Abstract

The study investigated the financial health status of small scale poultry businesses in Delta State, Nigeria using Altman’s Z-score model. The empirical study was undertaken to assess the solvency and hence future survivability of small scale poultry enterprises in the State. Financial data were extracted from three years (2010 – 2012) financial statements of 125 small scale poultry farms purposively selected from farms operating in the State and incorporated with the Nigerian Corporate Affairs Commission as limited liability agribusinesses. Descriptive statistics which include computed financial ratios, frequency distributions, percentages and tables were applied to analyze the content of the financial statements and Altman’s Z-scores’ were computed for each sampled farm for the three year period. The study shows that in 2010, 47.8 percent of farm enterprises had Z-scores between minus 0.60 to 1.55. In 2011 and 2012, 44.8 percent and 42.4 percent, respectively of the farms had Z-scores between negative 0.60 and 1.55. The study further indicates that 28 percent, 27 percent and 30.4 percent in 2010, 2011 and 2012, respectively, of the sampled farms had computed Z-scores between 2.64 and 4.79 farms. The study recommends the use of Altman’s Z-score by small scale investors as a technique for monitoring the financial health of their agribusinesses to prevent the ugly consequences of bankruptcy and liquidation.

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