Capital Structure and the Performance of Quoted Companies in Nigeria

The research work was designed to evaluate capital structure and the performance of quoted companies in Nigeria. The focus was to identify the relationship that exists between capital structure and performance indices such as the net profit margin, return on assets and return on equity. The theoretical component of the study attempted to evaluate the major contending theories of capital structure with the purpose of finding the best empirical explanation for corporate financing choice of a cross section of 94 Nigerian quoted companies. The result showed that Capital mix has a significant relationship with the earnings per share of quoted firms in Nigeria. Debt equity ratio has a significant positive impact on the return on assets of quoted companies in Nigeria and debt asset ratio has a significant inverse relationship with the return on assets of quoted companies in Nigeria. Also debt equity ratio has a significant inverse impact on the return on equity of quoted companies in Nigeria and debt asset ratio has a significant positive impact on return on equity of quoted companies in Nigeria. Quoted companies in Nigeria should invest their profits when there are good investment opportunities and pay cash dividend as soon as enough income is generated