Human Capital Expenditure and Earnings Per Share of Listed Agricultural Companies in Nigeria

This study examined the relationship between human capital expenditure and earnings per share of listed agricultural companies in Nigeria. Specifically, it investigated the relationships between staff remuneration cost, staff training cost, and health and safety cost and earnings per share (EPS). The study adopted an ex-post facto research design and used secondary data extracted from the audited annual reports and financial statements of five listed agricultural companies in Nigeria over the period 2009-2024, resulting in a balanced panel of 80 firm-year observations. Data were analysed using panel regression with cross-section and period fixed effects, incorporating a lagged dependent variable, while hypotheses were tested at the 5% level of significance. The results revealed that staff remuneration cost had a positive and statistically significant relationship with EPS. In contrast, staff training cost and health and safety cost had positive but statistically insignificant relationships with EPS. The model was jointly statistically significant. The study concluded that staff remuneration expenditure was the only human capital expenditure component with a statistically significant individual relationship with earnings per share in the estimated model. It therefore recommended that management of listed agricultural companies should maintain equitable and competitive remuneration policies aligned with employee productivity and organisational performance. Management should also periodically evaluate the effectiveness of staff training programmes and health and safety expenditure to ensure that these investments contribute to measurable operational improvements and sustainable shareholder earnings.