DETERMINANTS OF BANK PROFITABILITY: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM A PACIFIC SMALL ISLAND DEVELOPING STATE

Abstract

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the determinants of profitability of the Fijian banks for the 2001-2019 periods. Using several bank-specific and external variables, and covering nineteen years, researchers measure the impact of each variable on Return on Average Assets, Return on Average Equity, and Net Interest Margin. Methodology: The sample of this study comprises five commercial banks and two credit financiers. Purposive sampling is employed resulting in 133 audited financial statements. Stata version 16 is used for multivariate econometric analysis and hypothesis testing. Main Findings: The results of this research show that bank size, risk, and exchange rate positively impacts bank profitability while management efficiency, broad money supply, and quality of regulation negatively affect profitability. On the other hand, the level of liquidity, economic growth, and inflation do not have any impact on profitability. Application of this study: The findings of this study can be of significance for regulators as well as financial institutions in policy development and market oversight to ensure the sustainability of financial institutions. Novelty/Originality of this study: Few studies have so far been carried out on the banking sector in Fiji with only one focusing on profitability determinants. This study, using accounting financial ratios and several macroeconomic variables is unique in the sense that it uses several external variables not considered previously.