UTILIZATION OF RATIO ANALYSIS BY CIVIL SERVANTS FOR PROFITABLE FINANCIAL INVESTMENT DECISIONS BEFORE RETIREMENT IN EKITI STATE

The need to determine the utilization of ratio analysis by civil servants for profitable financial investment decisions before retirement in Ekiti State in order to provide them with the financial information to predetermine expected future dividend in companies that distribute high returns to their investors led to this study. This is because preliminary study revealed that most civil servants in the state are facing the challenge of unprofitable financial investment decisions in companies that distribute low or no return which does not guarantee their future financial security. Hence, the study adopted descriptive survey research design and was carried out in Ekiti State, Nigeria. The population for the study comprised all the 261 civil servants under the Local Government Civil Service Commission (LGCSC) in Ekiti State capital, Ado-Ekiti. A purposive sampling technique was used to select 152 civil servants from grade level seven and above. A 25-item structured questionnaire in four-response options tagged ‘Utilization of Ratio Analysis for Profitable Financial Investment Decisions Questionnaire (URAPFIDQ)’ was used to elicit responses from the respondents with internal consistency of 0.83 reliability coefficient using Cronbach Alpha technique. Five research questions were answered and analyzed using mean. Decision was based on mean limit of numbers for independent analysis of each questionnaire item and a criterion mean of 2.50 for each cluster of the research questions. A t-test statistics was used to test the null hypotheses one to four while chi-square (x2) was used to test the null hypothesis five at 0.05 probability level of significance. The findings of the study revealed that efficiency ratio, liquidity ratio, leverage ratio, profitability ratio and investment ratio were not utilized by civil servants to predetermine expected future dividend for profitable financial investment decisions before retirement in Ekiti State which accounted for low or no return. Finally, constructive recommendations on the utilization of ratio analysis to predetermine expected future dividend for profitable financial investment decisions in companies that can guarantee the financial security of civil servants in Ekiti State and Nigeria at large were made.
Keywords: Utilization, Ratio Analysis, Civil Servants, Profitable Financial investment Decisions, Retirement.