FINANCIAL LEVERAGE AND PROFITABILITY OF RECAPITALIZED BANKS IN NIGERIA FROM 2010 – 2021

OKEKE, Prince Chinedu
Department of Accounting
Faculty of Management Sciences
Chukwuemeka Odumegwu University Uli, Anambra State
ABSTRACT
The study’s primary focus was on financial leverage and profitability of Nigeria’s recapitalized banks
from 2010 to 2021. The study adopted an ex post facto research design and relied on secondary data
obtained from annual reports and financial statements of deposit money banks from 2010 to 2021. The
population of the study comprised 8 listed deposit money banks in Nigeria. The study used the multiple
regression statistic to analyze the data. The study found that financial leverage has a significant negative
impact on banks’ profitability (proxied by return on assets and net interest margin); and that bank size
considerably increases profitability. The study thus concludes that financial leverage is harmful to the
expansion of banks’ profits in Nigeria. The study suggest that future studies should incorporate more
financial institutions so as to determine if the outcome will be consistent or vary with the current result.
Keywords: Financial Leverage, Profitability, Banks and Performance