CORPORATE LIQUIDITY MANAGEMENT AND FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE IN EMERGING MARKETS: EVIDENCE FROM NIGERIA'S CONSUMER GOODS INDUSTRY

Firm performance remains a critical concern for managers and investors in emerging economies where macroeconomic instability and constrained external financing shape corporate financial decisions. Despite extensive empirical attention, evidence on the relationship between liquidity management and firm performance remains inconclusive. Existing Nigerian studies have largely relied on accounting-based performance measures, limited liquidity proxies, and conventional mean-based estimation, obscuring distributional heterogeneity. This study examined the effect of corporate liquidity management on the financial performance of listed consumer goods companies in Nigeria. An ex-post facto design was adopted, with balanced secondary panel data drawn from audited annual reports of 16 purposively selected consumer goods companies listed on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) over 2015–2024, yielding 160 firm-year observations. Financial performance was proxied by Tobin's Q. Liquidity was measured by cash ratio (CASHR), current ratio (CURR), quick ratio (QUICKR), trade receivable days (TREC), and trade payable days (TPAY), with firm size (FSIZE) as a control variable. Simultaneous panel quantile regression at the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles with bootstrap standard errors (1,000 replications) and year fixed effects was employed. Findings revealed heterogeneous distributional effects: CURR exerted a significant negative effect at Q50 (β = −0.816, p < 0.05) and Q75 (β = −1.778, p < 0.01); QUICKR exerted a significant positive effect at Q50 (β = 1.186, p < 0.05) and Q75 (β = 2.053, p < 0.05). CASHR, TREC, TPAY, and FSIZE were insignificant across all quantiles. The study concludes that equity markets reward liquidity quality over quantity, and firms should prioritise efficient non-inventory liquid asset management over gross current asset accumulation.