SOCIAL ACCOUNTING PRACTICES AND PROFITABILITY OF LISTED MANUFACTURING COMPANIES IN NIGERIA: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM DANGOTE CEMENT PLC

ABSTRACT Companies are sometimes reluctant to increase their investment in social activities because of the associated costs which include cost of collating, cost of preparing the required information and cost of disseminating information. This research study examined the influence of social accounting practices on the profitability of listed manufacturing companies in Nigeria using empirical evidence of Dangote Cement Plc. This trend has led a number of corporations to either neglect incurring costs or fail to reflect these costs as they are supposed because it is considered non-financial. It examined the following variables; Donations, Support and Grants to Host Communities Cost, Donations and Grants to Government, Donations and Grants to CSOs/NGOs Education and Scholarships Cost (ESC) and Health Care Cost (HCC) as qualitative variables while total social cost and profit for the years were considered as quantitative variables. The research study deployed ex-post facto research design of the study. The study employed time series analysis method in obtaining the data used for analysis. The time series data covers from 2014-2023 accounting year. The study made use of descriptive statistics like frequency tables and simple percentages to analyse data collected and simple linear regression method of analysis was used to test the hypothesis at 0.05% level of significance. Finding among others revealed that social accounting practices have significant influence on the profitability of listed companies in Nigeria proxy as Total Social Costs (TSC) and profit for the year (PFY). Base on this and other findings, the study recommended among others that manufacturing companies should embed social accounting practices into the company’s strategic planning and decision-making processes. By incorporating social accounting into strategic planning, companies can ensure that social investments are aligned with overall business objectives and contribute to long-term profitability.