Auditor-related Factors and Their Effects on Stock Market Returns in Nigeria: Evidence From Listed Brewery Firms

Abstract

The study investigated the effect of auditor-related factors on stock market returns in Nigeria taking into consideration the listed brewery firms. The aim of the study is to investigate the effect of audit quality, audit firm reputation, audit delay and audit risk on stock market returns in Nigeria listed brewery firms. The study employed ex-post facto research design while the population is made up of 5 brewery firms listed on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) as at 31st December 2023 or the period of 2014 to 2023 which were extracted from published annual reports and accounts of the sampled firms. Descriptive, correlation and multiple regressions model were used to analyze the data at 5% significant level. The empirical result revealed that audit quality exert insignificant negative effect on stock market returns, audit firm reputation exerts insignificant positive effect on stock market returns, audit delay exerts an insignificant negative effect on stock market returns and audit risk exerts a significant positive effect on stock market returns at 1% level of significance The study recommended that corporate investors who wish to invest in high risk portfolios in respect of audit risk would expect higher stock market returns.