The impact of financial leverage on the profitability of real estate companies: A study from Vietnam stock exchange

Using financial leverage (FL) has a great influence on business performance of enterprises. Therefore, the determination of the impact of FL on the profitability of enterprises helps to create synchronous solutions to improve operational efficiency of enterprises which is very important and necessary. This study aims to identify the impact of FL on Return On Assets (ROA), Return On Equity (ROE), Return On Sales (ROS), and Return On Capital Employed (ROCE). The study is conducted based on the data collected from 58 real estate firms listed in Vietnam Stock Exchange with 464 observations. The study also uses quantitative method combined with multivariable regression models to examine the hypotheses of the survey with the help of the EVIEW 11.0 software. Research results indicate that FL has no impact on ROS and ROCE while it has a negative impact on ROA and a positive impact on ROE. In accordance with the research findings, the authors propose specific recommendations and solutions to improve profitability in the real estate companies listed on Vietnam’s stock exchange. © 2019 by the authors; licensee Growing Science, Canada.