Effect of Financial Distress Factors on Profitability of Microfinance Banks Licensed by Central Bank of Kenya
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17613/g7s1-x024Keywords:
Financial Distress, Financial Leverage, Liquidity, Non-Performing LoansAbstract
The study sought to examine the effect of financial distress factors on the profitability of microfinance banks (MFBs) licensed by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK). The research adopted a causal research design and targeted the 13 MFBs licensed by CBK and operated between 2016 to 2020. The study targeted a period of five (5) years beginning from 2016 to 2020 forming panel data. The study was a census of all the 13 licensed Microfinance banks by CBK hence no sampling was carried out. The study collected annual secondary data from 2016 to 2020 from the 13 licensed Microfinance banks by CBK. The data was panel in nature and Microsoft Excel was used as a secondary data collection template as it is capable of inputting and managing the data. The collected panel data for the period between 2016 and 2020 was analyzed using Microsoft Excel. Descriptive statistics included mean, standard deviation, minimum and maximum. Regarding inferential statistical analysis, the OLS regression model was adopted to estimate the coefficients and associated p-values to enable the fitting of the model and forecasting. The analysis of variances revealed that financial distress factors (financial leverage, liquidity and non-performing loans) have a significant impact on profitability captured by ROA. Further, the effect of liquidity on the profitability of licensed MFBs was inverse but not statistically significant. The study also revealed that financial leverage had a direct and statistically significant effect on the profitability of licensed MFBs. Finally, the study revealed that the impact of non-performing loans on profitability was inverse and statistically significant. The study thus concluded that distress factors including financial leverage, liquidity and non-performing loans have a major effect on profitability among the licensed MFBs in Kenya.
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