COMPARING THE USEFULNESS OF NET INCOME VERSUS COMPREHENSIVE INCOME IN TERMS OF FIRM PERFORMANCE: BORSA ISTANBUL CASE

Year 2017, Volume: 5 Issue: 4, 97 - 118, 27.12.2017

Merve Acar Semra Karacaer

https://doi.org/10.18825/iremjournal.328968

Abstract

Based on the ongoing claims that comprehensive income measures financial performance better than net income, thus enhance the transperancy and usefulness of financial statements, International Accounting Standard No.1 (IAS 1) requires reporting comprehenive income in a primary and separate financial statement. From this point forth, we compare the usefullnes of comprehensive income with net income in terms of financial performance proxied by stock price, stock market returns and operating cash flows. Using a sample of listed companies in Turkey, we find some evidence that comprehensive income is a better measurement than net income, especially explaining stock market price and market returns. However, the association between comprehensive income and stock market price is negative. In that sense, our findings are consistent with previous research that argue investors find the financial information in comprehensive income is more volatile, risky, transitory and incomplete than net income, resulting in decreased stock market price.

Keywords

Comprehensive Income, Net Income, Clean Surplus Accounting, Dirty Surplus Accounting

COMPARING THE USEFULNESS OF NET INCOME VERSUS COMPREHENSIVE INCOME IN TERMS OF FIRM PERFORMANCE: BORSA ISTANBUL CASE

Abstract

Based on
the ongoing claims that comprehensive income measures financial performance
better than net income, thus enhance the transperancy and usefulness of
financial statements, International Accounting Standard No.1 (IAS 1) requires
reporting comprehenive income in a primary and separate financial statement.
From this point forth, we compare the usefullnes of comprehensive income with
net income in terms of financial performance proxied by stock
price, stock market returns and operating cash flows. Using a sample of listed
companies in Turkey, we find some evidence that comprehensive income is a
better measurement than net income, especially explaining stock market price
and market returns. However, the association between comprehensive income and
stock market price is negative. In that sense, our findings are consistent with
previous research that argue investors find the financial information in
comprehensive income is more volatile, risky, transitory and incomplete than
net income, resulting in decreased stock market price.

Keywords

Comprehensive Income, Net Income, Clean Surplus Accounting, Dirty Plus Accounting

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