Indian Journal of Accounting (IJA) 73

ISSN : 0972-1479 (Print) 2395-6127 (Online) Vol. XLVIII (2), December, 2016, pp. 73-80

IMPACT OF FINANCIAL LEVERAGE ON FIRM'S PERFORMANCE AND

Dr. Amit Kumar Singh∗

ABSTRACT

In the field of corporate finance, capital structure decisions have gained currency in the academic world as
sufficient and in-time availability of required finance from appropriate source and its effective utilization is the key
to success in every field. Many firms become insolvent because they have improper capital mix. Thus, it is
imperative for companies to have right mix of capital which reduces their insolvency risk and also maximizes their
firm value. The present study is an attempt to investigate the impact of financial leverage on firm's financial
performance and also on firm's valuation. For this purpose, 60 Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) companies
listed on National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) have been considered for a period of
10 years from 2007 to 2016. These companies constitute S&P BSE FMCG Index. Due to information availability
constraint, 2 firms have been excluded and the study is based on remaining 58 companies. Return on Total Assets
and Economic Value Added are taken as indicators of firm's profitability, whereas, Enterprise Value and Tobin's Q
are taken as indicators of firm's valuation. So, four regression equations have been developed to study the impact of
financial leverage on firm’s performance and valuation. The technique of panel data regression has been used on
SPSS. The results showed that leverage has a significant negative impact on firm's performance indicator EVA and
ROA and firm's valuation indicator Tobin's Q.

KEYWORDS: Capital Structure, Enterprise Value, Financial Leverage, Firm Performance, Tobin's Q.
JEL Classification: G3.

_______________

Introduction
The corporate sector is one of the most important sectors of any modern economy as they
contribute to the economic growth process through increased corporate savings, investments and
employment. Several studies have been done to analyze certain issues which are responsible for
enhancing the value of the companies. The most important research issues in the area of corporate
finance includes financing decision, investment decision and dividend decision. Among these issues, the
financing decision or determination of capital structure has gained currency in the academic world. A
firm's capital structure is the structure of its liabilities, i.e., the way it finances its assets through some
combination of equity, debt and hybrid securities. Selecting the right combination of debt and equity is a

∗
Associate Professor, Department of Commerce, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, Delhi.
∗∗
Research Scholar, Department of Commerce, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, Delhi.
74 Indian Journal of Accounting (IJA) Vol. XLVIII (2), December, 2016
big challenge, to which Stewart C. Myers has called “a capital structure puzzle”(1984). It is imperative to
solve this capital structure puzzle as sufficient and in-time availability of required finance from
appropriate source and its effective utilization is the key to success in every field. Many firms become
insolvent because they have improper capital mix. Thus, it is imperative for companies to have right mix
of capital which reduces their insolvency risk and also maximizes their firm value. The present study is
an attempt to investigate the impact of financial leverage or capital structure on firm's financial
performance and also on firm's valuation.
The fund requirement is not the same for all industries as they are driven by different asset
structure, technology, cash flows, etc. Therefore, the type of industry is also considered as one of the
important determinants of leverage. The present study focuses on FMCG industry and as the name
suggests, "Fast Moving Consumer Goods" companies sell goods which have a shorter shelf life, lower
price, fast moving and therefore cash flows are predictable. So, it is easier for FMCG company to raise
debt as cash flows are swift and predictable. Thus, it is essential to analyze whether use of debt in the
capital structure can help FMCG firms to leverage their profitability and valuation.
Literature Review
Impact of leverage on firm's Performance
A large number of studies in various countries and industries have been conducted to assess the
impact of financial leverage on firm's performance. But there is no general consensus for any country or
for any specific industry. Moreover, the impact of short term and long term debt is also found to have
different impact on the firm's performance measures. Goyal (2013) studied the impact of leverage on
profitability of Indian public sector banks and found that there exists a strong relationship between short
term debt and all profitability measures (ROA, ROE and EPS). They further suggested that long term
debt has a negative relationship with ROA, ROE and EPS.
Ibrahim El Sayed Ebaid, (2009) have examined listed non financial Egyptian firms for a period
1997-2005 and propounded that capital structure decision has a weak-to-no impact on firm's financial
performance. Pouraghajan and Malekian (2012) investigated the impact of leverage on the firm's financial
performance for Tehran based companies. They concluded that there exists a significant negative
relationship between debt ratio and financial performance of companies. Quang and Xin (2012) analysed
Vietnamese Firms and concluded that leverage has a significant negative impact on financial
performance as measured by ROA and ROE. Sheikh and Wang (2013) investigates the impact of leverage
on performance of non-financial firms listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange Pakistan during 2004-2009.
They propounded that all measures of debt (i.e. total debt ratio, long and short-term debt ratio) have
significant negative impact on ROA. Chadha and Sharma (2015) analyzed 422 BSE listed Indian
manufacturing firms from 2004 to 2013 to assess the impact of financial leverage on firm financial
performance. They deduced that financial leverage has no impact on the firm’s financial performance
parameters of ROA and Tobin’s Q. However, it has negative and significant impact on ROE.
The impact of financial leverage on firm's performance also depends upon the book value and
market value of debt. Mireku, Mensah and Ogoe (2014) studied the impact of book value & market value
of debt on firm's performance. They analyzed 15 Ghana Stock Exchange listed companies for the period
2002–2007 and concluded that the financial leverage has an impact on firm's performance, but, the
market value of debt has a stronger impact than book value.
Impact of Leverage on firm's Valuation
Limited empirical studies have been done to assess the impact of leverage on firm's valuation.
Modigliani and Miller (1963) have shown that the value of levered firm is higher because of the tax-
shield effect that arises due to the deductibility of interest payments. Korotkikh,
Konstantin (2012) empirically demonstrated a negative relationship between leverage and firm value.
Dr. Amit Kumar Singh & Preeti Bansal : Impact of Financial Leverage on Firm's Performance .... 75
This study was conducted with reference to Dutch listed companies which had the problem of
overinvestment and low growth potential. Sanjay Bhayani (2009) showed that financial leverage has no
impact on the firm's valuation in the Indian Cement industry.
Objective of the Study
To assess empirically the impact of financial leverage on the performance and valuation of firms
in the selected BSE FMCG firms.
Rationale of the Study
Amongst the research issues in the field of corporate finance, financing decision or determination
of capital structure is one of the most significant research problems. Sometimes, organizations are under
the extreme pressure of debt and, their failure to meet even the interest obligations leads to their
bankruptcy. Therefore, it is required for all companies to maintain an optimal capital structure. So, in
order to achieve the firm's financial goals, it is imperative to study the impact of leverage on firm's
performance and valuation indicators. It is also evident in the famous DuPont analysis that the ROE is
affected by three things: Operating Efficiency, Asset use efficiency and financial leverage. It is a well
established fact that leverage affects profitability. The present study attempts to identify the direction
and magnitude of this impact in select BSE listed FMCG firms in the last 10 years.
Data Sources and Methodology
The present study is based on the firms that constitute the S&P BSE FMCG Index. The data for the
required variables has been collected for a period of 10 years from 2007 to 2016. Though the BSE FMCG
Index comprises of 60 firms, only 58 firms have been considered for the analysis. Two firms have been
excluded from the study due to their incomplete data for the period of study. The completeness in data
of remaining 58 firms have lead to a balanced panel data, where each variable has 580 observations. The
four regression equations have 4 dependent variables and 7 independent variables. Thus, a sample of 58
listed FMCG firms with 11 variables have been analyzed for a period of 10 years, with 6380 observations,
to assess the impact of leverage on firm's performance and valuation.
The present study is based on secondary data of the sample companies. The list of companies
constituting BSE FMCG Index and their financial time series data has been taken from Prowess—a
Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) database. CMIE Prowess was established in 1976 for
providing financial time series data of listed companies in India. For analyzing the data, panel data
regression has been used and run on IBM SPSS 21 (Statistical Package for Social Sciences).
Theoretical Framework
In order to assess the impact of financial leverage on firm's financial performance and valuation
indicators, panel data regression has been applied. Based on past research studies, two performance
indicators and two valuation indicators have been selected. The indicators employed for firms' financial
performance are Return on Total Assets (ROA) and Economic Value Added (EVA). Tobin's Q and
Enterprise Value (EV) have been employed as measurement indicators for firm's valuation. Accordingly,
four regression models have been constructed to analyze the said relationship.
Model 1: Return on assets (ROA) has been used as a performance indicator with debt-equity ratio,
firm's size, spending on R&D, tangibility and growth rate in sales as the independent variables. ROA
measures the profitability of the firm with respect to the assets being employed by the firm and thereby
shows the efficiency of the firm in utilizing the assets for firm's growth.
Alternative Hypothesis: Variables like debt-equity ratio, firm's size, spending on R&D, tangibility
and growth in sales significantly affect the ROA.
76 Indian Journal of Accounting (IJA) Vol. XLVIII (2), December, 2016
In this equation, the data for ROA, D/E, R&D and Sales Growth have been directly taken from
CMIE Prowess. Firm's size has been calculated as Natural Logarithm of Net Sales and Tangibility is ratio
of Net Fixed Assets to Total Assets. The data for Net Sales, Net Fixed Assets and Total Assets have been
directly taken from CMIE Prowess.
Model 2: Economic Value Added (EVA) has been used as a performance indicator with debt-
equity ratio, firm's size, spending on R&D, tangibility and Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) as
the independent variables. EVA measures the firm's economic profit and therefore the value being
created by the firm over and above the shareholders return.
Alternative Hypothesis: Variables like debt-equity ratio, firm's size, spending on R&D, tangibility
and WACC in sales significantly affect the EVA.

In this equation, the data for D/E, R&D and WACC have been directly taken from CMIE Prowess.
Firm's size has been calculated as Natural Logarithm of Net Sales and Tangibility is ratio of Net Fixed
Assets to Total Assets. Firm's EVA has been calculated by using the formula: EVA = Profit After Tax -
WACC* (Total Assets - Current Liabilities). The data for Net Sales, Net Fixed Assets, Total Assets, PAT
and Current Liabilities have been directly taken from CMIE Prowess.
Model 3: Enterprise Value has been used as a valuation indicator with debt-equity ratio, spending
on R&D, WACC, tangibility and profitability as the independent variables.
Alternative Hypothesis: Variables like debt-equity ratio, spending on R&D, WACC, tangibility
and profitability significantly affects the Enterprise Value.

In this equation, the data for firm's Enterprise Value, D/E, R&D and WACC have been directly
taken from CMIE Prowess. Firm's Tangibility has been calculated as the ratio of Net Fixed Assets to Total
Assets and Profitability has been calculated as PAT/Net Sales. The data for PAT, Net Sales, Net Fixed
Assets and Total Assets have been directly taken from CMIE Prowess.
Model 4: Tobin's Q has been used as a valuation indicator with debt-equity ratio, spending on
R&D, WACC, tangibility and profitability as the independent variables. Tobin's Q compares the firm's
value with its total assets.
Alternative Hypothesis: Variables like debt-equity ratio, spending on R&D, WACC, tangibility
and profitability significantly affects the Tobin's Q.

In this equation, the data for D/E, R&D and WACC have been directly taken from CMIE Prowess.
Firm's Tangibility has been calculated as the ratio of Net Fixed Assets to Total Assets and Profitability
has been calculated as PAT/Net Sales. Firm's Tobin's Q has been calculated by using the formula:
(Market Capitalization + Value of Debt)/ Total Assets. The data for PAT, Net Sales, Net Fixed Assets,
Total Assets, Market Capitalization and Value of Debt have been directly taken from CMIE Prowess.
Data Analysis, Findings and their Interpretation
Table 1 exhibits the descriptive statistics of performance and valuation measures of 58 firms that
are a constituent of BSE FMCG Index. The median of performance indicator ROA is 7.3% and that of
EVA is 27.60. The median of valuation indicator EV is 13836.27 and that of Tobin's Q is 1.46x. The
descriptive statistics shows that the companies are heterogeneous and companies have Tobin's Q as high
as 184.47x and median as 1.46x, which is an indicator of being overvalued.
Dr. Amit Kumar Singh & Preeti Bansal : Impact of Financial Leverage on Firm's Performance .... 77
Table 1: Descriptive Statistics of Dependent Variables
Statistic ROA EVA Enterprise Value Tobin's Q
Median 7.3 27.60 13836.27 1.46
Min -42.3 -266555.81 220.95 0.21
Max 131 76589.38 2704946.02 184.47
Std Dev 11.81 14879.08 277333.51 8.09
N 578 578.00 578 578.00

Table 2 exhibits the descriptive statistics of independent variables that impact the performance
and valuation measures. The mean Debt equity ratio is 0.56 and median WACC is 8.40%. The median
R&D and profitability are on the lower side. The median growth in sales is 14.9% with mean tangibility
of 26% and size of 9.22 represents the median natural logarithm of Net Sales.
Table 2: Descriptive Statistics of Independent Variables
Statistic D/E ROG in Net Sales Size R&D WACC Tangibility Profitability
Median 0.56 14.90 9.22 4.00 8.40 0.26 5.80
Min 0.00 -57.30 -0.51 0.00 0.00 0.00 -39.96
Max 5.80 652.00 13.16 2042.00 368.40 0.78 139.03
Std Dev 1.04 39.82 1.52 207.55 24.93 0.16 13.74
N 580 580 580 580 580 580 580

Table 3 exhibits the correlation coefficient between all independent variables under study. It is
evident that there is low correlation between the variables which implies that the problem of high multi
colinearity does not exist.
Table 3: Correlation among Independent Variables
Independent
D/E Ratio WACC ROG in Net Sales R&D Size Tangibility Profitability
Variables
D/E Ratio 1.0000
WACC -0.0923 1.0000
ROG in Net Sales 0.0260 0.0038 1.0000
R&D -0.2148 0.1288 -0.0639 1.0000
Size -0.0065 0.0401 -0.1760 0.4696 1.0000
Tangibility 0.1107 0.0586 -0.0839 -0.0527 0.0607 1.0000
Profitability -0.3228 0.0263 0.0314 0.1100 -0.1142 -0.1659 1.0000

In order to assess the impact of financial leverage on firm's performance and valuation, four
regression equations have been developed and panel data regression has been run. IBM SPSS 21 gave the
following empirical findings for the regression equations.
Table 4: Model 1 (ROA as a Measure of firm's Performance)
Independent Variables Coefficient Standard Error t- Stat P-Value
D/E -4.3582* 0.4333 -10.0586 0.000
R&D 0.0074* 0.0025 3.0147 0.0027
Size 0.6538* 0.3316 1.9715 0.0491
ROG in Net Sales 0.0318* 0.0111 2.8669 0.0043
Tangibility -4.9059 2.6980 -1.8184 0.0695
Intercept 7.4363* 3.0750 2.4183 0.0159
Total Panel (balanced) observations 3480
Adjusted R2 21.37%
F statistics 32.3664
Prob. (F statistics) 0.0000
*significant at 5% level.
78 Indian Journal of Accounting (IJA) Vol. XLVIII (2), December, 2016
The empirical results of Model 1 are revealed in Table 4. It has been found that leverage has
negative and highly significant impact on ROA. Thus, high leverage has significant negative impact on
ROA of the FMCG firms. However, other explanatory variables like R&D spending, firm's size, sales
growth have significant and positive impact on ROA. Firms which are bigger in size and spend more on
R&D have higher ROA. Also, firms which have higher growth rate in sales have a higher ROA. The
firm's tangibility has an insignificant negative impact on ROA. The adjusted R2 is 21.37% and the F test
shows that the model is highly significant.
Table 5: Model 2 (EVA as a Measure of firm's Performance)
Independent Variables Coefficient Standard Error t Stat p-value
D/E -1577.9123* 570.8263 -2.7643 0.0059
R&D -22.0300* 3.2493 -6.7798 0.0000
Size 611.4039 430.8680 1.4190 0.1564
WACC -144.5172* 23.2995 -6.2026 0.0000
Tangibility -3138.1331 3547.4767 -0.8846 0.3767
Intercept -510.8073 3929.9542 -0.1300 0.8966
Total Panel (balanced) Observations 3480
Adjusted R2 14.39%
F statistics 20.3956
Prob. (F statistics) 0.0000
*significant at 5% level.
The empirical results of Model 2 are revealed in Table 5. It was found that leverage has negative
and highly significant impact on EVA. Thus, high leverage has significant negative impact on EVA of the
FMCG firms. However, other explanatory variables like R&D spending and WACC have significant
negative impact on EVA. The impact of firm's tangibility and firm's size have an insignificant impact on
EVA. The adjusted R2 is 14.39% and the F test shows that the model is highly significant.
Table 6: Model 3 (Enterprise Value as a Measure of firm's Valuation)
Independent Variables Coefficient Std. Error T Value P value
D/E 1692.3941 6448.4233 0.2625 0.7931
R&D 1118.3039* 30.8965 36.1952 0.0000
WACC 549.1402* 252.5518 2.1744 0.0301
Profitability 243.5563 482.8637 0.5044 0.6142
Tangibility 15488.2477 38677.0217 0.4005 0.6890
Intercept -4977.3529 15538.5070 -0.3203 0.7488
Total Panel (balanced) Observations 3480
Adjusted R2 71.03%
F statistics 283.9798
Prob. (F statistics) 0.0000
*significant at 5% level.
The empirical results of Model 3 are revealed in Table 6. It has been found that leverage has positive
but insignificant impact on EV. However, other explanatory variables like R&D spending and WACC have
significant and positive impact on EV whereas, profitability and tangibility have insignificant and positive
impact on EV. Firms which spend more on R&D and have lower WACC are valued more by the
stakeholders. The adjusted R2 is 71.03% and the F test shows that the model is highly significant.
Table 7. Model 4 (Tobin's Q as a Measure of firm's Valuation)
Independent Variables Coefficient Std. Error T Value P value
D/E -0.9987* 0.3454 -2.8915 0.0040
R&D 0.0031** 0.0017 1.9016 0.0577
WACC -0.0048 0.0135 -0.3518 0.7251
Dr. Amit Kumar Singh & Preeti Bansal : Impact of Financial Leverage on Firm's Performance .... 79
Profitability 0.0196 0.0259 0.7562 0.4498
Tangibility 1.4546 2.0717 0.7021 0.4829
Intercept 3.1549* 0.8323 3.7906 0.0002
Total Panel (balanced) Observations 3480
Adjusted R2 2.24%
F statistics 3.6499
Prob. (F statistics) 0.0029
*significant at 5% level. **significant at 10%

The empirical results of Model 4 are revealed in Table 7. It was found that leverage has negative
and highly significant impact on Tobin's Q. However, other explanatory variable like R&D spending has
a positive impact but significant at 10%. Other explanatory variables like WACC, profitability and
tangibility have insignificant impact on Tobin's Q. Firms which spend more on R&D are valued more by
the stakeholders. As majority of the variables are found to be insignificant at 5%, the adjusted R2 is very
low at 2.24% and the F test shows that the model is significant. Thus, financial leverage (D/E) has
negative and significant impact on the firm’s performance and valuation indicators in case of BSE listed
FMCG firms when financial performance indicators are ROA and EVA and valuation indicator is Tobin’s
Q. The impact of R&D spending has been found to be positive and significant when dependent variables
were ROA, EV and Tobin’s Q. Other control variables such as size, sales growth and WACC are found to
be significant determinants of firm’s financial performance and valuation in the FMCG sector.
Conclusion
The present study analyzed the impact of financial decisions on firm's financial performance and
valuation indicators taking 58 companies of BSE FMCG Index as sample and being analyzed for a period of 10
years from 2007 to 2016. ROA and EVA have been used as a proxy for firm's financial performance whereas,
Tobin's Q and EV have been used as firm's valuation indicators. The results showed that financial leverage has
significant and negative impact on performance and valuation when firm's financial performance indicators
are ROA and EVA and valuation indicator is Tobin’s Q. Out of the control variables, R&D spending, size,
growth in sales and WACC significantly impact the firm's performance and valuation. Remaining control
variables like tangibility and profitability are found to have insignificant impact on firm's financial
performance and valuation. Thus, the empirical findings of this study would augment the existing literature
on capital structure. As the study is based on the latest data, it is significant for the Indian FMCG sector in
planning their capital structure which can enhance their both performance and valuation indicators.
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Annexure
S. No. Company Name S. No. Company Name
1 A V T Natural Products Ltd. 30 Jay Shree Tea & Inds. Ltd.
2 Advanta Ltd. 31 Jyothy Laboratories Ltd.
3 Agro Tech Foods Ltd. 32 K R B L Ltd.
4 Avanti Feeds Ltd. 33 Kaveri Seed Co. Ltd.
5 Bajaj Corp Ltd. 34 Kohinoor Foods Ltd.
6 Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar Ltd. 35 Kokuyo Camlin Ltd.
7 Balrampur Chini Mills Ltd. 36 Kwality Ltd.
8 Bombay Burmah Trdg. Corpn. Ltd. 37 Linc Pen & Plastics Ltd.
9 Britannia Industries Ltd. 38 Marico Ltd.
10 C C L Products (India) Ltd. 39 Mcleod Russel India Ltd.
11 Colgate-Palmolive (India) Ltd. 40 Nestle India Ltd.
12 Dabur India Ltd. 41 Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care Ltd.
13 Dhampur Sugar Mills Ltd. 42 Radico Khaitan Ltd.
14 E I D-Parry (India) Ltd. 43 Ruchi Soya Inds. Ltd.
15 Emami Ltd. 44 Shree Renuka Sugars Ltd.
16 Ess Dee Aluminium Ltd. 45 Som Distilleries & Breweries Ltd.
17 Eveready Industries (India) Ltd. 46 Tata Coffee Ltd.
18 Future Consumer Enterprise Ltd. 47 Tata Global Beverages Ltd.
19 Gillette India Ltd. 48 Tilaknagar Industries Ltd.
20 Glaxosmithkline Consumer Healthcare Ltd. 49 Triveni Engineering & Inds. Ltd.
21 Globus Spirits Ltd. 50 United Breweries Ltd.
22 Godfrey Phillips India Ltd. 51 United Spirits Ltd.
23 Godrej Consumer Products Ltd. 52 Usher Agro Ltd.
24 Gujarat Ambuja Exports Ltd. 53 V S T Industries Ltd.
25 Hatsun Agro Products Ltd. 54 Vadilal Industries Ltd.
26 Heritage Foods Ltd. 55 Venky'S (India) Ltd.
27 Hindustan Unilever Ltd. 56 Vimal Oil & Foods Ltd.
28 I F B Agro Inds. Ltd. 57 Waterbase Ltd.
29 I T C Ltd. 58 Zydus Wellness Ltd.