Impact of corporate governance attributes and financial reporting lag on corporate financial performance

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate selected corporate governance attributes and financial reporting lag and their impact on financial performance of listed firms in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach: The study uses 90 firm-year data for the period 2012–2014 for firms listed on the GSE. Each annual report was individually examined and coded to obtain the financial reporting lag. Descriptive analysis was performed to provide the background statistics of the variables examined. This was followed by regression analysis, which forms the main data analysis. Findings: The descriptive statistics indicate that over the three years, the mean value of timeliness of financial reporting (ARL) is 86 days (SD 21 days), minimum is 55 days and maximum is 173 days. The regression analysis results indicate that financial reporting lag has a negative statistically significant relationship with firm performance. This negative sign indicates that when financial performances of companies are high (good news), companies have the tendency to disclose this situation early to the public. Practical implications: Firms that are not timely in the financial reporting practices will find it difficult to attract capital as the delay will affect their reputation. Originality/value: This study is one of the few to measure financial reporting lag and its impact on firm financial performance in Sub-Saharan Africa.