Determinants of Capital Structure of Listed Oil Marketing Companies in Ghana

Abstract

Capital structure decisions are the most crucial decisions taken by corporate organizations, as   these decisions   have   massive impact on the overall cost of capital weighted average and the resultant profitability and market value of shares. Most of the researches conducted on capital structure concluded that there is an optimal capital structure that is affected by a variety of internal and external factors. These factors usually differ from country to country and industry to industry. This paper using a case study methodology, investigated the determinant of capital structure of oil companies in Ghana. The study examined    how internal factors such as profitability, asset tangibility, growth, size and riskiness of a firm  impacts on the capital structure of the  two listed oil marketing companies in Ghana (GOIL and TOTAL) for the period between 2005 and 2014 using ordinary least square regression. The findings indicated that all the factors have significant impact on financial leverage.