Finance

The general aim of this study is to investigate the effect of exchange rate on financial performance of small and middle-sized companies in Mogadishu.Specifically, this study investigated the effects of Balance of payments, the effect of foreign direct investment, the degree of Inflation and the effect of Taxation. The related theories of exchange rate are Purchasing power Theory, Interest Rate Theory and Product Cycle Theory. This study was conducted through a descriptive study. In addition the study employed a survey research design in data collection. The sampling procedure of this study used non-probability sampling procedure particularly purposive sampling or judgmental sampling, this research employed quantitative data collection method whereby data was gathered by the use of closed ended questionnaires which are self-administered. The data collected was analyzed using the software called Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22 and results shown in terms of frequency distribution and percentages, the target population of the study is 160 employees of some merchandising companies in Mogadishu. A sample of 48 respondents was selected using Mugenda and Mugenda?s formula. The study used primary data. Data collection methods used included use of questionnaires. The selection sample technique was purposive or judgmental approach. A regression model was applied to determine the relationship between Balance of payments, foreign direct investment, inflation and Taxation as the independent variables and financial performance for small and medium sized enterprises as the dependent variable. The key findings of this study were: Most of the respondents agreed that International trade has a direct effect on the financial performance of the company. Most of the respondents also agreed to the fact that Company owners think they can create high profit for the company if they gain investment income. Company managers are always responsible when companies fail to implement financial transactions. The researchers recommended that: Somali merchants should try to increase domestic productions so as to add value to their money. The researcher?s second recommendation is that Somali government should control all import-export activities and try to increase exportations rather than importation Also top management of small and medium sized enterprises should motivate their employees to increase the performance.

The role of corporate board of directors in aligning the interest of diverse groups, ensuring discipline and effectiveness among board members cannot be over emphasised, although there are limited empirical investigations on African firms and Nigeria in particular about the nature of the relationship between board variables and firms financial performances. This study apply Pearson correlation and regression analyses to examined the relationship between board composition (proportion of; non-executive directors, executive directors and women directors) and corporate financial performance for a sample of commercial banks in Nigeria. Using two financial performance indicators; return on asset and return on equity from 2008-2012, the study find out that board composition as defined above is not related to corporate financial performance.

State Transport Undertakings (STUs) are established with the major objective of providing economic, coordinated, efficient and adequate bus services to the society. The STUs are also bound to carry on their operations on business principles due to the recent Government policy of self sustain in the Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs). Due to this duality in its objectives the STUs are swinging on both sides (i.e.) social objectives on one side and the commercial objectives on the other side. In this process of conflicting goals the profitability and the public services were unsolved. In this paper an attempt has been made to simulate the profitability of STUs in terms of Total Cost/Bus (on Road)/Day and Total Revenue/Bus (Held)/Day using Artificial Neural Network (ANN). For this study as many as 29 performance indicators of 37 STUs with 11 years data were used to train the network. The results and statistical tests are very much encouraging. Therefore ANN is a better tool to map an unexplainable relationship between the input and the output variables. And this can also be used for future predictions and optimization.

Banks often drive their cost lower through investments in efficient-scale facilities and operation, tight cost and overhead control, and cost minimizations in such areas as service, selling and advertising. They often sell no-frills, standardized services and products to the most typical customers in the industry. Thus, banks seek a competitively valuable way to reduce cost by concentrating and maintaining efficiency through all activities in order to effectively control every expense and find new sources of potential cost reduction. This study limited itself to the variables of interest. The secondary data was derived from Equity Bank data for a period of 2008 to 2016. The study was conducted in Equity Bank, Homa Bay Branch. This study employed a descriptive research design. The study was conducted at Equity bank and targeted 75 respondents. The researcher used a questionnaire as research tool to collect data. The researcher with the help of supervisor and research expert was able to use the Content Valid Index (CVI). Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics specifically frequencies, percentages, likert scale analysis and multiple regression. The data was presented using frequency tables, figures and Charts and then findings were interpreted. The findings of this study reveal Competitive strategies affect the performance of Equity Bank. The study recommends that the bank should encourage integration of competitive strategies in the bank operation system to enable employees to feel integrated in the workplace and this will boost performance. This will create sustainable competitive edge hence sustainable and superior performance by the bank. Further the study recommends a further study be conducted on the same area in different banks on the effect of competitive strategies on Banks’ performance.

The Government reform agenda, was to try and address how GoEs can attain self-sufficiency to ease the burden of overreliance on subsidies, through introduction of new government guidelines, policies and strategies designed at improving their financial sustainability. However reviews have shown that despites all these improvements, the GoEs often do not operate optimally for sustainability, attributing to either internal or external factors. Even though various studies have been done on financial sustainability, limited research have been carried out on financial sustainability of GoEs hence there is limited information on GoEs in the MOALF. This study sought to identify financial sustainability basics. The study focused on resource utilization as a determinant. A causal research design was adopted and with 27 organizations responding positively, giving a sample size of 134. The study used both primary and secondary sources of data. Primary data was collected using structured questionnaires and interview guides. The secondary data involved review of published information on Financial Statements of GoEs in MOALF. Data was obtained for a period of 7 years from 2009/2010 to 2014/15 financial years and analyzed using SPPS version 21 statistical software, fitted into a multi linear regression model and t-statistic. From the study it was evident that, management of working capital was key factor that influenced financial sustainability of the GoEs. Working capital had a positive correlated to financial sustainability with investment opportunities being inversely related to financial suitability hence lack of proper policies on Investment and strategies affects financial sustainability. The study recommends that prioritized resource utilization should be given more emphasis as a means to ensure that institutional goals are set in line with the availability of funds. There should be proper projects evaluation and prioritization before allocation of resources is done to the most profitable project, bottom up resource management should be adopted, thereby keeping expenditure within the approved levels is also key. GoEs should endeavour to adopt hybrid model of management that incorporates both public and private interface. Policies on investment should be developed, Investment in green finance and adoption of climatic finance that significantly reduce effects on the environment enhancing sustainability. They should also adopt a holistic evaluation model not limited to financial evaluation through innovative accounting that encompassing the key goals and objectives of their existence and adoption of risk assessment framework. The Ministry should set limits with the set frameworks for the Key ratios used to measure Financial Sustainability.

Indian banking sector faced the many challenges due to enlarging NPAs in the banks. The profitability of the banks is not only adversely affected due to these NPAs’ but also enhanced the carrying cost. The net worth of the banks is also adversely affected. Due to the enlarging NPAs in banks, the RBI made stringent rules to curb the alarming situation. But in 2009, the RBI has to liberalised the norms in January 2009 due to the slowdown of Indian Economy. The private sector banks and the foreign banks exhibited the good show in bringing down the NPAs as most of the private and foreign banks brought down the NPA level up to 2 percent. Their sub-standard assets, doubtful assets and loss assets have decreased considerably over the time. The present paper is an attempt to study NPA problem in Private Sector and Foreign Banks in India.

The main propose of this research is the analyses of value added rule as an intellectual index on the financial ,economical and stock market performance of corporations .at this research the effect of value added (intellectual capital and used capital)on the financial ,economical and stock market of corporation in Tehran exchange commission through the 2006 until 2012with the method of regression has survived .results show that the coefficient of intellectual capital value added is effective at corporation performance .although among the coefficient of intellectual capital and financial and economical performance is meaningful relationship .but there is not meaningful relation among used capital corporation performance .that is arising from not being relation among value added coefficient and financial ,economical and market performance of corporations .So we can conclude that intellectual capital value added in comparison with used capital value added has more and important effect on corporation performance especially at financial and economical performance.

It is the primary responsibility of all parents to fulfill the child’s dreams and aspirations. With mounting inflation and hence a higher cost of living, parents have to ensure that their child is able to lead a life of respect and self-esteem with a financially secured future. Children’s plans offered by life insurers have emerged as a smart way to propose financial security to the children. The study examines the children’s plans offered by selected life insurers in India. It is found that plans floated by insurers are unique in providing financial means to children to pursue their goals, and these plans are the best available alternative to save and invest for the safe and bright future of the child. However, it is problematic for an individual to comprehend the trick of inherent and latent charges in these plans. The study observed that children’s plan SMART Steps Plus of Max New York Life and Young Star Plus II of HDFC SL are worth considering to save for child’s better future. On the basis of study it can be inferred that Young Star Plus II of HDFC SL is better in terms of inherent features and diverse charges as compared to SMART Steps Plus of Max New York Life.

A profitable banking sector is better able to withstand negative shocks and contribute to the stability of the financial system. The importance of bank profitability can be appraised at the micro and macro levels of the economy. At the micro level, profit is determined by bank’s management decisions and policy objectives, while the macroeconomic determinants look at variables that reflect the economic and legal environment where the credit institution operates. Bank profitability, typically measured by the return on assets (ROA) and/or the return on equity (ROE), and/or net interest margin (NIM) is usually expressed as a function of internal and external determinants. These issues engaged the minds of the authors in this paper. Industry related dataset that covers a 10year period of time was used. The regression results indicate that bank-specific characteristics and macroeconomic variables explain up to 97.4% variations in bank profitability when NIM was used as a dependent variable. Summarily, profitability was found to be associated with well-capitalised banks as capital ratio has a positive significant relationship with NIM; bank size has a negative but significant relationship with NIM; Asset composition has a positive but an insignificant relationship with NIM; Liquidity has a negative and insignificant relationship with NIM; all the macroeconomic variables apart from inflation have a negative and insignificant relationship with NIM. Therefore, the study recommends that regulatory authorities should promote policies that will bring about low inflation and stable economic output growth, whereas, bank managements should concentrate more on cost and non-performing loans reduction and asset composition diversification.

Capital structure plays acritical role in determining the performance of a firm. The study investigated the effect between capital structure and financial performance of SMEs in hotel sector in Mombasa County and environs in Kenya. The study used profitability and liquidity as a measure of performance. SPSS software was used to analyze and generate reports for the study. Regression analysis, correlation coefficient, ANOVA, Chi-square tools and instruments were used. Regression coefficient showed B-0.021, beta -0.017n, t- 0.289 p- value 0.773. Therefore capital structure negatively and significantly affects the financial performance of SMES