IMPACT OF GOODWILL AND BRAND NAME ON EARNINGS QUALITY OF LISTED CONSUMER GOODS FIRMS IN NIGERIA

As a result of globalization, intangible assets have appeared to be a key factor in the valuation of today’s business enterprise. There, quite number of organizations in support of inclusion of intangible assets in firms’ financial statement and disclosure of information on it. However, there are a lot of subjectivity surrounding the intangible asset identification and separation from the financial statement, this have cast a doubt at the supposition and consequently, any research in the area has become very difficult. Therefore, the study examined the impact of intangible assets and earnings quality of listed consumer’s goods in the Nigerian Stock Exchange. The population of the study was all the 28 listed Nigeria consumers’ goods as at December, 2015 out of which 16 firms were drawn as sample. Multivariate technique of data analysis was employed using multiple regression model, structured using longitudinal balanced panel data. The findings of the study revealed that there is a need to encourage the application of intangible assets variables by consumer’s goods and other sectors under the manufacturing firms; this may improve the earnings quality of listed consumer’s goods in Nigeria. This research will assist the regulators in appreciating the benefits of intangible assets and therefore making it mandatory for other sectors of the economy apart from manufacturing companies to use intangible assets. Based on the findings of the study, it is therefore recommended that regulatory agencies of the sector, especially security and exchange commission, should intensify the effort of monitoring the compliance of application of intangible assets in all listed firms. Manufacturing companies should be compiled to report intangible assets variables in their financial statement annually and other listed firms in the country, as this will go a long way in improving the intangible assets and earnings quality of the listed firms in Nigeria.