FINANCIAL LEVERAGE AND ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY: EVIDENCE FROM IN NIGERIAN INDUSTRIAL GOODS FIRMS

The study determined the extent financial leverage affected the operating cash flow of industrial goods firms in Nigeria. Ex-post facto research design was used in the study. A sample of nine (9) listed industrial goods firms were selected from the population of thirteen (13) industrial goods firms. Data were extracted from the annual reports of the firms from 2012-2024. Descriptive analysis was done using measures of central tendency and dispersion, Test of hypotheses was carried out using panel estimated generalized least squares. The study revealed that total debt to capital ratio and long-term debt to equity ratio have a significant and positive effect on operating cash flow margin. Based on the results, the study recommended among others that management of the industrial goods firms should strategically increase the use of debt financing in their capital structure relative to total capital employed, provided the cost of debt remains lower than the firm’s return on capital