Impact of Board Size and Firm’s Characteristics on the Profitability of Listed Companies in Nigeria

Abstract

The impact of board size on the profitability of firm was empirically examined in this study for the listed companies in Nigeria for a period of ten years ranginging from 2004 to 2013. Specifically, the study investigated the impact of board size, firm size and firm age on return on capital employed of the selected companies. The study relied on the secondary data extracted from the audited financial statement of a sample of 70 companies purposefully selected from the 198 listed companies in Nigeria. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were carried out. The results revealed that a significant positive relationship exists between the board size, firm size and return on capital employed. It was therefore recommended that listed companies should adopt the use of large board (12 members) to improve the profitability. It is also needful for the listed companies to increase the capital based as this was found to have positive impact on the profitability of listed companies in Nigeria while the policy makers are encouraged to provide adequate guidelines on the selection of board members.

Keywords: Return on Capital Employed, Board Size, Firm Size, Firm Age, Profitability