Impact of ESG Reporting on Cash Flow Margin of Listed Oil and Gas Firms in Nigeria

The study focused on the impact of ESG reporting on cash flow margin of listed oil and gas firms in Nigeria. Environmental, social and governance reporting represent the independent variable of the study and was measured using ESG scores adopted from global reporting initiatives. However, transparency and accountability represents the dependent variable of the study and was measured using cash flow margin. To achieve the objective of this study content analysis research design was adopted. The sample size of the study is made up of 9 selected oil and gas firms in Nigeria. The data collected were analyzed using both descriptive statistics and panel data based multiple regression analysis. The regression analysis results revealed that environmental reporting and social reporting have no significant impact on cash flow margin of listed oil and gas firms in Nigeria. However, governance reporting has a significant impact on cash flow margin of listed oil and gas firms in Nigeria. Therefore the study recommends that In order to increase public awareness, it is advised that the government set benchmarks for classifying enterprises according to their ESG performance. Businesses are urged to report on sustainability as a matter of economics. Benefits may accrue in the future due to the influence of ESG performance’s potential for lag. The study also recommends that in order to increase investor confidence, which will have an impact on performance, companies must tell investors and include ESG performance measures as part of firm performance.