Value relevance of earnings, book value and dividends in an emerging capital market: Kuwait evidence

This study examines the value relevance of book value, earnings and dividends for a sample of all non-financial firms listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) over the period 2003-2009. After controlling for the impact of the global financial crisis, empirical results provide evidence on the value relevance of book value and earnings in the KSE. The results indicate that dividends are not a value-relevant in the presence of earnings in the valuation model. However, when dividends are used as a substitute for earnings they become value-relevant. The explanatory power of the model including both book value and earnings is almost indistinguishable from that of book value and dividends. Furthermore, splitting earnings into dividends declared (or paid) and earnings retained results in each of the two variables becoming value-relevant. The average dividend pay-out ratio tends to increase over time, indicating that dividend policies do matter in the KSE and that dividends in Kuwait are used to boost investors' confidence and support share price, noticeably during the global financial crisis period.