Working Capital Management

MP A R Munich Personal RePEc Archive A? ect of Working Capital Management on Firms Pro? tability in Sugar Industry of Pakistan Zafar Ullah Malik and Athar Iqbal Iqra University - Main Campus - Karachi - Pakistan 1. May 2012 Online at http://mpra. ub. uni-muenchen. de/41436/ MPRA Paper No. 41436, posted 19. September 2012 11:40 UTC Affect of Working Capital Management on Firms Profitability in Sugar Industry of Pakistan (Zafar Ullah Malik and Athar Iqbal) Abstract Management of working capital performs a very vital part in the performance of firms in sugar industry.

This thesis tests the impact of working capital management on firm’s profitability in sugar industry of Pakistan for years 1999 to 2009. To analyze this, data of 19 sugar mills which are listed at Karachi Stock Exchange is used. The result shows that the Sales Growth, Current Ratio, No of Days Inventory and No of Days Accounts Payables are significantly affecting the profitability of the firms while Sales, Gearing Ratioand No of Days Account Receivables are insignificant in the research. Pearson Correlation and Multiple Linear Regression are used in this research to study the relationship between variables.

Working Capital Management 2 INTRODUCTION 1. 1 Overview In manufacturing sector of Pakistan 70% of goods are produced by the large scale industries which include mainly cement, automobiles, sugar, textile, oil and gas and etc. As the manufacturing sector includes so many sub sectors therefore in depth analysis is required for the industry as a whole and also of every firm at micro level. Though agriculture contributes to the major chunk in the economy of Pakistan but Sugar sector also plays a vital role.

Sugar sector is the second biggest sector in the manufacturing sector which contributed 2% to the overall GDP of Pakistan and 13% to manufacturing sector. Sugarcane production has increased by 12 percent to 55. 3 million tons in 2010-11 from 49. 4 million tons last year whereas sugar production increased by 3. 8 million ton showing an increase of 26. 5 % (Economic Survey of Pakistan, 2011). One of the main sectors in manufacturing sector is sugar sector. More than 100,000 labor works in sugar sector and more than 9 million people earn their living through the production of sugarcane.

Mills producing sugar in Pakistan are capable enough to produce country’s requirement for next 3 years. Government should not entertain any application of opening a new sugar mill rather they should concentrate on financing the working capital for the 69 firms working in Pakistan which desperately in need of that financing. Commercial bank will be approximately be needing Rs. 2. 7 billion to finance the working capital of these working sugar firms (Rizvi, 2009). Most of the sugar firms are owned by the persons who have political influence and were built by those development finance institutions which were themselves facing

Working Capital Management 3 working capital issues out of few have already been closed and few are near to be closed. Further shutdown of sugar mills will result in loss of national assets, less sales tax and unemployment will increase. There has been a crisis in the sugar industry of Pakistan especially the sugar mills in Sindh from last 3 years. This crisis has affect owners of the sugar mills, employees of the sugar mills and raw material suppliers. As the profit of these sugar mills are not improving which result in low value to shareholders and affects the owners of sugar mills.

Suppliers of raw material complain of not getting good prices of raw material and very late payments from the sugar mills and in last the employees of sugar mills are not getting paid because profits has converted in to negative. Sugar mills are facing severe liquidity problems they don’t have enough cash to pay a good price to suppliers and above all pay their suppliers on time. This problem has gone so worst that they are not able to pay their legal liabilities. Considering the situation of the sugar mills banks are not willing to advance any further loans.

Solution to all the problems mention above lies in the efficient management of working capital. Components of working capital which includes inventory management, receivable management, payables management and cash conversion cycle if controlled efficiently than all of the problems will be solved and the sugar industry of Pakistan will once again progress and contribute to the GDP of Pakistan in a better way than past. Many researchers have worked on the importance of working capital management. The work of Shin and Soenen(1998), Deloof(2003) and Padachi(2006) are most important.

The results concluded that working capital management is essential to increase the profitability of the firm. There have been very few researches with the Working Capital Management 4 respect to sugar industry in Pakistan which is a motivating force to work on this issue with reference to the sugar industry of Pakistan. Considering the importance of working capital management objective of this research is to find that which factors of working capital management plays important role and affect the profitability of sugar mills in Pakistan.

Variables taken for conducting this research are sales, sales growth, current ratio measure of liquidity, gearing ratio measure of debt and working capital componentsno of days accounts receivables, no of days accounts payable and no of days inventory. For the research data sample of 19 firms which are currently enlisted at Karachi Stock Exchange for the years 1999 – 2009 is taken. 1. 2 Problem Statement The objective of this study is to examine does working capital management affect the firm profitability in the sugar industry of Pakistan? 1. 3 Outline of the Study

The first chapter of the research focuses on giving basic view of the research and provides information on the overview, issues, purpose and basic theories on the working capital management. In the second chapter existing work by various researchers and past empirical studies is discus. The third chapter provided details regarding practically carrying out of the research and described data collection and analysis procedures. The fourth chapter gives details regarding the results of the research. Finally the fifth chapter includes the conclusion of the research. Working Capital Management 5 LITERATURE REVIEW

Working capital management has been a concern for all firms but small firms should give more importance to this issue because they cannot afford to survive without cash (Peel, Wilson and Howorth, 2000). Many researchers have worked on the same issue but pioneer study of Shin and Soenen (1998) and Deloof (2003) have found that working capital management stronglyaffects the corporate profitability. Therefore sugar mills should address this issue seriously. Maccini and Blinder (1991) suggested that conventional approach that is to invest highly in working capital can also increase profitability.

Maccini and Blinder (1991) suggested that if more investment is done on inventory than it will save supply time and money due to availability and fluctuations in prices and production process is also not disturbed. Hicks and Czyzewski(1992) analyzed that the firms which have greater cash balances have high return on assets. Jose, Lancaster and Stevens (1996) performed the research to find out the relationship between working capital management and firm’s profitability by taking net trading cycle as a measure of working capital management on specific industry, the result was not that significant.

After observing the Industry nature and size of the industry Jose et al. (1996) suggested that aggressive liquidity management increases the profitability. Shin and Soenen (1998) took a sample of United States firms. To analyze the relationship between profitability and working capital Shin and Soenen (1998) use Net Trading Cycle as a measure of working capital management. The result suggested that Net Trading Cycle is indirectly related to profitability while in previous research on specific industry, the result was not that significant (Shin and Soenen, 1993).

The general thought which prevails is that profitability can be increase by decreasing the working capital investment. It can be done by decreasing the portion of current Working Capital Management 6 assets. Wang (2002) took a sample of Taiwanese and Japanese firms and Deloof (2003) took a sample of Belgium Firms. The results suggested that profitability depends on how the working capital management is handle by the management. Deloof(2003) stated that no of days inventory and no of days accounts receivable is indirectly related to profitability.

Deloof (2003) also stated that if the cash conversion cycle is shorter than the profitability will be increased. Thus efficient working capital management is very important to increases the value of the shareholders (Wang, 2002; Deloof, 2003). Tryfonidis and Lazaridis(2006) carried out a research for the companies listed in Athens Stock Exchange. Tryfonidis and Lazaridis (2006) analyzed the relationship between working capital management and profitability of the firms. The variable for the measurement of profitably was gross operating profit in their research.

Significant relationship between the cash conversion cycle and profitability was reported. Tryfonidis and Lazaridis (2006) stated that the profit can be maximize by taking care of every component of working capital at individual level. Padachi(2006) studied different behaviors in the working capital management for a sample of 58 small Mauritian firms for the year 1998 – 2003. Padachi (2006) stated that if the working capital is managed efficiently than it will add up to the firms value and increase profitability.

The research showed that no of days inventories and no of days receivable are indirectly related to profitability. Uyar(2009) evaluate the relationship between the firm size, profitability and the cash conversion cycle by using correlation and annova techniques for the companies enlisted in Istanbul Stock Exchange. The outcome was that that the cash conversion cycle of manufacturing sector was greater as compared to the whole sale industry. In addition to that it was analyzed that the size of the firm and profitability has

Working Capital Management 7 significant negative relation with cash conversion cycle. Gill, Biger and Mathur(2010) studied the relationship between working capital management and firm’s profitability for the sample of 88 firms listed at New York stock exchange for the period of 2005 to 2007 and found significant relationship between the two variables. Zuberi (2010) took a sample of Pakistan’s automobile sector and concluded that the growth and current ratio of the firms in automobile sector have direct relation with the profitability of the firms.

Ding, Guariglia and Knight (2010) took a sample of over 120,000 Chinese firms and concluded that working capital management significantly affects the profitability of firms. Alipour (2011) took a sample of 1063 top firms listed in Tehran stock exchange and found a negative significant relationship between no of days accounts receivable, Inventory Turnover and cash conversion cycle where as positive significant relation with no of days accounts payables with profitability and hence concluded that working capital management significantly affects the profitability of the firms.

Enqvist, Graham, Nikkinen (2012) worked on the sample of Finland firms and studied the relationship of working capital management and profitability on different business cycles and concluded that there is a significant negative relationship between cash conversion cycle and profitability of firms. The results suggested that efficient management of inventory and accounts receivable days significantly affects the corporate profitability of the firms. In Pakistan there have been few researches on working capital management. Sana and Shah (2006) worked on oil and gas sector.

They took a very small sample of consisting only 7 firms and they concluded that profitability and value of shareholders can be increased by managing the working capital efficiently. Nazir and Afza (2007) in their research analyze the relationship between aggressive and conventional way of Working Capital Management 8 investing in working capital for 205 firms for 17 different sub sectors. Results showed that there is a negative relationship between aggressive approach in working capital investment and the profitability of the firms.

Nasr and Rehman(2007) analyzed the relationship between the profitability and components of working capital management which includes no of days inventory, no of days accounts receivable, no of days accounts payable and cash conversion cycle. The result showed that there is negative relationship between them. In the year Nazir and Afza(2008) analyzed the working capital management for 204 firms. Though researchers have studied the relationship between the components of working capital management and the corporate profitability with reference to Pakistan but it’s not enough.

There is still lack of evidence of relationship between the two variables. This reason has been a motivational force to do a research on the sugar sector of Pakistan. For this purpose sample of 19 sugar firms listed on Karachi stock exchange has been taken during 1999-2009. Working Capital Management 9 RESEARCH METHODS 3. 1 Method of Data Collection The secondary data necessarily required to perform the research was gathered from the official sites of the sugar firms. Additionally, some of the required data was abstracted from the library of State Bank and Karachi stock exchange.

Rest of the data is collected from annual reports, SBP analysis reports and economical surveys. 3. 2 Sample Size There are 35 Sugar mills listed at Karachi Stock Exchange out of which 19 are selected. Those firms are not included whose data was not available or observations were missing for few years. The data used for the purpose of research consisted of 11 years annual data of the variables used in research. Data of all the variables belonged to period starting from fiscal year 1999 to fiscal year 2009 because this is the period where many of new sugar mills were installed and many of them were shutdown.

There are total 209 observations. 3. 3 Research Model Developed Person Correlation is used to calculate the relationship between the different variables use in this research. Working capital components are inventory, receivables and payables. To find the effect of working capital management on profitability on sugar firms regression model is developed using empirical framework used by Padachi(2006) and Deloof(2003). Working Capital Management 10 We specify our models as; NOI = ? 0 + ? 1 (lnS) + ? 2 (SG) + ? 3 (CR) + ? 4 (GR) +? 5 (NDAR) + ? 6 (NDI) + ? 7 (NDAP) + ? it 3. Variables to be Studied Dependent Variables NOI - Net operating income is (sales –cost of goods sold)/ (total assets) Net operating income is used as a profitability and performance measure in this research. Shin and Soenen(1998) and Deloof(2003) also used NOI as a comprehensive measure of profitability in their researches. They stated that working capital management significantly affects the profitability of the firm. Independent Variables In this research three comprehensive components of working capital management Trade credit policy, Inventory policy and Payment policy are use.

Many researchers which include Shin and Soenen(1998),Deloof(2003) and Padachi(2006) used same components for analyzing working capital management. S - Sales are expressed in millions of PKR. Natural log of Sales are included in the research to measure the size of the firms. It is assume that bigger the size more the profit. Shin and Soenen(1998), Deloof(2003) and Padachi(2006) also included sale as a measure of firm size and found positive and highly significant relation between sales and corporate profitability. Working Capital Management 11 SG - Sales growth is (current year’s sales - last year’s sales)/last year’s sales.

Sales growth is added in the research to measure the investment growth opportunity in the industry. Deloof(2003) included sales growth in his research and found positive and highly significant relation with profitability. CR - Current ratio is current asset/current liabilities. Current ratio is taken as the measure of liquidity in the firm. More the liquidity of the firm less will be investment in working capital and firm will easily pay its immediate liabilities and creditors but on other hand more liquidity means that less investment in inventory and less sales.

It is found that current ratio have direct and significant relationship with profitability (Rehman and Afza, 2010). GR - Gearing ratio is total fixed liability/total capital employed. Gearing ratio is used to measure the leverage of the firm. Rehman and Afza(2010) used gearing ratio in the research and find negative relationship with profitability it means higher the debt less the profit. NDAR - No of days accounts receivable is (A/R x 365)/sales. No of days accounts receivable is included as a component of working capital management.

Generous credit terms can increase sales as it allows more time for customers to check the goods from the supplier before paying the cost (Long, Malitz and Ravid, 1993; Deloof and Jegers, 1996). Customers enjoy advantage from longer credit terms as compare to taking a loan from financial institution (Petersen and Rajan, 1997). Therefore no of days accounts receivable significantly affect the profitability of the firm (Deloof 2003). Working Capital Management 12 NDI - No of days inventory is (inventory x 365)/cost of goods sold.

Firms have different optimal level of investing in working capital some invest more some invest less. On one hand keeping low inventory result in high liquidity but on other hand keeping high inventory saves firm from stock out and also result in more sales. Many researchers have included NDI as one of the component of working capital management as NDI has a negative relation with NOI and significantly affect the profitability. The negative relation shows that low profit means less sales and less sales result in more inventory (Deloof, 2003).

NDAP - No of days accounts payable is (A/P x 365)/purchases. No of days accounts payable is also an important component of working capital management. Firm enjoys more liquidity and gets the chance to examine the quality of goods before paying to their suppliers if they pay late but on other hand they miss the discount offered by the suppliers which they can avail by prompt payment. Padachi(2006) and Deloof(2003) in theirresearches found that no of days accounts payable significantly affect the profitability of the firm. 3. 5 Hypothesis

This research primarily focused on following hypothesis: H1: Sales has a significant impact on NOI. H2: Sales Growth has a significant impact on NOI. H3: Current Ratio has a significant impact on NOI. H4: Gearing Ratio has a significant impact on NOI. H5: No of Days Accounts Receivable has a significant impact on NOI. Working Capital Management 13 H6: No of Days Inventory has a significant impact on NOI. H7: No of Days Accounts Payable has a significant impact on NOI. 3. 6 Statistical Technique Pearson Correlation and Multiple Linear Regression are used in this research to study the relationship between variables.

Pearson Correlation is use to understand the relationship of variables with each other whereas the general purpose of using multiple linear regression is to know more about the relationship between many independent variable or predictor variables and a dependent or criterion variable. Working Capital Management 14 RESULTS 4. 1 Findings and Interpretation of the Results 4. 1. 1 Descriptive Statistics Table 4. 1 Descriptive Statistics Mean Net Operating Income Sales Growth Log of Sales Gearing Ratio Current Ratio No of Days Acc Rec No of Days Inventory No of Days Acc Payable . 983 16. 2946 3. 0868 58. 3849 78. 6536 14. 3837 65. 1477 96. 9477 Std. Deviation . 10327 51. 78274 . 26493 157. 41084 42. 82401 62. 90187 67. 25259 156. 78692 Firms in the sugar industry of Pakistan on average have 98,300 PKR of Net Operating Income, 16. 29% Sales Growth, 300,0000 PKR Sales, 0. 58 Gearing Ratio, 0. 78 Current Ratio, 14. 38 days of receivable cycle, 65. 14 days of inventory cycle and 96. 94 days of payable cycle. Working Capital Management 15 4. 1. 2 Correlations Table 4. 2 Correlations NOI NOI SG LnS GR CR NDAR NDI NDAP NOI SG LnS Sig. 1tailed) GR CR NDAR NDI NDAP . .000 . 000 . 109 . 000 . 254 . 007 . 000 . .000 . 475 . 465 . 469 . 014 . 247 . .043 . 000 . 293 . 463 . 016 . .000 . 218 . 115 . 083 . .152 . 015 . 010 . .307 . 229 . .179 . 1. 000 SG . 297 1. 000 LnS . 362 . 317 1. 000 GR -. 096 -. 005 -. 134 1. 000 CR . 407 -. 007 . 418 -. 255 1. 000 NDAR -. 052 -. 006 -. 043 -. 061 -. 080 1. 000 NDI -. 191 -. 170 . 007 -. 094 . 168 -. 039 1. 000 NDAP -. 278 -. 053 -. 167 -. 108 -. 180 . 058 -. 072 1. 000 Here correlation between NOI and other independent variables has been checked.

All working capital components are negatively related to NOI. Deloof(2003) concluded the same result for the Belgian’s firm. The results shows that longer the no days accounts receivable, no if days inventory and no of days account payable lesser will be the net operating profit as all three components of working capital management have a negative relationship with net operating income. Sales, Sales growth and Current Ratio have shown positive and significant relationships with profitability while Gearing Ratio has negative relationship. Working Capital Management 6 4. 1. 3 Multiple Linear Regression The results have been drawn by applying multiple linear regression on the data. Table 4. 3 Model Summary Model 1 R . 594a R Square . 353 Adjusted R Square . 324 a. Predictors: (Constant), No of Days Accounts Receivable, No of Days Inventory, No of Days Accounts Payable, Sales Growth, Gearing Ratio, Current Ratio, Log of Sales b. Dependent Variable: Net Operating Income The model has adjusted R-squared of 0. 324 that means approximately 32. 4 % of the variance in the dependent variable NOI was accounted for by the model and 67. % of the variance remained unexplained. The dependent variable of the research was NOI therefore; the Coefficients table was required to be analyzed and interpreted. The important points of the results have been discussed below. Table 4. 4 ANOVA Model Regression Residual Total Sum of Squares . 621 1. 138 1. 760 df 7 158 165 Mean Square . 089 . 007 F 12. 323 Sig. .000 The significance value of the F statistic is less than 0. 05, which means that the variation explained by the model is not due to chance and model is effective. Working Capital Management 17 4. 1. 4 Coefficients

Table 4. 5 Coefficients Unstandardized Coefficients Model B (Constant) Sales Growth Log of Sales Gearing Ratio Current Ratio No of Days Acc Rec No of Days Inventory No of Days Acc Payable -. 0675570720 . 0004272708 . 0419537310 -. 0000228505 . 0008582428 -. 0000277332 -. 0003588443 -. 0001345900 Std. Error . 087 . 000 . 029 . 000 . 000 . 000 . 000 . 000 . 214 . 108 -. 035 . 356 -. 017 -. 234 -. 204 Standardized Coefficients Beta -. 775 3. 093 1. 423 -. 516 4. 751 -. 262 -3. 532 -3. 073 . 439 . 002 . 157 . 607 . 000 . 794 . 001 . 002 . 853 . 716 . 898 . 730 . 984 . 935 . 926 1. 172 1. 98 1. 113 1. 371 1. 016 1. 069 1. 080 Collinearity Statistics Tolerance VIF t Sig. To check the effects of growth on profitability sales growth (SG) was included in the model. Sales growth refers here to the investment opportunities which a firm has with in the industry. Sales growth has a positive relation with profitability and significantly affecting it. It means if the growth will increase the profitability will also increase. Shin and Soenen (1998) and Deloof (2003) also concluded the same results that sales growth has a significant direct relationship with profitability.

Log of sales (lnS) hasproved statistically insignificant. Positive sign with its coefficient shows that bigger the size of the firm or more sales result in more profitability. Gearing Ratio (GR) is statistically insignificant in this research but it has a negative relationship with net operating income which shows that higher will be the leverage Working Capital Management 18 low will be the operating profitability of the firm. Same result was concluded by Deloof(2003), Shin and Soenen (1998), Rajan and Zingales (1995) and Myers and Majlof (1984) but in this case it is insignificant.

Current Ratio (CR) has proved statistically significant and has impact on NOI. It is according to the findings of Deloof (2003). It is the measure of liquidity so if the firms have ample cash available it will pay its creditors soon which will result in more profits. No of Days Accounts Receivable (NDAR) has proved statistically insignificant. Its negative relation shows that if number of days accounts receivable is increased by 1 day there will be a loss in net operating income (divided by total assets) by 0. 27 %. It is according to the findings of Raheman and Afza (2010).

A very strong significant indirect relation between net operating income and number of days accounts payable (NDAP) is shown by the regression analysis. The negative correlation between operating income and number of days accounts payable is confirmed by this negative relation in regression analysis. It is according to the findings of Deloof (2003). It also shows that if the firm pays to their creditors soon they will avail big discounts hence increasing the profitability. No of Days Inventory (NDI) has proved statistically significant and has impact on NOI.

This shows that by reducing the no of days inventory profitability can be improved or profitability can be increase by keeping the inventory for shorter period. Mostly researchers have found a significant negative impact of no of days inventory on the profitability of firms. It is according to the findings of Deloof(2003). Working Capital Management 19 For further analysis sugar firms were divided in to 5 groups according to the firm’s size. The firm’s size was decided on the basis of two variables annual sales and value of total assets.

The same test was performed for each group separately. The intervals for Annual sales and total assets were: Group 1 2 3 4 5 1 500 1000 1500 2000 Annual Sales - - - - - 500 1000 1500 2000 Above 1 500 1000 1500 2000 Total Assets - - - - - 500 1000 1500 2000 Above If we take annual sales as a determinant for firm’s size than for group 1 there is no variable which is significant. For group 2 Sales are significantly affecting the profitability of firms which has annual sales from 500 million to 1000 million. For group 3 current ratio is significantly affecting the profitability.

For group 4 no variable is significant in the research and for group 5 which includes sugar mills which has annual sales from 2000 to above 2000 gearing ratio and no of days account receivable is significantly affecting the profitability of sugar mills. It shows that the larger firms have more debt and have more receivables and these both are indirectly related to profitability. Now if we consider value of total assets as a determinant for firm’s size than for group 1 and group 2 there is no variable which is significant. For group 3 no of days inventory is significantly affecting the profitability of sugar firms.

For group 4 current ratio and no of days inventory both are significant in the research and for group 5 gearing ratio and no of days receivable are significantly affecting the profitability of sugar firms which shows that firms which has comparatively greater total assets have Working Capital Management 20 more debt and their no of days account receivable are high which effect the profitability as they both have negative relation with profitability. 4. 2 Hypothesis Assessment Summary Table 4. 6 Hypothesis Assessment Summary Table ? Pvalue . 002 Empirical Conclusion Accept Hypothesis H1: Sales Growth has a significant impact on NOI. 0004272708 H2: Sales has a significant impact on NOI. .0419537310 .157 Reject H3: Gearing Ratio has a significant impact on NOI. -. 0000228505 .607 Reject H4: Current Ratio has a significant impact on NOI. .0008582428 .000 Accept H5: No of Days Accounts Receivable has a significant impact on NOI. -. 0000277332 .794 Reject H6: No of Days Inventory has a significant impact on NOI. -. 0003588443 .001 Accept H7: No of Days Accounts Payable has a significant impact on NOI. -. 0001345900 .002 Accept Working Capital Management 21 CONCLUSIONS, DISCUSSIONS, IMPLICATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH 5. 1 Conclusion

In this research no ofdays accounts receivable, no of days account payable and no of days inventory are taken as a comprehensive components of working capital management, by using these variables the efficiency of working capital management can easily be check. The results shows that longer these components lesser will be the net operating profit as these have a negative relationship with net operating income. Firms can easily increase value for the shareholders by keeping the days to optimal level. In this research no of days payable and no of days inventory is significant and are affecting the operating profitability.

Deloof (2003) concluded the same result for the study of Belgian firms. Current Ratio (CR) has proved statistically significant and has impact on NOI whereas gearing ratio is statistically insignificant in this research but it has a negative relationship with net operating income which shows that higher will be the leverage low will be the operating profitability of the firm. Same result was concluded by Deloof (2003), Shin and Soenen (1998), Rajan and Zingales (1995) and Myers and Majlof (1984) but in this case gearing ratio is insignificant.

Sales growth and natural log of sales have positive relationship with profitability but sales growth in significant whereas natural log of sales has proven to be insignificant. 5. 2 Discussions Sugar sector which is the second biggest sector in manufacturing sector of Pakistan contributes to the economy significantly. Keeping in mind the importance of Working Capital Management 22 sugar sector in the economy of Pakistan objective of this research is to analyze the affect of working capital management on firm’s profitability in the sugar sector of Pakistan.

To carry out the research data from 19 sugar mills which are currently listed at Karachi Stock Exchange is analyzed. The results shows that profitability of sugar mills are significantly affected by the efficient management of working capital and working capital management play a vital role in creating a value for the shareholders. 5. 3 Implications Many recommendations can be drawn from the above research results. Every sugar mill should give due importance to working capital management. Sugar mills should make such collection and payment policies which are in favor of the firm and existing policies should be thoroughly reviewed.

Sugar mills should decrease there payment and receivable cycle. This can only be done when there will be professional management. The results suggest that sugar mills should keep optimum level of inventory and cash conversion cycle. This could only be possible when sugar mills will give due importance to every component of cash conversion cycle. Sugar mills should hire professional human resource to take decisions related to finance. There are many sugar mills where only one person is looking after the whole department. In order to maximize the profit sugar mills should manage there working capital efficiently. . 4 Future Research Every sector in manufacturing sector should be analyzed at micro level for efficient working capital management so it can be understand that which factors affects the working capital management more and how can working capital management can increase profitability in different sectors of our country. Working Capital Management 23 REFERENCES Alipour, Mohammad. (2011). Working Capital Management and Corporate Profitability: Evidence from Iran. World Applied Sciences Journal, 12 (7), 1093-1099. Blinder, A. S. & L. Macinni. (1991).

Taking Stock: A critical Assessment of Recent Research on Inventories. Journal of Economic Perspectives. 5(1), 73-96. Czyzewski, A. B. , & D. W. Hicks. (1992). Hold Onto Your Cash. Management Accounting, 27-30. Deloof, M. (2003). Does Working Capital Management Affects profitability of Belgian Firms? Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, 30(3) & (4), 306 -320. Deloof, M. , & M. Jegers. (1996). Trade Credit, Product Quality, and Intragroup Trade: Some European Evidence. Financial Management 25 (3), 945-968. Enqvist, Julius, Graham, Michael &Nikkinen, Jussi. (2011).

The Impact of Working Capital Management on Firm Profitability in Different Business Cycles: Evidence from Finland. http://ssrn. com/abstract=1794802 Jose, M. L. , C. Lancaster, & J. L. Stevens. (1996). Corporate Returns and Cash Conversion Cycles. Journal of Economics and Finance. 20(1), 33-46. Lazaridis, I. & D. Tryfonidis. (2006). Relationship between Working Capital Management and Profitability of Listed Companies in the Athens Stock Exchange. Journal of Financial Management and Analysis. 19 (1), 26 – 35. Long, M. S. , I. B. Malitz& S. A. Ravid. (1993). Trade Credit, Quality Guarantees, and Product Marketability.

Financial Management 22 (4), 117-127. Padachi, K. (2006). Trends in Working Capital Management and its Impact on Firms’ Performance: An Analysis of Mauritian Small Manufacturing Firms. International Review of Business Research Papers, 2(2), 45 - 58. Peel, M. J. Wilson, N. &Howorth, C. A. (2000). Late payment and Credit management in the small firm sector: Some Empirical Evidence. International Small Business Journal 18(2), 52-68 Petersen, M. A. & R. G. Rajan. (1997). Trade Credit: Theories and Evidence. Review of Financial Studies 10 (3), 661-691. Rizvi, Syed Jamil Ahmed. (2009).

Sugar industry in Pakistan problems and potentials. Sai, Ding. Alessandra, Guariglia. & John Knight. (2010). Investment and financing constraints in china: does working capital management make a difference? University of Oxford, ISSN 1471-0498. Working Capital Management 24 Shah, A. & A. Sana. (2006). Impact of Working Capital Management on the Profitability of Oil and Gas Sector of Pakistan. European Journal of Scientific Research, 15(3), 301 - 307. Shin, H. H. , & L. Soenen. (1998). Efficiency of Working Capital and Corporate Profitability. Financial Practice and Education 8 (2), 37-45 Uyar, A. (2009).

The Relationship of Cash Conversion Cycle with Firm Size and Profitability: An Empirical Investigation in Turkey. International Research Journal of Finance and Economics, 24. Wang, Y. J. (2002). Liquidity Management, Operating Performance, and Corporate Value: Evidence from Japan and Taiwan. Journal of Multinational Financial Management. 12, 159-169. Zubairi, H. Jamal (2011). Impact of Working Capital Management and Capital Structure on Profitability of Automobile Firms in Pakistan. Finance and Corporate Governance Conference. Working Capital Management 25 Appendix 7. 1 Firms Size (Sales) – Group wise analysis

Coefficients (Group 1) Unstandardized Coefficients B (Constant) Sales Growth Log of Sales Gearing Ratio Current Ratio No of Days Acc Rec No of Days Inventory No of Days Acc Payable -. 700943835 . 000423181 . 270367609 . 000016896 . 000165261 -. 000013999 . 000254801 -. 000115216 Std. Error . 524 . 000 . 192 . 000 . 001 . 000 . 000 . 000 . 252 . 320 . 040 . 042 -. 017 . 133 -. 289 Standardized Coefficients Beta -1. 337 1. 157 1. 407 . 239 . 192 -. 105 . 677 -1. 621 . 195 . 260 . 173 . 813 . 849 . 918 . 506 . 119 . 532 . 490 . 893 . 539 . 932 . 658 . 794 1. 879 2. 042 1. 120 1. 854 1. 073 1. 519 1. 259 Collinearity Statistics Tolerance VIF

Model t Sig. Coefficients (Group 2) Unstandardized Coefficients B (Constant) Sales Growth Log of Sales Gearing Ratio Current Ratio No of Days Acc Rec No of Days Inventory No of Days Acc Payable -. 771620304 . 000262256 . 279955851 -. 000231712 . 001175023 . 000391760 -. 000380582 -. 000261420 Std. Error . 300 . 000 . 102 . 000 . 001 . 001 . 000 . 000 . 091 . 389 -. 262 . 326 . 070 -. 205 -. 169 Standardized Coefficients Beta -2. 571 . 635 2. 755 -1. 858 2. 294 . 588 -1. 576 -1. 368 . 015 . 530 . 010 . 073 . 029 . 561 . 125 . 181 . 650 . 663 . 663 . 654 . 933 . 784 . 864 1. 539 1. 509 1. 508 1. 529 1. 071 1. 275 1. 57 Collinearity Statistics Tolerance VIF Model t Sig. Working Capital Management 26 Coefficients (Group 3) Unstandardized Coefficients B (Constant) Sales Growth Log of Sales Gearing Ratio Current Ratio No of Days Acc Rec No of Days Inventory No of Days Acc Payable -. 892370931 . 000674180 . 303358240 . 000022288 . 001256087 -. 001836587 -. 000457813 -. 000141049 Std. Error . 477 . 001 . 154 . 000 . 000 . 001 . 000 . 000 . 261 . 421 . 047 . 528 -. 298 -. 161 -. 099 Standardized Coefficients Beta -1. 873 1. 219 1. 967 . 306 3. 000 -1. 717 -1. 017 -. 651 . 080 . 240 . 067 . 763 . 008 . 105 . 324 . 524 . 416 . 416 . 808 . 616 . 634 . 56 . 824 2. 401 2. 404 1. 237 1. 624 1. 577 1. 322 1. 214 Collinearity Statistics Tolerance VIF Model t Sig. Coefficients (Group 4) Unstandardized Coefficients B (Constant) Sales Growth Log of Sales Gearing Ratio Current Ratio No of Days Acc Rec No of Days Inventory No of Days Acc Payable . 1755865245 . 0001263171 -. 0045226467 -. 0008531255 . 0005845067 -. 0019008996 -. 0006042946 . 0000503957 Std. Error . 292 . 000 . 091 . 001 . 001 . 002 . 000 . 000 . 055 -. 008 -. 177 . 143 -. 170 -. 404 . 025 Standardized Coefficients Beta . 601 . 343 -. 050 -1. 019 . 878 -1. 059 -2. 412 . 156 . 552 . 733 . 960 . 316 . 386 . 297 . 022 . 77 . 744 . 768 . 628 . 716 . 731 . 674 . 734 1. 343 1. 302 1. 592 1. 397 1. 368 1. 485 1. 363 Collinearity Statistics Tolerance VIF Model t Sig. Working Capital Management 27 Coefficients (Group 5) Unstandardized Coefficients B (Constant) Sales Growth Log of Sales Gearing Ratio Current Ratio No of Days Acc Rec No of Days Inventory No of Days Acc Payable . 399514882 . 000168083 -. 068682071 -. 002444838 . 000476082 -. 003031498 -. 000124739 -. 000016939 Std. Error . 202 . 000 . 057 . 001 . 000 . 001 . 000 . 000 . 144 -. 203 -. 574 . 327 -. 542 -. 142 -. 036 Standardized Coefficients Beta 1. 978 . 992 -1. 209 -2. 921 1. 838 -2. 55 -. 764 -. 270 . 059 . 331 . 239 . 007 . 079 . 007 . 452 . 789 . 805 . 605 . 442 . 539 . 508 . 496 . 970 1. 242 1. 652 2. 261 1. 856 1. 968 2. 016 1. 031 Collinearity Statistics Tolerance VIF Model t Sig. 7. 2 Firms Size (Total Assets) – Groups Wise Analysis Coefficients (Group 1) Unstandardized Coefficients B (Constant) Sales Growth Log of Sales Gearing Ratio Current Ratio No of Days Acc Rec No of Days Inventory No of Days Acc Payable -. 700943835 . 000423181 . 270367609 . 000016896 . 000165261 -. 000013999 . 000254801 -. 000115216 Std. Error . 524 . 000 . 192 . 000 . 001 . 000 . 000 . 000 Standardized Coefficients Beta -1. 37 . 252 . 320 . 040 . 042 -. 017 . 133 -. 289 1. 157 1. 407 . 239 . 192 -. 105 . 677 -1. 621 .195 . 260 . 173 . 813 . 849 . 918 . 506 . 119 . 532 . 490 . 893 . 539 . 932 . 658 . 794 1. 879 2. 042 1. 120 1. 854 1. 073 1. 519 1. 259 Collinearity Statistics Tolerance VIF Model t Sig. Working Capital Management 28 Coefficients (Group 2) Unstandardized Coefficients B (Constant) Sales Growth Log of Sales Gearing Ratio Current Ratio No of Days Acc Rec No of Days Inventory No of Days Acc Payable -. 556561204 . 000660736 . 210681378 -. 000954642 . 000878709 -. 000093068 -. 000271184 -. 000076527 Std. Error . 352 . 001 . 115 . 01 . 001 . 001 . 000 . 000 Standardized Coefficients Beta -1. 583 . 248 . 353 -. 208 . 169 -. 019 -. 138 -. 049 1. 319 1. 838 -1. 368 1. 097 -. 117 -. 852 -. 321 . 126 . 200 . 078 . 184 . 284 . 908 . 403 . 751 . 563 . 541 . 862 . 837 . 790 . 766 . 862 1. 776 1. 850 1. 160 1. 195 1. 266 1. 306 1. 160 Collinearity Statistics Tolerance VIF Model t Sig. Coefficients (Group 3) Unstandardized Coefficients B (Constant) Sales Growth Log of Sales Gearing Ratio Current Ratio No of Days Acc Rec No of Days Inventory No of Days Acc Payable . 24381567 . 00015881 -. 04129506 -. 00053858 . 00096363 -. 00228643 -. 00079685 -. 00027140 Std.

Error . 343 . 000 . 113 . 001 . 001 . 002 . 000 . 000 Standardized Coefficients Beta . 711 . 061 -. 073 -. 177 .308 -. 185 -. 411 -. 155 . 395 -. 366 -. 727 1. 537 -1. 077 -2. 441 -. 822 . 483 . 695 . 717 . 473 . 135 . 290 . 021 . 418 . 698 . 416 . 280 . 410 . 557 . 580 . 464 1. 432 2. 405 3. 573 2. 440 1. 795 1. 723 2. 155 Collinearity Statistics Tolerance VIF Model t Sig. Working Capital Management 29 Coefficients (Group 4) Unstandardized Coefficients B (Constant) Sales Growth Log of Sales Gearing Ratio Current Ratio No of Days Acc Rec No of Days Inventory No of Days Acc Payable -. 290060122 . 000132821 . 106142447 . 00032286 . 001429609 -. 000431413 -. 000667741 . 000147285 Std. Error . 339 . 001 . 105 . 000 . 000 . 002 . 000 . 000 Standardized Coefficients Beta -. 856 . 054 . 203 . 063 . 577 -. 047 -. 455 . 084 . 262 1. 008 . 334 3. 052 -. 219 -2. 491 . 407 . 402 . 796 . 325 . 742 . 006 . 829 . 022 . 688 . 621 . 642 . 743 . 730 . 557 . 780 . 618 1. 611 1. 558 1. 347 1. 369 1. 794 1. 282 1. 619 Collinearity Statistics Tolerance VIF Model t Sig. Coefficients (Group 5) Unstandardized Coefficients B (Constant) Sales Growth Log of Sales Gearing Ratio Current Ratio No of Days Acc Rec No of Days Inventory No of Days Acc Payable . 995148822 . 0001680827 -. 0686820710 -. 0024448381 . 0004760820 -. 0030314979 -. 0001247390 -. 0000169388 Std. Error . 202 . 000 . 057 . 001 . 000 . 001 . 000 . 000 Standardized Coefficients Beta 1. 978 . 144 -. 203 -. 574 . 327 -. 542 -. 142 -. 036 . 992 -1. 209 -2. 921 1. 838 -2. 955 -. 764 -. 270 . 059 . 331 . 239 . 007 . 079 . 007 . 452 . 789 . 805 . 605 . 442 . 539 . 508 . 496 . 970 1. 242 1. 652 2. 261 1. 856 1. 968 2. 016 1. 031 Collinearity Statistics Tolerance VIF Model t Sig.