Corporate Governance and Firm Performance: A Study of Sri Lankan Beverage, Food and Tobacco Companies

Abstract

Corporate governance is a highly discussed topic which received the attention of corporate world during the last decade due to the paramount importance embodied within it for the company performance and stability. Basically corporate governance means the set of rules by which management of the company is directed and controlled. It attempts to ensure that managers and other insiders of an organization take measures or adopt mechanisms to safeguard the interest of stakeholders. With the global financial crisis which affected many of the world business giants, companies are highly concerned to improve their corporate governance practices and therefore today researchers also have a great awareness to carry out researches in this area. However currently in Sri Lanka context less researches available on Corporate Governance. This study focuses on “Corporate Governance and Company Performance” considering all Beverage, Food and Tobacco companies listed in Colombo Stock Exchange as at December 2013. Data was analyzed using the data of financial year 2012/13. Data was analyzed using SPSS statistical software and hypothesis were tested performing descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and regression analysis for collected data. According to the findings of the research corporate governance does not make a significant influence on companies ROE, ROA and EPS. Thus, study concludes that the determinants of corporate governance used in the study are not correlated to the performance measures of the organization.