Explanation of the quantitative and qualitative dimensions of forward-looking information disclosure in the annual reports of companies in Iran

The purpose of the present study is to explore qualitative and quantitative dimensions of the forward-looking information disclosure of the annual reports of the firms. Content analysis has been utilized to measure the quality and quantity of the firms’ forward-looking information. In this research, the unit of the content analysis is the number of sentences. For this reason, board of directors reports presented to 133 listed firms of Tehran stock exchange market during 2012 to 2018 was investigated. In order to analyze findings, Excel and SPSS were utilized. The results indicated that there is a significant difference between the levels of the disclosure in various industries. Industries of sugar and machinery and equipment had the highest and the lowest level of disclosure, respectively. Future information disclosure presented to the firm's board of directors has a significant difference. Profit and loss and balance sheet items had the highest and the lowest level of disclosure, respectively. In the end, the tone of the forward-looking information disclosure has significant difference in the annual reports of the firms. The highest and the lowest disclosures contain positive and negative tone, respectively.