Ensuring the balance between sustainability and profitability in the corporate financial management system: Capital adequacy, asset quality, and bank performance

This paper investigates the determinants of commercial bank profitability in oil and non-oil countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region using data from 11 countries over the period 2004–2014. Since banks are under no obligation to fill reports to Bankscope database, irregular reporting banks are omitted from the sample and the model is re-estimated using only regular reporting banks, and a comparative analysis between total banks’ sample and regular reporting banks’ sample is provided. Using the two-step system GMM and fixed effects models, the results indicate that credit risk is negative and highly significant when irregular reporting banks are omitted from the sample, particularly in the non-oil group, unlike the oil countries case, which indicates that adding irregular reporting banks to the sample could lead to bias in some estimated coefficients if they constitute a considerable percentage of the total banks’ sample. Diversification is a key determinant for profitability in oil countries. No enough evidence to support the impact of financial inclusion and financial openness on bank profitability. In addition, the global financial crisis has significantly affected bank profitability in oil countries. Several policy implications are provided to the bank management to follow based on each country group.

Working capital management is germane for the success of the banking industry in Nigeria, especially the current state of the sector, which is engulfed with the effect of the global decline in oil price that has resulted in non-performing loans, deterioration of the bank asset quality, laying-off of staff amongst others. This is one of the reasons why the profitability of the banking sector deeply depends on the efficient management of a bank’s working capital. Therefore, the objective of this study is to examine how profitability of banks can be enhanced through the working capital management. To empirically carry out the analysis, panel data which consist of ten (10) deposit money banks in Nigeria for seven years (2010–2016) employing the panel fixed effect, panel random effect and the pooled OLS for the two models, which were used as proxies for bank profitability, which includes return on asset (ROA) and return on equity (ROE) to examine the best measure for bank profitability, with the indicators of working capital; net interest income, current ratio, profit after tax, and monetary policy rate. Results of the study showed that working capital management has a significant effect on the profitability of the selected banks and that return on asset is a better measure for bank profitability. Therefore, the study recommends that there should be a periodic review of the minimum capital base of the Nigerian deposit money banks so as to mitigate the effects of inflation and inculcate the consequence of time value of money, because the purchasing power of one (₦1) naira or one ($1) dollar today would not be sufficient to purchase what it can purchase today for tomorrow.

The implementation of Basel III regulations has become a crucial factor influencing the financial performance of the banking sector in Bangladesh. The primary objective of this study is to examine the impact of Basel III implementation on the financial performance of the banking industry in Bangladesh. The research utilizes secondary data from 20 commercial banks in Bangladesh, including state-owned, private, and Islamic banks. It offers a diverse and representative sample of Bangladesh’s banking sector, covering the period from 2014 to 2023. This variety ensures a comprehensive understanding of different banking models and their challenges, representing the scenario of the whole industry. A multivariate regression model with fixed effects, determined by the Hausman test, was employed to analyze the relationship between capital adequacy (CRAR, Core Capital Tier-1, Tier-1, and Tier-2 Capital Ratios) and bank-specific factors (size, provisions) on performance indicators (ROA and NPL). The findings reveal that higher capital adequacy, particularly the Tier-1 Capital Ratio, and CRAR, positively influences bank profitability (measured by ROA) and reduces NPLs. Conversely, larger bank size correlates with lower ROA and higher NPLs, and increased provisions also lead to higher NPLs. These results underscore the significance of Basel III in enhancing the financial performance and stability of the banking sector in Bangladesh, suggesting that more substantial capital buffers can improve profitability and reduce risks associated with non-performing loans.