Corporate reporting in Zimbabwe: An investigation of the legitimacy of corporate disclosures by major public listed companies in 2014

Abstract

Corporate reporting practices by public listed companies in Zimbabwe have received little attention to warrant investigating the legitimacy of corporate disclosures by major listed companies. This paper presents findings of an investigation on corporate reporting by public listed companies on Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE). The research surveyed the top 10 capitalized companies to investigate the proportion of financial and non-financial information disclosure contents in company annual reports of 2014. Non-financial information reporting was considered from the perspective of sustainability reporting or environmental, social and governance reporting (ESG reporting.) The results showed that 86% of annual reports content by pages was predominantly financial information. The results confirmed the hypothetical assumption that corporate reporting by public listed companies on ZSE may not be legitimate due to corporate failings on balanced disclosure of financial and non-financial information as generally practiced internationally and mature corporate reporting. The research findings provide a business case for reform on corporate reporting on Zimbabwe Stock Exchange.