Effects of Cost Control Techniques on the Profitability of Listed Manufacturing Companies in Nigeria

The profitability of Nigerian manufacturing firms has come under sustained pressure from rising material, energy and overhead costs, currency volatility and intense competition, prompting renewed interest in cost control as a controllable lever of financial performance. This study examined the effect of cost control techniques on the profitability of listed manufacturing companies in Nigeria, disaggregating cost control into material cost control (MCC), labour cost control (LCC) and overhead cost control (OCC). Grounded in the Contingency Theory of Management Accounting and the Theory of Economies of Scale, the study adopted an ex-post facto design using a balanced panel of ten listed manufacturing firms over the ten-year period 2015-2024 (100 firm-year observations). Data extracted from audited financial statements were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and fixed-effects panel regression, with firm size and leverage as control variables and return on assets (ROA) and net profit margin (NPM) as measures of profitability. The three cost-control dimensions jointly explain approximately 57% of the variation in profitability (adjusted R² = 0.571; F = 27.4, p < .001). The results confirm that the systematic control of costs especially material and overhead costs is a significant driver of manufacturing profitability, corroborating recent Nigerian panel evidence. The study concluded that cost control techniques significantly affect the profitability of listed manufacturing companies in Nigeria over 2015-2024 and recommended prioritising material- and overhead-cost control, institutionalising budgetary control and standard costing and adopting contemporary tools such as activity-based costing and lean manufacturing.