Leverage and Firm Value of Cement Manufacturing Firms in Kenya

Abstract

The study sought to determine the relationship around financial leverage and firm value of cement manufacturing firms in Kenya. The study was based on correlational form of design. The study targeted six cement manufacturing firms in Kenya between 2011 and 2020. Secondary data was mined from individual publicly available audited financial statements from the company websites. Data collection schedule containing annual total debt, total equity, total assets, total liabilities, current assets and current liabilities was used. SPSS was used to analyze the data through descriptive, correlation and regression statistics. Between 2011 and 2020, firm value as measured by Tobin Q averaged at 0.8094; financial leverage as measured by leverage ratio at 0.991; Firm size at 10.5382; and liquidity at 1.2930. From the correlation analysis, financial leverage showed a weak significant negative correlation; firm size showed a weak positive correlation coefficient; while liquidity showed a significant strong negative correlation coefficient with firm value. The model summary showed an R square of 0.718. This indicated that 71.8% of the change in firm value of cement manufacturing firms in Kenya between 2011 and 2020 was explained by financial leverage, firm size and liquidity. From the regression analysis, increase in financial leverage reduced the firm value; increase in firm size would increase the firm value while increase in liquidity would reduce firm value. The study concludes that financial leverage relates negatively with firm value of cement manufacturing firms in Kenya; firm size of cement manufacturing firms in Kenya has a positive relationship with their firm value; and that liquidity relates negatively with firm value of cement manufacturing firms in Kenya. The study recommends that cement manufacturing firms in Kenya reduce the level of debt used in their firms; increase their levels of assets; and reduce the level of current liabilities while increasing the current assets in their portfolios.