Selected Pearls Indicators for Enhancing Financial Performance of Deposit Taking Savings and Credit Co-Operative Societies in Kenya

Abstract

Even though DT-SACCOs in Kenya work extremely hard, their financial performance is greatly impacted by deteriorating level of capital sufficiency, liquidity, and asset quality which adversely affects their financial performance significantly. To address these issues, WOCCU has recommended the PEARLS framework to assist DT-SACCOS in mitigating credit risk management problems that are harming financial performance.  In spite of an abundance of research on PEALRS and financial performance, conclusive findings about PEARLS's effect on DT-SACCOs' financial performance in Kenya remain to be seen. This is because majority of empirical study have conceptual gaps while some have contextual gaps and methodological gaps in addition to inconsistent result. The current study assessed PEARLS indicators which were observed as affecting the financial performance of Kenyan DT-SACCOs in an effort to close the knowledge gap. The specific objective to guide the study has been to find out the effect of; protection, effective financial structures, asset quality, and liquidity affect financial performance of Kenyan Deposit Taking Savings and credit co-operative societies. The research used a quantitative approach, which led to the adoption of the positivist paradigm and a correlational research design. The 176 DT-SACCOs that operated in Kenya between 2018 and 2022 were the target population. The study concludes that; protection has a statistically significant positive effect, effective financial structure among Kenyan DT-SACCOs has a statistically positive effect, assets quality has a statistically significant positive effect and liquidity has a positive effect on financial performance of Kenyan DT-SACCOs.