MANAGERIAL SHARE OWNERSHIP AND CAPITAL STRUCTURE DECISION OF NIGERIAN LISTED NON-FINANCIAL FIRMS

The paper examined the relationship between managerial share ownership and leverage of 35 non-financial firms listed on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. The study covered the period 2005-2014. Using panel data regression analysis and fixed effects model (with least squares as an estimation technique), result revealed a positive and significant relationship between leverage and managerial share ownership. This suggested that managerial share ownership, an important internal corporate governance mechanism, played an important role in a company’s capital structure decision. The outcome of this study was supported by some prior empirical studies and provided evidence of alignment of the interests of management and shareholders as proposed by the Agency theory. It is recommended that Nigerian companies should encourage management to own shares in companies where they serve as directors as this will reduce managerial incentives to consume perquisites and expropriation of shareholders’ wealth or investing in unprofitable projects.      &nbsp

DOES WORKING CAPITAL MANAGEMENT AFFECT THE PROFITABILITY OF CONSUMER GOODS MANUFACTURING FIRMS IN NIGERIA?

The study examined the effect of working capital management on profitability of consumer goods manufacturing firms in Nigeria between the periods 2009 to 2018. The study adopted ex-post-facto design to generate data from the audited financial statements of the selected companies. The population of the study comprised 24 listed consumer goods manufacturing companies, out of which 10 were purposively selected based on the availability of data. The surrogates for independent variables were Account Payable Period (APP), Account Receivable Period (ARP), Inventory Turnover Period (INVTP), Cash Conversion Cycle (CCC) and Sales Growth (SG) as a control variable while the proxy for profitability was Return on Asset (ROA). Descriptive and inferential statistics coupled with multiple regressions were adopted to analyze the data.  The Random Effects Generalized Least Square showed that ARP, INVTP, CCC had a negative and significant relationship with ROA while APP, SG had a positive and insignificant relationship with ROA. The study concluded that timely collection of debts and shorter inventory turnover period with cash conversion cycle enhance profitability of consumer goods manufacturing companies. Hence, the study suggested that the management of the companies should implement efficient working capital management for improved profitability.   &nbsp