Judith Kristian Ah Choi, Corina Joseph^♣ and Boo Ho Voon
Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Sarawak, Sarawak, Malaysia

Forward-looking information is highly demanded by various stakeholders in corporate reporting, thus pressuring companies to provide such information in their annual reports. The purpose of this study was to examine the internal factors that influence the extent of forward-looking information disclosure in annual reports of Malaysian companies, adopting the resource-based view theory. The level of forward-looking information was measured against the Modified Forward-Looking Information Disclosure Index, which was newly developed based on international and national guidelines, criteria of the 2017 National Annual Corporate Report Awards competition, actual forward-looking information disclosure in annual reports by winners of the 2017 National Annual Corporate Report Awards, and past literature. The analysis involved annual reports of 71 top Malaysian companies from 2017 to 2019. Based on the findings, board diversity and foreign ownership had a positive significant relationship with the level of forward-looking information disclosure. Meanwhile, the independence of the audit committee was highly significant to affect the level of forward-looking information disclosure but in a negative direction. Companies are encouraged to identify the strengths of their internal resources and fully utilise them to improve the level of forward-looking information disclosure.

Keywords: Forward-Looking Information Disclosure; Resource-Based View Theory; Corporate Governance

^♣Corresponding Author: Corina Joseph, Faculty of Accountancy, Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Sarawak, 94300, Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia; Email:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; Tel: +60198857617