Effect of Audit Quality on Value Relevance of Accounting Earnings of Manufacturing Companies Listed in Nigerian Exchange Group

The study investigates the effect of audit quality on the relationship between accounting earnings and share prices of quoted manufacturing companies in Nigeria. The current research uses secondary data extracted from 19 sample companies listed on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX), from 2006 to 2021. Pooled Ordinary Least Squares (POLS) are used to estimate the results. The findings reveal that earnings per share (EPS) statistically significantly and positively impact the share price of quoted manufacturing firms in Nigeria. The results also indicate that book value per share does not significantly explain the variations in share price. Interestingly, findings show that the moderating role of audit quality has a greater interaction effect with book value per share of quoted manufacturing firms in Nigeria. Finally, the results also show that earnings per share and book value per share have a combined significant effect on the share price of quoted manufacturing companies in Nigeria. The study has valuable insights and implications for shareholders, board members, practitioners, academicians, and policymakers. Further, the study contributes to the current literature by investigating the impact of audit quality on the relationship between accounting earnings and the share price of manufacturing companies. The agency, shareholders, and stakeholder theories support the findings, which contribute to a better understanding of the role of audit quality in the value relevance of accounting earnings information. We recommend among others the need for quality auditing of financial statements of companies to enhance financial performance.