The market discount of property developers’ shares and accounting policies

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to answer the fundamental question about why the shares of property developers are traded at market discounts by focusing on property developers from Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. Design/methodology/approach - It measures market discount using market-to-book ratio (MTB) and specifies the relations between MTB and the hypothetical determining factors (revenue recognition policy, investment property measurement policy, related party (RP) transaction disclosures and economic rent) in the presence of relevant control variables. Findings - This study finds that aggressive revenue recognition and investment property measurement policies increase market discounts, but that RP transactions generally contribute positively to reduce the market discounts of property developer shares. Specifically, RP transactions are value-enhancing only if property developers adopt a conservative revenue recognition policy, because markets sensibly see RP transactions that are part of an aggressive revenue recognition policy as earnings management for tunnelling by controlling shareholders, and hence react with discounts. It is also observed that when property developers generate insufficient profit to cover their cost of equity, this generally leads to their shares being traded at market discounts. However, an aggressive revenue recognition policy can reduce market discount if early recognition contributes positively to economic rent. Practical implications - This study provides valuable evidence of the economic consequences (market discounts) of accounting choices on recognition and measurement, and the disclosure of accounting information. This is crucial to managers of property developers in managing their firm values when exercising accounting discretion. Originality/value - This study provides empirical evidence on market discounts as they relate to property developers, which has been limited (past studies focus on property investment companies and real estate investment trusts).