Financial Accounting Information Relevance and Share Prices: A Case Study of Unilever Nigeria PLC Listed on the NSE (Published)
This study examined financial accounting information relevance and share price association using Unilever Nigeria PLC, a multinational company listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange under the consumer goods sector as a case study. The study adopted market price per share (MPS) as proxy for share price and the dependent variable, while earnings per share and dividend per share were the financial accounting data used as the independent variables. Secondary data was collected through content analysis of the published annual financial statements of Unilever Nigeria PLC for the period 2009 to 2018 and the Nigerian Stock Exchange fact book. The study employed descriptive statistics and linear regression analysis based on the ordinary least squares method as techniques for data analysis. The results of the study revealed that earnings per share (EPS) and dividend per share are not significantly related to market price per share (MPS). Based on the findings, the study concluded that financial accounting information (EPS and DPS) are not relevant for determining the market price of shares. This implies that EPS and DPS are not relevant for determining the market price of Unilever shares. The study recommended among others, that more inclusive further studies should be conducted to be able to make general inference on the subject concerning the consumer goods sector in Nigeria.
Keywords: Accounting information, Earnings, Market price, Relevance, Shares, dividend