Capital Structure and Firm Performance Nexus in Nigeria: A Case Study of Aluminum Extrusion Company PLC (Published)
This study investigated the link between capital structure and firm performance in Nigeria using Aluminum Extrusion Company PLC (ALEX), a company listed under the Basic material sector of the Nigerian Stock Exchange as a case study. The study adopted return on capital employed as proxy for firm performance (response variable), while capital structure components such as debt to equity ratio, debt to capital employed ratio and equity to capital employed ratio were used as the explanatory variables. Secondary data were collected from the annual published financial reports of the company for the period 2009 to 2018. The study employ descriptive statistics and multiple regression technique based on the E- view 9.0 Software as the methods of data analysis. The results revealed that debt to equity ratio has significant positive effect on return on capital employed, debt to capital employed ratio has negative influence on return on capital employed and equity to capital employed ratio has no influence on return on capital employed. Overall, capital structure has no significant effect (at 5% level) on firm performance. Based on the findings, the study recommended among others that the company should finance her activities with retained earnings and use debt as the last option as this is in agreement with the perking Order theory; that the indirect effect of capital structure on firm performance be analyzed by future researchers and that the company managers are advised to be extremely conscious in the use of debt financing as an option in their capital mix up to the optimal limits, as debt to equity ratio provides positive effect though not significant on performance.
Keywords: Capital, Debt, Equity, Firm, Performance, Returns, Structure, employed
Capital Structure and Firm Performance Nexus: Nigerian Consumer Goods Sector Analysis (Published)
This study investigated the effect of capital structure on firm performance using a sample of seven companies listed under the consumer goods sector of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. The study adopted return on assets as proxy for performance (the response variable), while capital structure components such as debt to equity, debt to capital employed and equity to capital employed were used as the explanatory variables. Secondary data were collected from the annual published financial reports of the sampled consumer goods sector companies for the period 2009 to 2018. The study employed descriptive statistics and multiple regression technique based on the E-view 9.0 software as the methods of data analysis. The results revealed that debt to equity has insignificant positive impact on return on assets, debt to capital employed and equity to capital employed had negative but insignificant effect on return on assets. Over all, capital structure has no significant effect (at 5% level) on firm performance in the consumer goods sector. Based on the findings, the study recommended among others that the management of consumer goods sector companies should exercise caution in considering the use of debt finance (following the Pecking order theory) in their capital mix up to the optimal limits, as debt to equity ratio provided insignificant positive effect on performance; and that further studies be conducted on other sectors of the economy to provide more robust generalized inferences.
Keywords: Assets, Capital, Debt, Equity, Performance, Returns, Structure, employed
Return on Investment (ROI) In Business Education on Undergraduate Skills Development (Published)
This study determined the influence of ‘Return on investment in Business Education on undergraduate skills development in Federal Universities in Nigeria. The 5 specific objectives postulated were structured into 5 research questions and 5 null hypotheses. The survey design was adopted for the study. A population of 2080 was used of which 460 (22%) respondents were sampled for the study, using multi-stage sampling technique. The researcher designed two sets of questionnaires: Investment in Business Education Questionnaire (IBEQ) and; Undergraduates’ Skills Development in Business Education Questionnaire (USDBEQ) generated data for the study. The instruments were validated by five experts. The reliability coefficients using Cronbach Alpha reliability analysis were 0.86 and 0.79 for IBEQ and USDBEQ respectively. The null hypotheses were tested using Multiple Regression Analysis (MRA). The findings made were that ‘Return on Investment’ in Business Education: office accommodation; classroom space; physical facilities; equipment; library facilities; significantly influence undergraduate skills development. The null hypotheses were rejected. It is concluded among others that investment in Business Education will continue to yield proportionate returns in terms of undergraduates’ skill development. Recommendations made are that: more academic staff should be employed for Business Education Programme in order to reverse the lopsided ratio of lecturer to student; lecturers should be provided with office accommodation; the ratio of practical to theory in Business Education curriculum should be 60: 40; among others.
Keywords: Business Education, Investment, Returns, Skill
Cost and Returns of Paddy Rice Production in Kaduna State (Published)
As a result of increasing population growth and urbanization, there is a high and increasing demand for rice, this necessitates the high attention for its production. This research was conducted to determine the profitability considering the cost and returns of paddy rice production in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State. Data for the study were collected from 60 randomly selected paddy rice farmers using a well structured questionnaire and analyzed using the descriptive statistics, the gross margin and net income model. The result showed that 97% were male, 88% married and had an average household size of 10people. It was interesting to realize that all respondents had one form of education or the other and their average farm size was 15ha producing about 3.2tonnes of paddy per hectare. The average variable cost incurred per hectare was estimated to be $866.3 (N172,400) while the total cost of production was put at $1002 (N199,400) and a gross revenue of $1768.84 ( N352,000) was generated. Paddy rice production in the study area was estimated to have a gross profit $902.51 (N179,600) and a net returns of $766.83 (N152,600). The study however concluded that paddy rice production in the study area is a profitable enterprise and it also recommended that consistent government policies that would favour increase in paddy production, market information, extension service delivery, input subsidization and credit facilities be implemented.
Keywords: Costs, Kaduna, Paddy Rice, Production, Profitability, Returns
Assessment of Cost and Returns of Cattle Marketing In Central Zone of Adamawa State, Nigeria. (Published)
The study was to assess the cost and returns in cattle marketing in central Adamawa State, Nigeria. Data for this study were collected from activities of cattle marketer for the year 2012. The data were collected using structured questionnaire. One hundred and twenty (120) Cattle marketers were administered with questionnaires. A total of Ninety questionnaires were used for analyzed. However, both descriptive (frequency, percentage and mean) and inferential statistics was used for analyzing the data generated from the study. Analysis of the structure and performance of cattle marketers was done using Gini coefficient and marketing margin analysis. The results obtained from the study revealed that, performance of cattle marketers which was analyzed using marketing margin techniques was found to be 9.09 percent. This indicates that, marketers obtained 9.09 percent of the final sales which is paid by the consumers. Also, the analysis of seller concentration of cattle marketing shows that, a Gini coefficient of 0.65 was obtained. The relatively high Gini coefficient which by the analysis tends to approach one (1) is a clear indication of inequality in earnings from the sales of the animals and high marketing concentration. The study therefore recommends that, marketers should form / strengthening their associations and cooperatives for extensive information sharing and in-leading between and among members, government at all levels should also be willing to provide information to marketers and researchers so as to help in addressing the problems associated with cattle marketing for necessary support and legislations
Keywords: Assessment, Cattle, Cost, Marketing, Returns
Returns from Investment in Technical and Professional Education with Reference to J.N.V. University, Jodhpur (Rajasthan) India (Published)
Angus Maddison (Former Member of OECD) in his article “What is Education For” published in Lloyds Bank Review describes the major purpose of education as to provide opportunities for self-fulfilment and personal development – a more complex process with humans than with animals because of the vast stock of knowledge we have accumulated. Access to this heritage is a basic human right which should yield satisfaction throughout life. “Education is designed to produce existing knowledge in new minds and to make these minds more receptive and more capable of absorbing, transforming, creating and using knowledge, Research and Development, meanwhile, is designed to produce new knowledge. This crucial segment of the knowledge industry sustains a two-way link between successful investment, which permits the faster growth of GNP, and GNP growth, which permits more investment in knowledge production” (Burke, Willam 1966). That education adds to the productivity and earning power of the individual and can raise a nation’s level of GNP has long been recognised. However, implications of treating investment in human capital, analogues to that in physical capital is the story of past fifty years. The basis of the argument is the empirical evidences. According to Brookings institutions’ Edward Denison, knowledge investment accounted for about 40 per cent of the 2.9 per cent annual rate of growth in the 1929-1957 period. Denison further estimates that the education of the labour force was responsible for 23 per cent of the growth in real national income in that period. The calculus of cost and benefits from investment in education of thirsty countries have shown education to have been a worthwhile investment and results have shown that further expansion of educational facilities is warranted in most countries, except at postgraduate level (Psacharopoulos , 1973). The ‘Chicago School’ of economists has been the first in developing a theory of human capital. These economists estimated the variations in earnings by education-standard as a measure of its economic benefit and they have used earnings and costs of education to calculate private and social rates of return from investment in education.
Keywords: : Human Capital, Investment, Private and Social Returns, Returns
