Effect of Assets Quality on the Financial Performance of the Commercial Banks Listed in the Nairobi Securities Exchange

Abstract

The objective of the study was to establish the influence of asset quality on the financial performance of commercial banks listed at NSE in Kenya. The study utilized descriptive research technique whereby secondary data was extracted from 12 commercial banks annual financial reports between the years 2017 and 2020, the banking survey and the CBK annual reports. Data analysis was performed by use of SPSS vs 26 software. The findings of the descriptive statistics show that Loan Loss Ratio had a higher Mean (M=2.13) followed by Total Investment to Total Assets Ratio (M= 1.63). Regression analysis using Pearson correlation constant beta coefficient for LLR = 0.248, while p = 0.023 and TTR beta coefficient value of -0.106 with p > 0.05. The results established that asset quality had a significant effect on the financial performance of banks listed at NSE. The computed linear relationship between the independent variables (asset quality) and the dependent variables (financial performance) indicated that only 11% of the changes in the financial performance could easily be explained by the independent variables. The study recommends application of policies that should minimize credit risks as the nature of asset quality provides specific variables that eventually influence the overall financial performance of the banks