Abstract

<p>The study examined the effect of firm’s characteristics on cash holdings of listed non-financial firms in Nigeria. The specific objective was to examine the effect of profitability, liquidity, firm leverage, firm age and firm size on cash ratio. Ex-post facto research design was chosen for the study. Purposive sampling was used to select a sample size of sixty non-financial firms from a population pool of seventy-five non-financial firms listed on the Nigerian exchange group. Secondary data were collected from the annual reports of the sampled firms from 2014 to 2023 accounting year ends. Panel Estimated Generalized Least Squares were used in testing the hypotheses of the study. The findings revealed that: profitability has a positive but significant effect on cash ratio of non-financial firms listed on Nigeria Exchange Group (β = 0.0332; pvalue = 0.1323); liquidity has a positive and significant effect on cash ratio of non-financial firms listed on Nigeria Exchange Group (β = 0.1077; p-value = 0.0000); leverage has a positive and significant effect on cash ratio of non-financial firms listed on Nigeria Exchange Group (β = 0.0000184; p-value = 0.0000); firm age has a positive and significant effect on cash ratio of non-financial firms listed on Nigeria Exchange Group (β = 0.0019; p-value = 0.0000); firm size has a positive and significant effect on cash ratio of non-financial firms listed on Nigeria Exchange Group (β = 0.0440; p-value = 0.0000). In conclusion, non-financial firms strategically manage cash reserves based on their operational needs, financial structure, and market conditions. The study recommends that financial managers of large companies should regularly conduct detailed cash flow forecasts to anticipate cash requirements based on operational cycles, seasonal fluctuations, and upcoming expenditures. This enables managers to maintain appropriate cash levels that reflect the firm’s operational realities.</p>