المستخلص: |
Extant research to date presents mixed views on whether a for-ward-looking disclosure is considered informative or opportunistic. So, the paper examines the association between disclosure of for-ward-looking information in Annual Result Press Releases (ARPRs) and (i) the existence of future news about the firm, (ii) the quality of firm corporate governance, and (iii) the level of impression management. Prospective disclosure is not the main content of AR-PRs, which provides a summary of previous year earnings. Thus, the inclusion of forward- looking information in the ARPR represents a strategic decision. The paper depends on hand- collected ARPRs issued by Egyptian listed companies. It found that the level of prospective information in ARPRs is positively associated with the level of quantitative impression management in the release. Fascinatingly, companies with future good news are less likely to include forward-looking information in their press releases. This indicates that (positive) prospective information is used as an impression management tool. The paper shows that negative forward-loo-king information is almost non-existent, and companies prefer qualitative forecasts when they refer to negative results. Finally, the paper provides evidence on corporate governance mechanisms that are associated to this type of disclosure.
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