Impairment Charges and Market Value of Insurance Firms in Nigeria

The purpose of this study is to examine whether impairment of financial assets affects the behaviour of equity investors in the insurance industry in Nigeria. Using a sample of 102 firm-year observations drawn from 17 insurance firms, and another sample of insurance firms whose shares traded at more than par value, the study investigated whether share prices are associated with insurance receivables and with other financial assets. Findings show that share prices are not significantly associated with insurance receivables, or with other financial assets. This is possibly because the shares of many insurance firms in Nigeria traded mostly at par value within the sample period-2012 to 2017. Empirical results further reveal that for the sample of firms whose shares traded at more than par value, there is a significant negative relationship between impairment charges of financial assets and market value, suggesting that investors negatively view impairment charges and regard them as evidence of decline in the economic value of organisational assets. Even with the sample of firms whose shares traded at more than par value, there is an insignificant relationship between insurance receivables and market value, suggesting that investors do not regard the impairment of trade receivables as sufficiently reliable to include them in their assessment of firm value. Regulators of the insurance industry must therefore emphasise confidence-boosting strategies such as the merger of weak insurance firms. This will create larger firms with greater capacity and better performance, as well as improve investors’ perception of the insurance industry in Nigeria.