The Timeliness and Extent of Disclosure of Corporate Interim Financial Reporting in Jordan

This study examines interim financial reporting in Jordan, and it involves two main phases. First, the study undertook a questionnaire survey to seek the perceptions of users regarding the use, usefulness, the information deemed necessary to be disclosed in the interim financial reports, and other issues surrounding interim financial reporting. Second, this study analyzed the contents of half-yearly financial reports to assess their quality in terms of the extent of disclosure and timeliness. These qualities are subsequently tested for association with board of directors characteristics (namely board composition, board size, and board leadership structure), ownership structure (namely foreign ownership, government ownership, and the number of shareholders), and attributes of companies (namely size,
profitability, growth, age, leverage, audit firm size, and market listing status).
The findings reveal that interim financial reports are used, usell, and the second most important source of information for investors, after annual reports. Because of this, investors express their desire for improved interim financial report in terms of disclosure and timeliness. In addition, the introduction of quarterly financial report is welcomed by investors. Although compliance with mandatory disclosures and reporting deadlines is high, more improvements could be made. As far as the quality of disclosure is concerned, companies appear to provide a moderate level of disclosure. With respect to timeliness, there are tendencies for companies to take as long as they are allowed to issue the interim financial reports. Consistent with most studies, this study reveals that: (i) the extent of disclosure is positively associated with company growth and board size; (ii) compliance with allowable financial reporting lag is positively related to the foreign ownership and profitability, and (iii) financial reporting lag is negatively related to profitability and age, but positively related to the
leverage of a company. This implies that companies with a relatively higher percentage of shares owned by foreigners and are more profitable are more likely to comply with the requirement to publish within one month. The findings also indicate that companies that are more profitable, older, and
have lower leverage are more likely take a shorter time to publish their half-yearly financial reports. The findings provide some input to users, preparers, and policy makers into the current practice of reporting, and for future regulations on interim financial reporting. In addition, the present study opens up avenues for more studies on interim frnancial reporting not only in Jordan, but also in other countries where this area of study is lacking. Furthermore, it opens up opportunities and provides avenues for more in-depth research related to interim financial reporting.