Effect of Capital Structure on the Performance of Listed Consumer Goods Companies in Nigeria

Managers of corporate entities are mostly in confrontation with the problem of; what combination of capital structure (equity and debt) will maximize returns and value of their firms? The study, therefore, aims at assessing the effect of capital structure on the financial performance of listed Consumer goods companies in Nigerian. All consumer goods companies quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange are considered the population for this study while seven (7) out of these firms whose accounting year-ends 31 December are considered as the sample. Secondary data was utilized from the annual financial reports of the sampled firms from the year 2008-2013, which was obtained from African Financial website and official website of Nigerian Stock Exchange. The study used ex-post facto research design to examine the relationship between independent and dependent variables while controlling for other variables. Descriptive statistics, correlation, and hierarchical multiple regression analyzes were carried out to test the hypotheses developed in the study. The study found that there is a positive and significant relationship between firm's capital structure and corporate financial performance. The study specifically found that short-term debt (STD) has no significance positive effect on return on equity (ROE) while Long-term debt (LTD) has positive relation and significant effect on ROE. The study recommends that firms should consider the mixture of equity and debt since they are major determinants of corporate performance. Authorities concerned should create an enabling business environment for companies (especially those with low capital) so as to have access to long-term debts to finance their operations and improve performance in the shortrun, instead of using high short-term debts to cushions for financing and profitability problems