Working Capital Management’s Effect on Profitability

The first chapter of this dissertation introduces the readers to the area of study undertaken, provides a background for the complete study as a whole with its relevance. The research questions are presented along with the limitations of the study so as to incorporate all the factors influencing the results of this work. The final part of this chapter is the disposition which is illustrating the outline of the study conducted.

1.1 INTRODUCTION

In today’s challenging economic climate corporations are always looking for new methods to stimulate growth rate, improve financial performance and reduce the risks associated with running a business. Working capital is one such aspect of corporate finance which is perceived as useful reserve used for growth strategies such as capital expansion, diversification etc. Hence efficient Working Capital Management (WCM) can help a company eliminate the risk of deficit cash flow from operations thereby also obviating the risk of running a business into liquidity. According to Wilson (1996) companies should embrace formal Working Capital Management practices with the hope of minimising any probabilities of business failures, as well as to enhance the performance of the business.

Cash deterioration in any firm affects its potential to finance any kind of operating activities, any reinvestment requirements and also affects the profitability levels of that firm. Hence if the working capital falls below a certain required limit it may put the business at serious risk. Working capital management is therefore important because of its effects on the firm’s profitability and risk and consequently its value (Smith, 1980). An important aspect of working capital management is liquidity management which involves planning and controlling of current assets and current liabilities in such a manner that it helps in eliminating the risk of inability to meet due short –term obligations on one hand and also avoids excessive investment in these assets on the other (Eljelly, 2004). The ultimate result of liquidity planning, controlling and management is shown on the effect that it has on profits and shareholder’s value.

1.2 BACKGROUNG OF THE STUDY

Corporate finance primarily deals with three decision making processes: capital structure decisions, capital budgeting decisions and working capital management decisions. Several researches have been conducted analysing capital structure, investment decisions, budgeting, and valuation of company. Another important decision that involves management of investments in short term assets and the resources used with maturities less than one year is the Working Capital Management decision.

Working capital essentially is a measure of the liquid assets available with business i.e. a difference between the current assets and current liabilities. The term ‘Current’ here means that it is anticipated to change into cash or to be paid into cash within a period of twelve months. Shin and Soenen (1998) pointed out that a firm’s working capital is a result of a time lag between the expenditure for the purchase of raw materials and the collection from the sale of finished goods. Their submissions points out that this entails several areas of a company’s operational management which includes receivables, payables, management of inventories, management of trade credit etc. The aim of Working Capital Management is to actually maintain an optimum balance of all the components of working capital.

The most crucial part of managing the working capital is to maintain liquidity of a company in such a manner so as to ensure the smooth operation of business on daily basis and also meeting the obligations easily (Eljelly, 2004). During the working capital management process the decisions that tend to increase profitability also increase the risk factor involved and conversely decisions that focuses on risk reduction will tend to reduce profitability. Therefore Deloff in 2003 said that the way the working capital is managed has significant impact on the profitability of the firm.

The ultimate aim of every firm is to maximize the profits. But the problem in working capital management is to achieve a desired trade off between the liquidity and profitability (Smith, 1980; Raheman & Nasr, 2007). Referring to the theory of risk and return investments with high risk will yield more return. Hence firms with high liquidity of working capital may have low risk and therefore low profitability. Conversely firms with low liquidity of working capital, facing high risks would yield high profitability. This therefore highlights the fact to have efficient liquidity management practices since if the firm faces liquidity issues the payment to the creditors would be deferred, there might also be a serious risk of facing insolvency or bankruptcy etc.

Many researchers have attempted to understand the factors that determine the working capital of an organization. Liu (1985), Su (2001) and others in their findings have found that growth of firm; size, leverage etc. affect the working capital of a company a lot. They broadly define industry, firm-specific and financial environmental characteristics as determinants of working capital. The ways of maintaining efficient levels of WCM can vary from company to company since it is dependent on factors like kind of industry, nature of the business, strategies adopted, business policies etc.

Having an efficient WCM is also an essential in maintaining short term solvency of the company. It helps firm to react more quickly towards any unanticipated changes occurring in market variables such as any changes in raw material prices, interest rates etc. And also gives them a competitive edge over their other competitors in the market.

1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

In today’s time of turbulent economic conditions for companies to survive such conditions and still being able to achieve its profit maximisation objectives is a major cause of concern. In such times it’s important for financial managers of organisations to understand that poor working capital management practices in a company can lead to severe consequences.

The research questions that are being addressed in this study are as follows-:

Studying and analysing the relationship between Working Capital Management and profitability.

What are the consequences of changes in working capital on the profitability of a firm?

Analysing how the changes in liquidity affects working capital and profitability.

For these objectives we have formulated the following hypotheses and will attempt to find statistical evidences to support and prove the assumed hypotheses.

Hypotheses H1: The Working Capital is negatively correlated with the profitability of the firm i.e. higher the working capital held by the companies lower will be the profitability and vice-versa.

Hypotheses H2: The liquidity and working capital holds a positive correlation with each other hence if liquidity management is poor it would affect WCM and therefore profitability as well (as mentioned in H1).

1.3.1 AIMS OF STUDY

The sudden failure of financial institutions in recent past has drawn a lot of attention to conduct a more detailed study into the management decisions and corporate governance of companies. The main aim of this study to analyze that does a better WCM from one period to another has any positive effect on the profitability of the organisation. Many researchers in past have pointed out the need to maintain efficient working capital and liquidity levels within a firm so as to reap favourable benefits and profits. The main focus of this research is to study small, medium and large scale businesses from various sectors, so as to establish factors that influence the working capital management and liquidity, variable that influence the profitability of these companies over a period of 5 years. Hence in this research we aim to take up data of 31 different companies classified into 8 different sectors namely – Oil & Gas, Food & Drug, Personal Goods, Household Goods, General Retailers, Pharmaceuticals, Tobacco and Mining.

1.3.2 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

Since the data used in our study consists of 31 different companies and these companies vary in terms of their size, sales growth, type of industry and GDP growth, hence it sets certain limitations on the results we derived from this study.

The size effect is considered as a limitation since we have a mix of medium and large sized companies (which comprises of number of subsidiaries and associates). Therefore due to the different working capital requirements of each of these companies data used for analysis may deviate. Sales growth is another limiting factor in our research since these companies deal with different product lines which would result in varying demands of the products in the market place for e.g. some companies may have seasonal products which could lead to abnormal profitability in high demand season. All these companies survive in the same economic conditions and government regulations. At times some favourable or unfavourable changes in government policies relating to a specific industry might affect the profitability for e.g. companies involved in the export of produced goods are levied with an export duty it would result in companies restricting their international sales which in turn would disturb the BOP (Balance of Payment) and GDP of an economy and thereby finally influencing the profitability of the firms.

1.3.3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

1.4 DISPOSITION

As this chapter is introducing its readers to the current area of research we therefore continue with a short presentation of the structure of the research and of the following chapters.

Literature Review The second chapter deals with review and critical

Analysis of the literature that has been previously

written on this topic

Theoretical Framework The theoretical framework is presented next in

order to enable understanding of the research and

provide useful insights about the practice of

working capital and liquidity management in

relation to profitability.

Practical Method Before presenting the results of the study

& Data Collection conducted a description of the practical methods

used and the procedure of the data collection is

mentioned

Empirical Findings In this section we would write about the analysis

and findings of the results and thereafter discuss

the overall results obtained to fulfil aim of research

Conclusion In the final chapter of this dissertation the research

questions are answered along with the discussion

about the research purpose. We would also present

both theoretical and practical implications.

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

CHAPTER THREE: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

In the theoretical framework of this study a discussion about the tools, strategies and implications of cash management will be carried out in terms of working capital management, liquidity and profitability of an organisation. Emphasis will be laid on understanding the variables of working capital management and deciphering the relationship between working capital management and profitability and between liquidity and profitability.

3.1 WORKING CAPITAL

We start here with the presentation of a wider concept of working capital which plays an important role in the firm’s growth and profitability and it is also very closely interlinked with the context of liquidity. In its simplest and most common form working capital can be defined or expressed as a difference between the firm’s current assets and current liabilities. (Claes-Goran Larsson & Lars F. Hammarlund, 2005). Shin and Sonenen in 1998 have also defined working capital as a ‘’time lag between the expenditure for the purchase of raw material and the collections due from the sales of finished products”. The most common equation followed for working capital calculation is-:

Net Working Capital = Current Assets – Current Liabilities

In the above mentioned equation current assets can be defined as those which are expected to generate cash within one year and are classified in balance sheet as cash and cash equivalents, short-term investments, receivables, prepaid expenses and inventories. Similarly current liabilities are the obligations that will be due within one year and the components under this category on the balance sheet are trade payables, short-term debt, accrued liabilities (Stephen H. Penman, 2007). Working capital management decisions covers both inventory and work-in-progress and thereby it combines both the elements of operation, production and financial management.

Working capital essentially finances the cash conversion cycle (CCC) of a business, the time required to covert raw materials into finished goods, finished goods into sales and accounts receivables into cash. These factors vary with the type of the industry sector and scale of production which in turn gets affected with the seasonality of operation, size of business unit, production policy, and process technology used and also with sales expansion and sales contraction. Working Capital can also vary on the basis of the size of the industry. Small and medium sized industries tend to have relatively larger amount of capital tied up in current assets and liabilities than bigger firms (Pass and Pike, 1984). This is because small and medium firms operations actually depend on cash whereas in large companies due to the use of credit policies this requirement is significantly reduced.

Objectives of Working Capital Management

It is very elementary for our research the objectives of working capital management since without the clear understanding of the subject it will not be possible to decipher the relationship between WCM and profitability. WCM is a crucial part of the financial management and its primary task is to match the movement of assets and liabilities over time, which further takes us to two main purposes that it holds i.e. liquidity and profitability (Pass & Pike, 1984). The situation of these dual targets is often discussed in literature due to the conflicting and inverse relations they both have in between. Pass and Pike in 1984 have explained the conflicting relationship between liquidity and profitability by mentioning an instance that a profitable long-run investment opportunity might erode the company’s liquidity situation in short-run. WCM is very often about the trade –offs between the two main goals that it has i.e. liquidity and profitability, cause focussing on any of one particular variable may shake off the balance of between them which is very significant for the company’s financial status. Glen Arnold (2008) described three different working capital management policies determined by the working capital levels namely: Companies having so called relaxed working capital policy have larger levels of cash or near cash balances and also usually have larger inventories stock along with generous customer credit terms. Industries having aggressive policies in business have more certain and defined levels of cash flows with lower cash balance requirements and minimal inventory levels held as a safety measure. The moderate policy industries fall between the relaxed and aggressive policies. In recent years WCM has become a focus of attention because the issues of WCM can be easily associated with the economic downturn affecting the economies as a whole.

Working Capital Cycle is shown below:

WORK-IN-PROGRESS

FINISHED GOOD STOCK

RAW MATERIALS

OPERATING COSTS: LABOR< OVERHEADS, MARKETING, DISTRIBUTION etc.

SALES

TRADE CREDITORS

TRADE DEBTORS

CASH

TAXATION

SHAREHOLDERS

TAXATION; LONG TERM DEBTS

FIXED ASSETS

MEDIUM TERM FINANCE

The above figure is exemplifying the working capital cycle which is a typical aspect of the manufacturing firms but it can also be applied to other service sector companies by passing or stepping some of the steps. This cycle is explaining the start process from the purchase of raw materials inventories for the production process which are later turned into finished products. The fini