This study investigates the extent to which asset efficiency explains variations in financial performance among selected soft drink bottling firms in Nigeria over the period 2010–2019. Specifically, the study evaluates the influence of asset turnover ratio (ATR), debt-to-total asset ratio (DTAR), and current ratio (CR) on return on assets (ROA). An ex-post facto design is employed, using a balanced panel dataset. Estimation techniques include pooled ordinary least squares (OLS), fixed effects (FE), and random effects (RE) models. Model selection is guided by the Hausman specification test, while robustness is ensured through diagnostic tests for multicollinearity and heteroskedasticity. Empirical results indicate that although asset efficiency proxies exhibit positive coefficients, none attain statistical significance at conventional levels. This suggests that firm performance in the Nigerian bottling sector is likely driven by broader structural and macroeconomic factors beyond internal efficiency metrics. The study contributes to the literature by providing sector-specific evidence from an emerging economy context and recommends a multidimensional approach to performance optimization.
Adeniyi et al. (Sun,) studied this question.