EFFECT OF BOARD OWNERSHIP STRUCTURE ON PROFITABILITY OF LISTED NONFINANCIAL FIRMS IN NIGERIA

Most of the studies on Board ownership and profitability of firms examine board ownership as single component without examining the extent to which their individual components affect profitability of firms. This paper examines the effect of board ownership structure on profitability of listed nonfinancial firms in Nigeria for the period 2010 - 2022. Secondary data is obtained from the annual reports and accounts of sixty five (65) firms out of 116 nonfinancial firms listed in the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) as at 31st December, 2022. Board ownership structure as an independent variable is proxies by overall board of directors’ ownership, Chief Executive Director Ownership, Executive directors’ ownership and Nonexecutive directors’ ownership, while ROA is used as proxy for profitability which serves as the dependent variable of the study. The study adopts ex-post facto and correlation research design with multiple regressions as technique of data analysis. The result of the fixed effect regression reveals that overall board of directors’ ownership; CED ownership and executive directors’ ownership have positive significant effect on profitability, while nonexecutive directors’ ownership also has positive but insignificant effect on profitability. It is recommended that the firms should encourage board ownership through share-based remuneration since it has significant effect on profitability.