The influence of financial performance on voluntary disclosure:an analysis of Singapore's public-listed companies

This study examines the relationship between a firm's financial performance and its voluntary disclosure practices using a mixed methods approach. The quantitative phase investigates the extent to which different aspects of financial performance of Singapore's public-listed companies affect their voluntary disclosure of strategic, non-financial and financial information in annual reports. The qualitative phase utilizes views from annual report users on the relative importance of different types of information, factors beyond performance variables likely to influence voluntary disclosure as well as how tlie quality of corporate reporting can be enhanced to better Abstract serve information needs. The findings reveal that on the whole financial performance does not influence voluntary disclosure witlithe exception of leverage. The influence of leverage was limited to the disclosure of strategic information. Environmental influences peculiar to Singapore may have contributed to these findings. Voluntary disclosure practices in Singapore are also driven by diverse factors such as stakeholder expectations, stage of a business life cycle, management philosophy and industry herd behavior. Although the information needs of these interviewees were largely served by annual report disclosures, current practices fell short of interviewees' expectations in a number of ways, such as the common failure to provide a clear account for a change in financial performance and the lack of precise indications of management's future plans. Suggestions on how to address specific information needs were also highlighted in this study, which aims to provide some insights to regulators, companies and investors on the disclosure phenomenon in Singapore.