DETERMINANTS OF PROFITABILITY OF LISTED DEPOSIT MONEY BANKS IN NIGERIA

This study examines the determinants of profitability of listed deposit money banks in Nigeria for fifteen years (15) from 2007 to 2021. The population of the study consists of fourteen (14) deposit money banks listed in Nigerian Exchange Group. In arriving at the sample size of twelve (12) banks, the filtering criteria was employed. Data were sourced secondarily from the audited annual reports of deposit money banks to extract data for non-performing loan, total assets, core tier 1 capital, leverage ratio, loan ratio, and operating income to expenses ratio. The study utilized descriptive analysis and multiple linear regression to analysed data and then test the significance of independent variables on the dependent variable, and determine their correlation. The findings from the study revealed that, asset quality, capital adequacy, liquidity management and management efficiency have significant effect on profitability of listed deposit money banks in Nigeria while leverage and bank size has no significant effect on profitability of deposit money banks in Nigeria. The study concluded that Assets quality, capital adequacy, liquidity, and management efficiency are the main determinants of profitability of listed deposit money banks in Nigeria, while bank size and leverage are not significant determinants of profitability of listed deposit money banks in Nigeria. The study recommended that banks should monitor carefully and control their loans to ensure asset quality and consequently increase their profitability because this can translate to profitability of listed deposit money banks in Nigeria. Nevertheless, there is the need for deposit money banks to increase their capital base in order to increase profitability.