The effect of selected bank specific and macroeconomic factors on financial performance of Commercial banks in Kenya

Abstract

The main goal of many banks is to grow and sustain growth in its financial performance. Internal factors and macroeconomics factors are viewed as critical drivers for bank financial performance. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of selected bank specific factors and macroeconomics factors on financial performance of commercial banks in Kenya. There is lack of consensus on the effect of selected bank specific factors and macroeconomics factors on bank financial performance. The population of this study comprised of all the forty five (45) commercial banks in Kenya licensed by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) as at December 2007. The study used Panel data covering a period of eleven years from 2007 to 2017.The data was collected from CBK published financial annual supervisory reports for the 45 commercial banks listed by Central bank of Kenya and the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics periodic reports. The study used Correlation and multiple linear regression analysis to analyze the data. The researcher used SPSS software to assist in analyzing the data. Findings of the study shades light on the effect of selected bank specific factors and macroeconomic factors on financial performance of commercial banks in Kenya. In light of the different views that appear in some studies the results will be useful to investors, management, auditors, financial analyst and researchers. The study established that bank specific and macroeconomic factors accounted for 89.3% financial performance of commercial banks in Kenya (R2 = 0.893). This point out that selected bank specific and macroeconomic factors strongly predict financial performance of listed commercial banks in Kenya. Additionally, the study established that joint macroeconomic factors ( = 5.522, p< 0.05) was the strongest predictor of financial performance of listed commercial banks in Kenya compared to bank specific factors with coefficient of ( = -1.482p< 0.05). Therefore, bank specific and macroeconomic factors have a statistical positive significant effect on financial performance of commercial banks in Kenya. The study recommends further research on other bank specific and macroeconomic factors not included in the study to determine whether they have a significant positive effect on financial performance of commercial banks in Kenya or not.