If the company has gotten to the point that the only way to provide returns to the shareholders is to squeeze employee salaries, take that as a sign that the company can’t increase revenue and is struggling, and it’s time to look for another job.
(If, for some reason, the company is making gobs of money for the shareholders but management has still decided to squeeze employee salaries, increasing the risk of loosing key people that help generate that revenue, also leave because those managers will end up destroying the company.)
Most justifications for not giving a pay raise are carefully crafted bullshit designed to sound reasonable.
After all, if the reason is "I want more money available for me and the shareholders" you can't just say it.