CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND PROFITABILITY OF LISTED FOOD AND BEVERAGES FIRMS IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT Corporate governance plays a critical role in shaping the financial performance of food and beverages firms. However, the Nigerian food and beverages firms has faced significant challenges due to weak governance structures that have been linked to poor financial performance. This study therefore examined the impact of corporate governance on profitability of listed food and beverages firms in Nigeria. The study adopted an ex-post facto research design, ensuring a grounded real-world data from 10 listed food and beverages firms on the Nigerian Exchange Group over a period of 10 years (2014-2023). The study focused on corporate governance variables such as board size, board independence, audit committee size, Board gender diversity and financial performance variable measured as Return on Assets (ROA). Collected data were analyzed using multiple regression analysis to determine the relationship between corporate governance variables and profitability. The result revealed that board independence, audit committee size and board gender diversity had positive significant statistical influence on profitability, while the board size revealed a positive insignificant relationship with profitability. This findings suggests that board size alone does not significantly contribute to firm profitability, possibly due to the trade-offs between the benefits of diverse expertise and potential coordination challenges in larger boards. The study concluded that certain aspects of corporate governance significantly influence profitability among listed food and beverages firms in Nigeria. Based on the findings, it was recommended that companies should not neglect the importance of optimal board composition.