lower than in the previous study, indicates that there is a significant positive relationship between the Board size, composition, frequency of meetings, regularity of members’ attendance   and performance of quoted companies..  R square, the coefficient of determination, shows that F= 9.645 far above 2, Significance = 0.000 and Durbin-Watson = 1.93 indicating that the variation in the performance of quoted companies is explained by the model. This study thus not only corroborates the earlier one but also shows more specifically that a higher percentage outside board membership leads to a higher earnings per share and the fewer the overall size of the Board, the higher the EPS. It is therefore recommended among others that the Board should not be unnecessarily weighty in size but more importantly, the Board should be composed more of outsiders with proven integrity, acumen, experience and skill in corporate management. Moreover members of the BOD should endeavourer to attend meetings more regularly. All these would help improve the EPS of quoted companies and reduce drastically the spate of corporate failures as good corporate governance stand to be engendered. Key words: Board of Directors, Corporate performance, corporate governance

Audit Committees and Corporate Performance of Selected Companies Quoted in the Nigerian Stock Exchange: a Perception Analysis.

The spate of corporate failures in recent times calls for serious examination of their causes and possible solution. Audit committees are statutorily compulsory component of the management of corporate organizations in Nigeria (CAMA 1990) and constitute a credible component of corporate government element. For quite some time now, audit committees have been instituted to add teeth to corporate governance in publicly quoted companies. In spite of this, corporate failures are still rampant. It becomes necessary to ask: how significant is the contribution of the audit committees to corporate performance of quoted companies in the Nigerian Stock Exchange. This paper therefore evaluates the relevance of the audit committee on corporate performance. It focuses on Non-Financial companies quoted in the Exchange between 2006 and 2010. It regresses the average perceived quality of the audit committees against critical financial ratios of these companies over the years covered. A sample size of 287 was selected using the Taro Yameni formula and the Microsoft Special Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) statistical analysis was adopted to perform the regression analysis. It was discovered that the quality of audit committee rather than its mere existence impacts on the performance of companies through a positive impact on corporate governance of such companies. However, for majority of the companies (more than 80 percent), their audit committees are weakly constituted with majority of the members lacking the necessary qualities of integrity, dedication, a thorough understanding of the business of the company among others. These qualities according to Shamsudden (2003) are the bedrock of or sterling qualities of audit committee membership. Keywords: Audit Committee, Corporate Governance, Control, Corporate Performanc

When non-financial companies invest in risky financial assets : a dynamic panel analysis of determinants of the financial portfolio risk in Norwegian firms

This thesis examines determinants of the risky financial assets of Norwegian firms in the period of 1999 to 2015. Unlike previous research, and as recently requested in recognized academic papers, our analysis is aimed at a larger data sample that also consist of small and unlisted companies. Firstly, we present a literature review, theoretical predictions, and the applied econometric methodology. Then, empirical findings of pooled and first-difference OLS, fixed effects, and Arellano-Bond estimations are shown. In support of the theoretical prediction that financially constrained firms should invest less in risky financial assets, we find that firms with poor credit ratings have less risky financial asset portfolios. Furthermore, also consistent with this theory, we find that the investments in risky financial assets are increasing in the size of the firm. Moreover, firms paying dividends invest significantly less risky. On a different note, companies with concentrated ownership, and proprietorships, appear to invest riskier, possibly contrary to our theoretical predictions. Finally, in an attempt to measure effects of poor corporate governance, we also explore the effects various auditor remarks have on risky financial assets. One of the coefficients, which we relate to the rationality of firms’ financial asset management, indicate that firms invest in riskier financial assets if tax withholdings have not been deposited in a dedicated account, or have not been fully paid.nhhma

Braided hair: a personal narrative of the familiar and unfamiliar

Bibliography: p. 46-47Some pages are in colour.Includes copy of copyright permission. Original copy with original Partial Copyright Licence.This paper supports two years of artistic research and is intended to act as an appending document to my thesis exhibition Braided Hair. It addresses three main themes surrounding braided hair as both material for and subject of my work: Cultural 'In-Betweeness', Process, and Beauty of 'Uncanniness'. I draw from personal and cultural narratives, familiar processes and materials to create unfamiliar and surrealistic objects and spaces, celebrating the braided hair as a cultural signifier. It is intended that the objects and installations evoke a visceral experience, echoing the diverse and hybrid cultural spaces around me. I am fascinated with concepts of co-existence, accord, discord, connection and disconnection especially as they relate to cultural dislocation, perceptions of identity and beauty