The estimation of a firm's stock price has been a subject of debate considering the various factors that cause its increase or decrease. Chief among the outstanding factors touted by most scholars is the amount of dividends declared by the firm to its stockholders. This paper aims at establishing if there exists such a direct relationship between a firm's dividends and its stock price with particular emphasis on the Malawi stock exchange. The study analyses secondary data sets of thirteen local companies listed on the Malawi Stock Exchange for the period 2008 to 2014 inclusive. Using the correlation analysis stock price as an independent variable, and dividends, retention ratio, profit after tax, earnings per share and return on equity, as dependent variables, over the seven years, the study shows a strong positive association between stock price The study therefore establishes that on the Malawi Stock Exchange (MSE), there is a strong positive relationship between a firm's dividends and its stock price on the stock market. The study further finds that stock price is an outcome of a number of factors, dividends being one of them and having a very significant contribution. The findings in this study will help investors, both potential and existing; as well as managers of listed companies, who are the stewards, to understand and appreciate the impact of dividend declaration or absence of it, on the psychology of stockholders which later affects the respective company's stock price on the stock exchange.

Purpose Market capitalization of firms reflects the current value of a firm and provides a reasonable basis on mergers and acquisition bargains. Determinants of a firm’s increasing or decreasing market capitalization are multi-faceted, hence the study. The paper is about a historical study of the responsiveness of common share prices of some listed industrial companies to the firms’ investments in capital expenditure. This study aims to discuss the impact of capital expenditure on a firm’s market capitalization, with a focus on companies listed on the Malawi stock exchange (MSE). Design/methodology/approach The study reviews data collected from published annual reports for the years from 2007 to 2015. The variations in capital expenditure (CAPEX) which are termed “increase” or “decrease” were studied to establish their association with variations in stock prices before the increase or decrease, and after the increase or decrease. As stock price changes are caused by other determinants, the variables of return on capital employed (ROCE), net profit margin (NPM), asset turnover (ATO) and earnings retention ratio (ERT) were analyzed, and a respective correlation test was done against CAPEX movement over the years through panel data analysis and regression analysis to establish the correlation between the variables using XLSTAT. Findings At 95 per cent confidence level, CAPEX correlates with ROCE and NPM at 0.373 and 0.249 coefficients, respectively, and negatively with ERT at 6.45e-2. With tests favoring a positive relationship between elements of profitability and stock price, the study finds that there is a positive relationship between a firm’s CAPEXs and its future stock prices. Research limitations/implications The firm’s commitment to CAPEX has a positive impact on its stock price on the stock exchange. These findings, however, need to be interpreted with caution as the data reviewed excluded that from financial institutions, the inclusion of which may affect the outcome, and that the data are derived from a small and young stock market which may be lacking in its efficiency compared to the old and big ones the world over. Originality/value The study was undertaken based on the study of listed companies on the Malawi Stock Exchange, and the results may or may not reflect the reality on the ground in other stock exchanges.

The composition of a business current assets and liabilities provides an indication of the business liquidity position. It is advisable for a company to maintain a good amount of readily liquid assets as compared to its current liabilities which may be payable on demand. The business liquidity position determines its ability to survive in the short term and of late most companies have had critical financial problems regardless of posting profits in some cases. Manufacturing companies pile up more current assets in form of inventory which is considered to be an il-liquid asset and therefore liquidity for manufacturing companies differs from that of service organizations, such as banks. The purpose of this study is to establish the relationship between a companys liquidity, measured by the length of the cash conversion cycle, and its profitability, measured by return on capital. Using a correlation and regression test, the study used data from sample of twelve Malawian manufacturing firms from 2007 to 2015. The study finds that there exists an inverse relationship between the cash conversion cycle and the companys return on investment and return on equity, and provides evidence that the cash conversion cycle, a measure of business liquidity, has an impact on a firms performance.

The accountancy profession subscribes to the values of accountability, integrity, honesty, accuracy among others and that is the reason accountants are required in any field of work to provide an independent report of how the resources are deployed to bring the outcome and assess if indeed the outcome from the use of such resources is as it had been expected by all the stakeholders. This requirement is common to all sectors of the economy, whether in the public or private sector.The paper discusses the changing role of the accountant in the public sector in response to the growing concerns of public resource abuse. Africa, Malawi in particular, has been a victim of gross resource abuse by public officers through among others fraud, corruption, theft and gross mismanagement. Malawi has recently been rated highly in terms of corrupt practices with the public sector taking a leading position leading to gross mismanagement of public resources since the dawn of democracy in 1994.The study takes a look at the changing roles of an accountant in the public sector where the control environment in the financial management system, and the political will of those in charge of the public sector, are not the same as those in the private sector.The accounting weaknesses or challenges as revealed by the reviewed audit reports are scrutinised and the role of the accountant with respect to each challenge is reviewed and recommendations suggested which if implemented, may block the future recurrence of such weaknesses in the financial management systems in the public sector.

Economic development is a compound outcome arising from a combination of many factors which may include among others, good governance; educational levels of the citizenry; effective political and administrative systems; availability of production resources; as well as availability of utilities such as reliable electricity and clean and potable water. Holding all other factors constant, the paper discusses the impact of reliable accessibility of utilities on economic growth and whether it is necessary or not to privatise or liberalise the utility sector, especially the electricity sector to enhance power access in promoting economic growth in developing countries like Malawi. Most developing countries in Africa face a lot of challenges in power generation and supply and the paper is focusing on establishing whether these challenges are a significant cause for stunted growth in GDP per capita in these countries, and whether liberalisation could be a way out of persistent power shortages affecting the economy. The study findings reveal that there is a direct relationship between electricity consumption and growth in GDP per capita and that most developing countries struggling to improve their economies share the same challenge of power supply for effective productivity. The study further finds that liberalization of the power sector can invigorate the country's productivity and hence improve the GDP per capita.