Empirical Analysis of Dependence on Capital Structure with Respect to Its Impact on the Financial Performance of Domestic Non Financial Listed Stock Exchange Companies Operating in the Public Sector of Pakistan

Abstract

This research work is based on the relationship that exists between the capital structure and performance of different sector's firms currently operating in the Pakistan. Capital structure decisions can be considered as the most important financial performance and risk management tools which are available to the companies' management. Capital structure can also play an important role in performance assessment, in performance management and in effective handling of ownership claims. The extensive use and heavy dependence on debt has exposed many companies to potential risk of declined performance and also to the risk of insolvency. This study analyzes the relationship between various capital structure indicators and dependence of financial performance of companies on these indicators using a broad sample covering 202 non-financial firms listed on Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) over the period of 1999-2012. The sample firms are divided into five sectors i.e. Textile, Chemical, Cement, Food and Fuel & Energy. Financial performance of firms is quantified by Return on Assets (ROE), Return on Equity (ROE), Price-Earnings ratio (PE) and Tobin's Q (TQ). The relationship between financial performance measures and capital structure measures i.e. total debt, short term debt and long term debt is estimated using GLS fixed and random effect model. Sector wise comparison shows that majority of the sectors have similar capital structure. The impact of capital structure on the financial performance is also similar across sectors with few variations. Overall the relationship is found to be negative among capital structure and firm performance measured by ROA, ROE and PE except TQ which is positively related to Long Term Debt to total Assets (LTDA). The result of industry wise comparison contributes significantly to the existing stream of knowledge. The results indicate that lower reliance on the debt financing improves the performance of the firm whereas dependence and exposure of debt financing reduce performance. The research can be useful for the management of companies in different sectors that want to improve their performance.