WORKING CAPITAL MANAGEMENT AND FIRMS PERFORMANCE: A STUDY OF MANUFACTURING COMPANIES IN NIGERIA

For more Accounting projects click here

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the relationship between working capital management measured by account receivable period (ACRP), inventory period (INVP), cash conversion cycle (CCC) and sales Growth (SG) and profitability performance measured by returns on assets (ROA). The study utilized secondary data obtained from the annual financial statements of Nigerian Manufacturing companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) for period 2008 – 2012. Multiple regression model were adopted for testing all the hypotheses and the study result reveals that there was a negative significant relationship between the account receivable period and profitability of the Nigerian Manufacturing companies. It also reveals that the profit is significantly influenced by the number of days inventory were held (INVP) and that the profitability performance negatively and significantly related to the cash conversion cycle (CCC). These results suggest that effective policies must be formulated for the individual components of working capital. Furthermore, efficient management and financing of working capital (current assets and liabilities) can increase the operating profitability of manufacturing firms.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title page

Abstract

List of tables

List of figure

CHAPTER ONE : INTRODUCTION

1.1       Background to the Study

1.2       Statement of the Problem

1.3.      Objectives of the Study

1.4       Research Questions

1.5       Research Hypotheses

1.6       Scope of the Study

1.7       Significance of the Study

            References

CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF LITERATURE

2.0.      Introduction

2.1.      Conceptual Review

2.1.0.   Concepts of Working Capital Management

2.1.1.   Working Capital

2.1.2.   Working Capital Management

2.1.3    Working Capital Management Efficiency

2.1.4.   Policy of Working Capital

2.1.5.   Working Capital Cycle

2.1.6.   Components of Working Capital Management (WCM)

2.1.7.   Cash Management

 2.1.8 Cash Positioning

2.1.9    Cash Flow Volatility, Earnings Volatility and Firm Value

2.1.10 Cash Budget

2.1.11. Management of Cash Receivables

2.1.12. Credit Standards

2.1.13. Credit Extension Policy

2.1.14. Credit Collection Policy

2.1.15. Inventory (Inv) Management

2.1.16. Need to Hold Inventory

2.1.17  Inventory Control

2.1.18.  The Economic Order Quantity (EOQ)

2.1.19. Re-Order Point

2.1.20. Relation to Financial Management

2.1.20.1. Payables Management

2.1.21.  Receivables Management

2.1.22.  Cash Conversion Cycle (CCC) Management

2.1.23.  Measures of Profitability

2.1.24.  Liquidity

2.1.25. Nature of Working Capital

2.1.26. Trade-Off between Profitability and Risk

2.1.27. The Efficient Management of Firm’s Working Capital

2.1.29  . The Consequences of Inefficient Management of Working Capital

2.1.30. The Costs and Benefits of Firm’s Investments in Working Capital

2.1.31. The Nigerian Economy and Working Capital Management of Quoted Firms in Nigeria

2.20.    Theoretical Review

2.2.1.   The Operating Cycle Theory

2.2.2.   The Cash Conversion Cycle (CCC) Theory

2.2.3.   The Pecking Order Theory

2.2.4    Agency Theory

2.2.5. The Risk –Return Trade-Off Theory

2.3.0.   Review of Empirical Studies

2.3.1.   Summary of Literature Review

References

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY

3.0       Introduction

3.1       Research Design

3.2       Population of the Study

3.3       Sampling Techniques and Sample Size

3.4       Sources of Data Collection

3.5       Variables Used for the Study

3.5.1    Dependent Variable

2.5.2    Independent Variables

3.6       Data Analysis Techniques

3.7       Model Specification

3.8       Limitation of the Study

References

CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

4.0       Introduction

4.1.      Presentation and Analysis of Multiple Regression Results

4.2.      Data Validity Test

4.3.      Summary of Regression Results

4.4.      Testing of Research Hypotheses

4.5.      Interpretation of results and discussion of findings

4.5.1. The Impact of ACRP on Profitability

4.5.2. The Impact of Inventory Period (INVP) on Profitability

4.5.3. The Impact of Cash Conversion Cycle (CCC) on Profitability

4.5.4. The Impact of Sales Growth (SG) on Profitability

CHAPTER FIVE:  SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1.      Introduction

5.2.      Summary

5.3.      Conclusions

5.3.1    Policy Implication

5.4.      Recommendations

5.5.      Suggestions for Further Research

Bibliography

Appendices

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1             Background To The Study

Working Capital management of a firm, which deals with the management of current assets and current liabilities, has been recognized as an important area in financial management. Working capital (WC) refers to the firm’s investment in short-term assets.  Pandey, (2005) classified working capital into gross and net concepts.  He defined gross working capital as the firm’s investment in current assets. Current assets are the assets which can be converted into cash within an accounting year and these include; cash, short-term securities, debtors, bills receivables and stocks. He described net working capital as the difference between current assets and current liabilities. Current liabilities are those claims of outsiders, which are expected to mature for payment within an accounting year. These include trade creditors, bills payable, bank overdraft and short- term loan. Home van, (2000) described working capital management as involving the administration of these assets namely cash, marketable securities, receivables and inventories and the administration of current liabilities.

Management of these short-term assets and liabilities is important to the financial health of business of all sizes. This importance is hinged on the fact that the amounts invested in working capital are often high in proportion to the total assets employed and therefore warrants a careful investigation (Smith, 1980). Working Capital therefore, should neither be more nor less, but just adequate for the smooth running of a firm. While excess amount of working capital results in the reduction of firm’s profitability, holding of inadequate amount of it leads to lower levels of the firm’s liquidity and stock outs resulting in difficulties in maintaining smooth operation (Krueger, 2002).

Business success, therefore, heavily depends on the ability of the financial managers to effectively manage accounts receivable, inventory and account payable (which are component of working capital) (Filbeck and Krueger, 2005). Firm can reduce their financing costs and or increase the funds available for expansion of project by minimizing the amount of investment tied up in current assets (Home Van Wachowicz, 2004). For this reasons, most of the financial manager’s time and efforts are spent in identifying the non-optimal levels of current assets and liabilities and bringing them to optimal levels (Lamberson, 1995). An optimal level of working capital is the one in which a balance is achieved between risk and efficiency. To maintain the optimal level of various components of working capital, continuous monitoring is required (Afza and Nazir, 2009).

A poor or inefficient working capital management leads to tie up funds in idle assets and reduces the liquidity and profitability of a company (Reddy & Kameswar, 2004). Siddart & Das (1993), states that the major reason for slow progress of an undertaking is shortage or wrong management of working capital. Deloot (2003: 573), states that “there is a significant relationship between gross operating income and number of days of account receivable, inventories and accounts payables”. The relationship between accounts payable and profitability is consistent with the view that less profitable firms wait longer to pay their bills.

Considering the importance of Working Capital Management therefore, the researcher focused on evaluating the Working Capital Management and profitability relationship like other similar works such as Uyar, 2009; Samiloglu and Demirgune 2008; Vishnani and Shah, 2007; Tervel and Solano, 2007; Lazaridis and Tryfonidis, 2006; Padachi, 2006; Shin and Soenen, 1998; Smith et al, 1997 and Jose et al, 1996. However, there are a few studies with reference to Nigeria in respect of the subject. Like Akinsulire, 2005, Falope,, 2009, Ajilore,, 2009 etc.

Most of these studies focused on the Working Capital Management financing policies. Shah and Sana (2006) concentrated on the oil and gas sector and estimated the relationship using small sample of 7 firms. Raheman and Masr (2007) analyzed profitability and Working Capital Management performance of  94 firms listed on Karachi Stock Exchange for the period 1999-2004 by using ordinary least square and generalized least square. However, this study ignored the fixed effect of each firm as each firm has its unique characteristics and also ignores sector-wise analysis of Working Capital Management performance of manufacturing firms. Insufficient evidences on the firm’s performance and Working Capital management with reference to Nigeria therefore, provide a strong motivation for evaluating the relationship between working capital management and firm’s performance in detail. This study therefore, explores the various way of measuring Working Capital components and relates them to the performance of the Nigerian manufacturing sector.

1.2             Statement Of The Problem

There has been a growing number of studies that examined the relationship between working capital and corporate profitability in the recent time (Shin and Soenen, 1998; Deloof, 2003; Fildbeck and Krueger, 2005; Falope, 2009; .Jinadu, 2010). Justification for this common efforts centered on the relationship between efficiency in working capital management and firms profitability and its implications on shareholder’s value. Most of these studies were however, centered on large firms operating within well developed money and capital market of developed economies and did not consider the fact that the amount of working capital required varies across industries and indeed firms depending on the nature of business, scale of operation, production cycle, credit policy, availability of raw materials etc (Ghosh and Maji; 2004).

It is regrettable to note that in spite of these huge literatures in this area, many firms had crashed, more especially manufacturing sector of the Nigerian economy in which application of working capital is more pronounced (Jinadu, 2009). In addition, some promising investments with high rate of return are failing and being frustrated out of business because of inadequacy of working capital. Many factories had been either temporarily or completely shot down because they could not meet their financial obligations as at when due because they were not liquid. Many Nigerian workers had been forcefully thrown into unemployment market and frustratingly became dependent on relations as a result of the aborted mission of their organization caused by poor attention given to the management of working capital . Unfortunately, Nigeria capital and money markets are not really helping to ameliorate the problem, instead, more often than not; they compound the problem by creating bottleneck with harsh conditions that could not be easily met by the companies that are at the verge of collapse.

The problem then arises as to how managers of these manufacturing organization could be encouraged to pay more attention to the management of their working capital. In other words, how could working capital be managed in order to impact positively on firms performance.....

For more Accounting projects click here

___________________________________________________________________________

This is an Undergraduate Thesis and the complete research material plus questionnaire and references can be obtained at an affordable price of N3,000 within Nigeria or its equivalent in other currencies.

INSTRUCTION ON HOW TO GET THE COMPLETE PROJECT MATERIAL

Kindly pay/transfer a total sum of N3,000 into any of our Bank Accounts listed below:

·         Diamond Bank Account:

A/C Name:      Haastrup Francis

A/C No.:         0096144450

·         GTBank Account:

A/C Name:      Haastrup Francis

A/C No.:         0029938679

After payment, send your desired Project Topic, Depositor’s Name, and your Active E-Mail Address to which the material would be sent for downloading (you can request for a downloading link if you don’t have an active email address) to +2348074521866 or +2348066484965. You can as well give us a direct phone call if you wish to. Projects materials are sent in Microsoft format to your mail within 30 Minutes once payment is confirmed. 

--------------------------------------------------------

N/B:    By ordering for our material means you have read and accepted our Terms and Conditions

Terms of Use: This is an academic paper. Students should NOT copy our materials word to word, as we DO NOT encourage Plagiarism. Only use as guide in developing your original research work.

Delivery Assurance

We are trustworthy and can never SCAM you. Our success story is based on the love and fear for God plus constant referrals from our clients who have benefited from our site. We deliver project materials to your Email address within 15-30 Minutes depending on how fast your payment is acknowledged by us.

Quality Assurance

All research projects, Research Term Papers and Essays on this site are well researched, supervised and approved by lecturers who are intellectuals in their various fields of study.

Share: