The effect of sustainability cost disclosures on operating performance of listed consumer goods companies in Nigeria

This study looked at how disclosure of sustainability costs in companies’ financial reports affects their operating performance in Nigeria, especially looking at ECD, SCD, and GCD. Secondary data from ten (10) Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) listed firms’ annual reports from 2015 to 2024 was utilized in this research, although an ex-post-facto research design was applied. Studies made use of correlation analysis, Granger causality tests, and Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression to find the relationships among the studied variables. Regression analysis found that ECD, SCD, and GCD all had a significant positive impact on how the company functioned, even though the GCD’s results barely missed the threshold needed for significance. The results of the diagnostic tests showed that data did not contain multicollinearity, autocorrelation, heteroskedasticity, and the residuals were normally distributed. According to the research, providing information about sustainability, mainly concerning the environment and society, greatly helps listed consumer goods firms in Nigeria to improve their operational results. This study gives evidence of how sustainability impacts a firm’s performance, considering the context of emerging economies. As a result of the analysis, it was advised that businesses should follow standard ways to report on sustainability and that regulators impose strict rules for the same reason.