Earnings Quality among African companies: Recurring restatements are not welcome
Dear Africa interested professionals: When I ponder on earnings quality, it goes beyond the financial performance of the companies as provided to us by their directors. Are the numbers provided to us possess the qualities of transparency, authenticity and longevity? Are this year's numbers going to be adjusted (restated) next year with the reality of this already known today? Do restatements suddenly become an annual recurring act for some companies, just the way financial reports are audited annually? Public companies that continually restate their books, change key figures significantly without any clear, detailed explanation are guilty of poor earnings quality as their audited financials are not as reliable as they should be. I have randomly selected visible companies across different industries in Africa and reviewed their two most recent annual reports (covering three fiscal years) for restatements an