Makwerela, Moyahabo Olive2024-09-042024-09-042023Makwerela, Moyahabo Olive. (2023). Impact of Gearing on the Performance of top 20 JSE listed Companies [Master’s dissertation, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg]. WireDSpace.https://hdl.handle.net/10539/40486https://hdl.handle.net/10539/40486A research report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Administration to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Wits Business School, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023Firm managers in South Africa are regularly confronted with the conundrum of employing optimal capital structure to enhance shareholders’ returns. This problem is sparingly addressed in empirical literature using South African data. This study aims to fill this gap by studying the influence of gearing (capital structure) on company performance. This research examines (i) the influence of short-term debt-to-equity ratio, (ii) long-term debt-to-equity ratio and (iii) total debt-to-equity ratio on economic value added (EVA) as a proxy for company performance using Panel regression analysis on top 20 Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) listed non-financial companies for a period between 2010 and 2019. Firm size, turnover growth, and company age were control variables. Short-term debt and total debt were found to have an insignificant influence on company performance. In contrast, long-term debt was found to have a negative and significant influence on EVA at a 10% confidence level. Consequently, we made recommendations for managers to consideren© 2023 University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.Short-termLong-termTotal debtCompany performanceEconomic Value AddedNon-financial companiesUCTDSDG-8: Decent work and economic growthDissertationUniversity of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg