FIRMS' ATTRIBUTES AND FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE OF QUOTED COMPANIES: EVIDENCE FROM NIGERIA

The survival, stability, sustenance and going concern objectives of corporate entities in competitive business environment are driven by uniquely formulated financial performance strategy to drive the achievement of consistent and positive growth. However, firms’ improper utilization of internal attributes has given rise to stunted corporate growth rate, declining net profit margin and negative capital employed performance among listed firms in Nigeria. This study investigates the effect of firms’ attributes on financial performance measures of selected listed companies in Nigeria. The study adopted ex-post facto research design. The population of the study comprised 161 listed companies in Nigeria as at 31st December 2020. A sample size of 111 was purposively determined for the study. Multistage techniques (stratification and quota) were utilized in selecting the 111 firms studied. Secondary data extracted from the published audited financial statements for 10-year period (2011–2020) were used for the study. Descriptive and inferential (multiple regression) statistics were employed to analyze the data. Findings revealed that firms’ attributes had joint significant effect on Net Profit Margin (Adj. R2 = 0.0073, F(3, 1106) = 6.45, p < 0.05) and on Capital Employed Performance (Adj. R2 = 0.018, F(3, 1106) = 31.18, p < 0.05). The study concludes that firms’ attributes drive the achievement of optimal corporate financial performance. The study recommends that firms should continue to use their varied firms’ attributes to deepen their financial performance growth.