Working Capital Management and the Performance of Consumer and Industrial Goods Sectors in Nigeria

The paper investigates the impact of working capital management on the performance of selected companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange using panel data for forty (40) firms from the consumer and industrial goods sectors of the economy. Return on assets (ROA) was adopted as proxy for firm performance while cash conversion cycle (CCC), average payment period (APP), inventory collection period (ICP), and average collection period (ACP) were adopted as proxies for working capital management. Estimation of the impact of the exogenous variables (cash conversion cycle, average payment period, inventory conversion period and average conversion period) on firm performance (endogenous variable) was based on the econometric technique of the Ordinary Least Squares. The study produced evidence of significant positive impact of cash conversion cycle, average payment period, and inventory conversion period on firm performance. There is also evidence of non significant negative impact of average conversion period on the performance of the selected firms.Parameter estimates were obtained at 10 per cent level of significance. Based on the above result, the study concludes that working capital management has significant impact on the performance of firms in the consumer and industrial goods sectors of the Nigerian economy. Industry managers are therefore advised to innovate efficient strategies for managing working capital so as to optimize its potential

EFFECT OF MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS ON BANKING SECTOR PERFORMANCE IN NIGERIA

Over the years, the Nigerian banking sector has undergone a series of reforms aimed at enhancing its capacity to support growth in the real economy. To achieve this aim, there is ample evidence that the Central Bank of Nigeria has relied heavily on bank capital reforms in tackling problems of under-performance in the sector. Implementation of these reforms has often led to a simultaneous reduction in the number of banks and increase in bank size, a process commonly referred to as consolidation. Mergers and acquisitions are common strategies adopted in the implementation of consolidation programmes. This study seeks to examine the extent to which banking sector performance differs between pre- and post-merger and acquisition periods. Return on assets, bank asset ratio and capital adequacy ratio were adopted as proxies for bank performance. The study employs ex-post facto research design and covers a period of nine (9) years before and nine (9) after the 2005 banking sector recapitalization exercise. Data on the variables were analyzed using the independent sample test technique. The study finds that there is non-significant negative difference in the performance of return on asset in the pre- and postmerger and acquisition periods. Bank asset ratio shows significant positive difference between the pre- and the post-merger and acquisition periods. However, the result shows significant negative difference for capital adequacy ratio between the periods. The study therefore concludes that mergers and acquisitions have significant impact on banking sector performance in Nigeria. We recommend that due diligence should adopted in the identification and selection of compatible partners in order to achieve synergy. In the case of policy-induced merger and acquisition, a reasonable time should be allowed for compliance and implementation should be closely monitore

Working Capital Management and the Performance of Consumer and Industrial Goods Sectors in Nigeria

The paper investigates the impact of working capital management on the performance of selected companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange using panel data for forty (-IO)firms from the consumer and industrial goods sectors of the economy from 2006-20 15.Return on assets (ROA) was adopted as proxy for firm performance while cash conversion cycle (CCC). average payment period (APP),inventory conversion period (JCP), and average collection period (ACP) were adopted asproxies for working capital management. Estimation of the impact of the exogenous variables (cash conversion cycle, average payment period, inventory conversion period and average conversion period) on firm pe1jormance (endogenous variable) ·was based on the econometric techniques of the Ordinary Least Squares(OLS) and Generalized Least Square (GLS). Based on the OLS technique, the adjusted R2shows that 54% of variations in ROA were explained by the exogenous variables while the GLS shows that 62% of the variations were explained by the exogenous variables. These results imply that the exogenous variables significantly explain.firm pe1jormance in selected sectors. The regression results show evidence of sign(pc:ant positive impact (?laverage payment period and inventory conversion period on firm performance. There is also evidence of non significant negative impact of cash conversion (.yc/e on the performance of the selected firms. Parameter estimates were obtained at 5 per cent level of significance. Based on the above result, rhe study concludes that working capital management has significant impact on the performance of firms in 1 he consumer and industrial goods sectors of the Nigerian economy. Industry managers are therefore advised to devise efficient strategies for managing working capital so as to optimize its potentials

An ArcGIS Tool for Modeling the Climate Envelope with Feed-Forward ANN

This paper is about the development and the application of an ESRI ArcGIS tool which implements multi-layer, feed-forward artificial neural network (ANN) to study the climate envelope of species. The supervised learning is achieved by backpropagation algorithm. Based on the distribution and the grids of the climate (and edaphic data) of the reference and future periods the tool predicts the future potential distribution of the studied species. The trained network can be saved and loaded. A modeling result based on the distribution of European larch (Larix decidua Mill.) is presented as a case study

Letter from J. Adam Bede, Pine City, Minnesota, to Hugh S. Fullerton, New York, New York : autograph manuscript signed, 1925 August 20

Recommends Mrs. Frances Folsom Cleveland for title of Most Interesting Woman.https://repository.wellesley.edu/autographletters/1250/thumbnail.jp

Assessment of Soil to Cassava Transfer Factor of Radionuclides in Ughelli North Local Government Area, Delta State, Nigeria

Background: This research was conducted to estimate the activity concentration level of 40K, 238U and 232Th in soil and cassava and determine the transfer factor from soil to cassava in Ughelli North, Delta State, Nigeria. Materials and Methods: These were examined using gamma spectrometry and considering a lead-shielded 3 x 3inch coaxial type Sodium Iodide Thallium doped detector. Results: The mean activity concentrations of 40K, 238U and 232Th are 45.49 ± 4.28 BqKg−1, 3.15 ± 0.77 BqKg−1 and 0.56 ± 0.06 BqKg−1 respectively in soil samples and 134.08 ± 11.59 BqKg−1, 3.89 ± 0.93 BqKg−1 and 0.81 ± 0.09 BqKg−1 correspondingly in cassava samples. The mean transfer factor of 40K, 238U and 232Th from soil to cassava are 3.44 ± 0.75, 1.94 ± 0.32 and 1.34 ± 0.54 respectively. Peak values of the TF were noted as 8.52 for 40K at U18, D18, 25.58 for 238U at U12, D12 and 5.71 for 232Th at U11, D11. Conclusion: The activity concentration of 40K, 238U and 232Th in the area are lower than the world average values. Consequently, it will not pose any radiological hazard if consumed. The high value of Transfer factor is attributed to the richness of the organic matter in the soil and may indicate high ability to transfer radionuclides in the soil to food crops but from the concentration information, these radionuclides present in the soil are low as well as annual effective doses. There is no radiological risk of ingestion

The paradox of the binomial Ixodes ricinus activity and the observed unimodal Lyme borreliosis season in Hungary

The change of ambient temperature plays a key role in determining the run of the annual Lyme season. Our aim was to explain the apparent contradiction between the annual unimodal Lyme borreliosis incidence and the bimodal Ixodes ricinus tick activity run – both observed in Hungary – by distinguishing the temperaturedependent seasonal human and tick activity, the temperature-independent factors, and the multiplicative effect of human outdoor activity in summer holiday, using data from Hungary in the period of 1998–2012. This separation was verified by modeling the Lyme incidence based on the separated factors, and comparing the run of the observed and modeled incidence. We demonstrated the bimodality of tick season by using the originally unimodal Lyme incidence data. To model the outdoor human activity, the amount of camping guest nights was used, which showed an irregular run from mid-June to September. The human outdoor activity showed a similar exponential correlation with ambient temperature to that what the relative incidence did. It was proved that summer holiday has great influence on Lyme incidence