EQUIPMENT LEASING AND BANK PROFITABILITY (2014-2023)

Despite the enviable prospects of equipment leasing, it is still faced with some fundamental problems which are of great concern to this study. This study examined the effect of equipment leasing and bank profitability in Nigeria (a case study of First Bank Plc 2014 – 2023). The study employed three measures of equipment leasing namely finance lease, operating lease and equipment leasing volume as independent variables while profitability measured as return on asset was for the dependent variable. The study made use of ex-post-facto research design and made use of secondary data collected from the published annual financial report of First Bank Plc. The data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, correlation, and the hypotheses were tested using regression analysis operated by Statistical Packages for Social Sciences version 20. The result of the findings indicates that both finance lease and operating leases have positive significant effect on return on asset of First bank Plc, and that equipment leasing volume has a significant positive relationship with return on asset of First Bank Plc. The study concluded that equipment leasing has a significant positive effect on return of asset of First Bank Plc. Based on the conclusion of study, it was recommended that First Bank should improve on their financing since there is evidence that higher lease financing may lead to higher return on asset and that First bank should improve on their lease financing since there is evidence that higher lease financing may lead to higher ROA.