The Influence of Debt Financing on Firms' Performance: A Study of Consumer Product Industryin Malaysia

Abstract

This research investigates the influences of debt financing on firms’ performance in the consumer product industry in Malaysia. The firms’ performance is measured based on return on assets (ROA), while the independent variables examined were accounts payable (AP), short-term debt (STD), long-term debt (LTD), and firm size. The data for this research were collected from consumer product firms in Malaysia and listed by Bank Negara Malaysia. Fifteen years of data, from 2001 until 2015, were analyzed. The findings revealed a significant relationship between short term debt and long-term debt towards the performance of consumer product firms in Malaysia. However, an insignificant relationship was found between account payable and firm’s size towards the performance of consumer product firms in Malaysia. Nevertheless, other factors can be considered when measuring the performance of consumer product firms in Malaysia.