Ownership Concentration and Bank Profitability

Ozili, Peterson K and Uadiale, Olayinka (2017): Ownership Concentration and Bank Profitability. Published in: Future Business Journal

Abstract

We investigate whether ownership concentration influences bank profitability in a developing country context. We focus on bank ownership concentration measured as the amount of direct equity held by a majority shareholder categorised into: high ownership concentration, moderate ownership concentration and disperse ownership. We find that banks with high ownership concentration have higher return on assets, higher net interest margin and higher recurring earning power while banks with dispersed ownership have lower return on assets but have higher return on equity. Also, higher cost efficiency improves the return on assets of widely-held banks and the return on equity of banks with moderate ownership. The findings have implications.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Corporate Governance, Ownership Structure, Agency theory, Profitability, Firm Performance, Banks, Return on Asset, Return on equity.
• Subjects: G - Financial Economics > G2 - Financial Institutions and Services > G21 - Banks ; Depository Institutions ; Micro Finance Institutions ; Mortgages; G - Financial Economics > G3 - Corporate Finance and Governance > G32 - Financing Policy ; Financial Risk and Risk Management ; Capital and Ownership Structure ; Value of Firms ; Goodwill; G - Financial Economics > G3 - Corporate Finance and Governance > G34 - Mergers ; Acquisitions ; Restructuring ; Corporate Governance; M - Business Administration and Business Economics ; Marketing ; Accounting ; Personnel Economics > M1 - Business Administration > M12 - Personnel Management ; Executives; Executive Compensation

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