Effect of firm specific characteristics and interest rate on lease financing of listed consumer goods firms in Nigeria

This paper aims to assess the effect of firm-specific characteristics and interest rates on the lease financing of listed consumer goods in Nigeria. Secondary data from the annual report and account of the sampled firms were used from 2011 to 2018. A filtering criterion was adopted, and nine listed consumer goods companies were selected as samples of the study. Multiple regression technique using generalised least square (GLS) was employed in analysing the panel data. The study's findings revealed that growth opportunity and business complexity significantly influence the lease financing of listed consumer goods companies in Nigeria. At the same time, the interest rate was found to have an insignificant negative influence on the lease financing of listed consumer goods companies in Nigeria. Therefore, the study recommends that managers of listed consumer goods in Nigeria should pay more attention to utilising lease financing to attain the desired level of growth. This can be achieved by seeking growth opportunities in firms where they can further expand and diversify their businesses in order to meet up with available opportunities.