ABSTRACT

The study investigated effect ofcredit management on the performance oflisted commercial banks in Nigeria. The study used ex post facto research design and extracted secondary data from the financial statements of commercial hanks used for the study. The study adopted panel least squares method ofdata estimation. The study employed profit after tax, return on equity, return on assets. Non-performing loans and advances, unsecured loans and bad debts. Non-performing Ioans and advances, unsecured loans and bad debts was used as proxy for credit management which is the independent variable while return on assets, return on equity and profit after tax were used as proxv for financial performance, the dependent variable. The panel unit root test was conducted and it established that return on equity, return on assets and loan loss provision were stationary al 5% level ofsignificance and integrated at level while profit after tax was stationary and integrated al first difference. The result indicates that the coefficient ofdetermination explains <)2% of the total variation in profit after tax. 76% oftotal variation in return on assets and 88% of total variation in return on equity is as a result of changes in credit management in listed commercial banks. The study therefore concludes that credit management has significant effect on financial performance and recommends that banks should ensure that loans are monitored sufficiently to increase profit, ensure assets are well utilized to enhance return on assets and ensure that bank post profit from only performing loans in order to make returns to shareholders.