The Impact of Sustainability Reports on Improving the Accuracy of Financial Predictions in the Egyptian Business Environment: An Applied Study

Abstract

The paper dealt with the impact of sustainability reports in its three forms (the annual report on sustainability, the annual report of the board of directors and substantial disclosures about sustainability practices) through its various economic, environmental and social dimensions, in order to test the ability of these reports to improve the accuracy of financial forecasts in the Egyptian business environment. Local and international efforts related to sustainability reports, as one of the forms of voluntary disclosure in accordance with the rules of listing securities in the Egyptian Stock Exchange. From 2015 to 2019, the paper, by relying on the hierarchical multiple regression method, found the effect of the three reports on the accuracy of financial forecasts with the net profit of the sample items at the level (1%) compared to the impact of the annual sustainability reports and the annual report of the Board of Directors only on The accuracy of the predictions of the fair value of the shares of the sample items at the level (1%) with the ability to interpret it (40.3%) compared to (68.3%), respectively. The paper recommends the legislative bodies concerned with the development of corporate laws, the necessity of legislating new articles within those laws, regulating the process of sustainable development and disclosing sustainability within companies. Encouraging Egyptian companies to issue sustainability reports by offering a set of incentives through the regulatory authorities (the Egyptian Stock Exchange management) and the supervisory authorities (the Financial Regulatory Authority), in addition to professional bodies (such as the Egyptian Securities Association) as an annual award in the field of sustainability among companies listed on the Egyptian Stock Exchange.