Board remuneration has attracted considerable interest amongst financial analysts and scholars as it is seen to be a deterrent to financial scandals that have rocked corporates in the 21 st Century. This study sought to determine the effect of board remuneration on financial performance, focussing on commercial banks, insurance companies and investment companies listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange from 2003 to 2013. Grounding the study on the agency theory, the study postulated that board remuneration will positively influence financial performance. Secondary data was obtained from audited financial statements for the 11 years ending 2013. Board remuneration was measured by director annual fees, while financial performance was measured using the proxies; return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE), dividend yield (DY), and earnings per share (EPS). A linear regression model was used on pooled cross-sectional time-series data to draw the inferences of the study. The results disclose significant variations in the level of board remuneration across the companies and a significant relationship between board remuneration and DY, but not ROA, ROE, and EPS. When disaggregated to financial market segments, the results confirmed a statistically significant relationship between board remuneration and with dividend yield in the banking sector. The same was not reported for ROA, ROE, and EPS. In the insurance segment, there was a statistical significance between board remuneration and ROA only, while in the investment sector, there was no significant relationship between board remuneration and financial performance measures.

Mergers and Acquisitions deals that create value constitute at least one or a combination of financial and operational synergy. This paper investigates the effect of synergy on financial performance of merged institutions in the financial services sector in Kenya. The paper adopted a mixed research design, pre and post-merger secondary data was collected from 40 (forty) institutions in the Kenyan financial services industry that had concluded their merger processes by 31 December 2013. Financial synergy was proxied using the liquidity ratio while operating synergy was measured using growth in sales. Primary data was used to explain the results of the secondary data. Panel data analysis was used to determine the change in the study variables and trends over time between 2009 and 2013, event window (pre-merger and post-merger) analysis was used to test for any significant difference in performance means before and after merger as a result synergy, while regression analysis was used to determine the relationship between synergy and profitability. Results show that there is a positive relationship between performance, operating synergy and financial synergy, and that there was significant improvement in performance post-merger. From these findings, the study recommends that institutions should critically evaluate the overall business and operational compatibility of the merging institutions and focus on capturing long-term financial synergies as this has a positive effect on the performance.

Company/firm size is among the many variables that is significant in assessing the profitability of a company. Therefore, this paper seeks to evaluate the effect of company size on the financial performance of listed agricultural companies in Kenya. The theory of economies of scale that links benefits arising from company size, cost management and production volumes was utilized. Secondary data was extracted from the annual reports comprising of financial statement from the period 2003 to 2013 and analyzed using a pooled OLS model. Company size was measured using the total assets (Log of assets) while financial performance was measured by return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE) and earnings per share (EPS). The regression results present the goodness of fit for the regression between log total asset and ROA, ROE and EPS as 0.112, 0.113 and 0.074 respectively. The overall model of ROA, ROE and EPS was significant with F statistic of 9.334, 11.096 and 5.901 respectively. The relationship between log total asset and financial performance measures was positive and significant for ROA (b1= 0.033, p value, 0.003) and ROE (b1= 0.049, p value, 0.001) and. EPS (b1= 3.866, p value, 0.018). These results indicate that company size as measured by total assets affects financial performance of agricultural companies listed in NSE positively and significantly. Company size had positive and statistical significance on all the three indicators of the financial performance disclosing that large companies were found to have a competitive advantage over small firms.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to establish the influence of liquidity on the financial performance of agricultural firms listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange.Methodology: The research design adopted was descriptive and causal (explanatory). A census approach was adopted and all the seven listed agricultural companies were taken as the population. The respondents’ sample was from finance departments at all levels and 220 questionnaires were administered. Primary data was collected using questionnaires while the secondary data was collected using data collection sheets from the firms as well as from the Nairobi Securities Exchange and CMA records. The particular inferential statistic was regression and correlation analysis. Panel data methodology was employed using a multivariate regression model to test the hypotheses and link the variablesResults: The study found out that liquidity has a positive influence on return on assets (ROA). In addition, the findings revealed that liquidity has a positive influence on return on equity (ROE). Further the results indicated that liquidity has a positive influence on earnings per share (EPS). The influence of liquidity on EPS is not statistically significantUnique contribution to theory, practice and policy: The study recommends that financial managers should ensure that there is no mismatch between the current assets and current liability. If this happens, the mismatch will affect the firm’s profitability.

A general rise in the cash holding levels by firms internationally in the recent years has led to an increase in interest in cash holding research as cash is an asset that typically yields low return. Empirical research has produced mixed results and often little research has been carried out on the subject in developing countries. This paper thus looks at the determinants of cash holding of 44 non-financial firms listed in Nairobi securities exchange (NSE) for the period 2002 to 2013 using secondary data in annual reports and financial statements. We test for trade off, pecking order and the free cash flow theories using correlational and non-experimental research design. The results of OLS with year and industry dummies and panel data models shows that there exists significant positive and negative relationship between cash holding and cash flow and leverage respectively and insignificant relationship between cash holding and market-to-book value and firm size. Interest rests were found to be a significant mediator of the relationship between cash holding and MTB, size, leverage and cash flow. Industrial sector of a firm's main activity influences its cash holding policies. This study adds to the frontier knowledge on the determinants of cash holding by helping managers decide on their firm's optimal cash holding while also serving to inform investors on whether portfolio managers are adopting the right cash holding practices.