PURPOSE OF STUDY

The objectives of this project were mainly to study the inventory, cash and
receivable Of HUL with comparison to other competitors .
The main purpose of our study is to render a better understanding of the concept
―Working Capital Management.
 To understand the planning and management of working capital of HUL .
 To measure the financial soundness of the company by analyzing various
ratios.
 To suggest ways for better management and control of working capital at the
concern.
 To compare working capital of HUL & its competitors.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This project is vital to me in a significant way. It does have some importance

for the company too.

These are as follows –

 This project will be a learning device for the finance student.

 Through this project I would study the various methods of the working
capital management.
 The project will be a learning of planning and financing working capital.
 The project would also be an effective tool for credit policies of the
companies.

1
  This will show different methods of holding inventory and dealing with cash
and receivables.
 This will show the liquidity position of the company and also how do they
maintain a particular liquidity position.

IMPORTANCE OF WORKING CAPITAL

Working capital may be regarded as the lifeblood of the business. Without

insufficient working capital, any business organization cannot run smoothly or
successfully In the business the Working capital is comparable to the blood of the
human body. Therefore the study of working capital is of major importance to the
internal and external analysis because of its close relationship with the current day
to day operations of a business. The inadequacy or mismanagement of working
capital is the leading cause of business failures. To meet the current requirements
of a business enterprise such as the purchases of services, raw materials etc.
working capital is essential. It is also pointed out that working capital is nothing
but one segment of the capital structure of a business.
In short, the cash and credit in the business, is comparable to the blood in the
human body like finance s life and strength i.e. profit of solvency to the business
enterprise. Financial management is called upon to maintain always the right cash
balance so that flow of fund is maintained at a desirable speed not allowing slow
down. Thus enterprise can have a balance between liquidity and profitability.
Therefore the management of working capital is essential in each and every
activity.

2
INTRODUCTION OF WORKING CAPITAL MANAGEMENT

Working Capital is the key difference between the long term financial management
and short term financial management in terms of the timing of cash. Long term
finance involves the cash flow over the extended period of time i.e 5 to 15 years,
while short term financial decisions involve cash flow within a year or within
operating cycle. Working capital management is a short term financial
management.
Working capital management is concerned with the problems that arise in
attempting to manage the current assets, the current liabilities & the inter
relationship that exists between them. The current assets refer to those assets which
can be easily converted into cash in ordinary course of business, without disrupting
the operations of the firm.

Composition of working capital.

Major Current Assets
1) Cash
2) Accounts Receivables
3) Inventory
4) Marketable Securities

Major Current Liabilities

1) Bank Overdraft
2) Outstanding Expenses
3) Accounts Payable
4) Bills Payable

3
The Goal of Capital Management is to manage the firm s current assets &
liabilities, so that the satisfactory level of working capital is maintained. If the firm
can not maintain the satisfactory level of working capital, it is likely to become
insolvent & may be forced into bankruptcy. To maintain the margin of safety
current asset should be large enough to cover its current assets. Main theme of the
theory of working capital management is interaction between the current assets &
current liabilities.

CONCEPT OF WORKING CAPITAL:

There are 2 concepts:
 Gross Working Capital
 Net Working Capital

Gross working capital: -

It is referred as total current assets.

Focuses on,
 Optimum investment in current assets:
Excessive investments impairs firm s profitability, as idle investment earns
nothing. Inadequate working capital can threaten solvency of the firm because of
its inability to meet its current obligations. Therefore there should be adequate
investment in current assets.
 Financing of current assets:
Whenever the need for working capital funds arises, agreement should be made
quickly. If surplus funds are available they should be invested in short term
securities.

4
Net working capital :-
(NWC) defined by 2 ways,
 Difference between current assets and current liabilities
 Net working capital is that portion of current assets which is financed with
long term funds.

NET WORKING CAPITAL = CURRENT ASSETS CURRENT

LIABILITIES

If the working capital is efficiently managed then liquidity and profitability both
will improve. They are not components of working capital but outcome of working
capital. Working capital is basically related with the question of profitability versus
liquidity & related aspects of risk.

Implications of Net Working Capital:

Net working capital is necessary because the cash outflows and inflows do not
coincide. In general the cash outflows resulting from payments of current liability
are relatively predictable. The cash inflows are however difficult to predict. More
predictable the cash inflows are, the less NWC will be required. But where the
cash inflows are uncertain, it will be necessary to maintain current assets at level
adequate to cover current liabilities that are there must be NWC.

5
For evaluating NWC position, an important consideration is trade off between
probability and risk. The term profitability is measured by profits after expenses.
The term risk is defined as the profitability that a firm will become technically
insolvent so that it will not be able to meet its obligations when they become due
for payment. The risk of becoming technically insolvent is measured by NWC. If
the firm wants to increase profitability, the risk will definitely increase. If firm
wants to reduce the risk, the profitability will decrease.

PLANNING OF WORKING CAPITAL:

Working capital is required to run day to day business operations. Firms differ in
their requirement of working capital (WC). Firm s aim is to maximize the wealth
of share holders and to earn sufficient return from its operations. WCM is a
significant facet of financial management. Its importance stems from two reasons:
 Investment in current asset represents a substantial portion of total
investment.
 Investment in current assets and level of current liability has to be geared
quickly to change in sales.

Business undertaking required funds for two purposes:

 To create productive capacity through purchase of fixed assets.
 To finance current assets required for running of the business.
The importance of WCM is reflected in the fact that financial managers spend a
great deal of time in managing current assets and current liabilities.

6
SOURCES OF FINANCING WORKING CAPITAL

LONG TERM SOURCES.

 ISSUE OF SHARES

Since the profits of companies can vary wildly from year to year, so can the
dividends paid to ordinary shareholders. In bad years, dividends may be nothing
whereas in good years they may be substantial. The nominal value of a share is the
issue value of the share - it is the value written on the share certificate that all
shareholders will be given by the company in which they own shares. The market
value of a share is the amount at which a share is being sold on the stock exchange
and may be radically different from the nominal value. When they are issued,
shares are usually sold for cash, at par and/or at a premium. Shares sold at par are
sold for their nominal value only - so if Rs.10 share is sold at par, the company
selling the share will receive Rs. 10 for every share it issues.
If a share is sold at a premium, as many shares are these days, then the issue price
will be the par value plus an additional premium.

 DEBENTURES

Debentures are loans that are usually secured and are said to have either fixed or
floating charges with them. A secured debenture is one that is specifically tied to
the financing of a particular asset such as a building or a machine. Then, just like a
mortgage for a private house, the debenture holder has a legal interest in that asset
and the company cannot dispose of it unless the debenture holder agrees. If the
debenture is for land and/or buildings it can be called a mortgage debenture.

7
Debenture holders have the right to receive their interest payments before any
dividend is payable to shareholders and, most importantly, even if a company
makes a loss, it still has to pay its interest charges. If the business fails, the
debenture holders will be preferential creditors and will be entitled to the
repayment of some or all of their money before the shareholders receive anything.

 LOANS FROM OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

The term debenture is a strictly legal term but there are other forms of loan or loan
stock. A loan is for a fixed amount with a fixed repayment schedule and may
appear on a balance sheet with a specific name telling the reader exactly what the
loan is and its main details.

SHORT TERM SOURCES

 FACTORING

Factoring allows you to raise finance based on the value of your outstanding
invoices. Factoring also gives you the opportunity to outsource your sales ledger
operations and to use more sophisticated credit rating systems. Once you have set
up a factoring arrangement with a Factor, it works this way:
Once you make a sale, you invoice your customer and send a copy of the invoice to
the factor and most factoring arrangements require you to factor all your sales. The
factor pays you a set proportion of the invoice value within a pre-arranged time -
typically, most factors offer you 80-85% of an invoice's value within 24 hours. The
major advantage of factoring is that you receive the majority of the cash from
debtors within 24 hours rather than a week, three weeks or even longer.
8
  INVOICE DISCOUNTING

Invoice discounting enables you to retain the control and confidentiality of your
own sales ledger operations. The client company collects its own debts.
'Confidential invoice discounting' ensures that customers do not know you are
using invoice discounting as the client company sends out invoices and statements
as usual. The invoice discounter makes a proportion of the invoice available to you
once it receives a copy of an invoice sent. Once the client receives payment, it
must deposit the funds in a bank account controlled by the invoice discounter. The
invoice discounter will then pay the remainder of the invoice, less any charges. The
requirements are more stringent than for factoring. Different invoice discounters
will impose different requirements.

 OVERDRAFT FACILITIES

Many companies have the need for external finance but not necessarily on a long-
term basis. A company might have small cash flow problems from time to time but
such problems don't call for the need for a formal long-term loan. Under these
circumstances, a company will often go to its bank and arrange an overdraft. Bank
overdrafts are given on current accounts and the good point is that the interest
payable on them is calculated on a daily basis. So if the company borrows only a
small amount, it only pays a little bit of interest. Contrast the effects of an overdraft
with the effects of a loan.

9
  TRADE CREDIT

This source of finance really belongs under the heading of working capital
management since it refers to short-term credit. By a 'line of credit' they mean that
a creditor, such as a supplier of raw materials, will allow us to buy goods now and
pay for them later. Why do they include lines of credit as a source of finance? They
ll, if they manage their creditors carefully they can use the line of credit they
provide for us to finance other parts of their business. Take a look at any
company's balance sheet and see how much they have under the heading of
Creditors falling due within one year' - let's imagine it is Rs. 25,000 for a company.
If that company is allowed an average of 30 days to pay its creditors then they can
see that effectively it has a short term loan of Rs. 25,000 for 30 days and it can do
whatever it likes with that money as long as it pays the creditor on time.

10
DEBTORS MANAGEMENT.

Assessing the credit worthiness of customers

Capacity: will the customer be able to pay the amount agreed within the allowable
credit period? What is their past payment record? How large is the customer's
business capital. what is the financial health of the customer? Is it a liquid and
profitable concern, able to make payments on time?
Character: do the customers management appear to be committed to prompt
payment? Are they of high integrity? What are their personalities like?
Collateral: what is the scope for including appropriate security in return for
extending credit to the customer?
Conditions: what are the prevailing economic conditions? How are these likely to
impact on the customers ability to pay promptly?

Major sources of information available to companies in assessing customers

credit worthiness are:

 Bank references. These may be provided by the customers bank to indicate

their financial standing. However, the law and practice of banking secrecy
determines the way in which banks respond to credit enquiries, which can
render such references uninformative, particularly when the customer is
encountering financial difficulties.

 Trade references. Companies already trading with the customer may be

willing to provide a reference for the customer. This can be extremely
useful, providing that the companies approached are a representative sample

11
 of all the clients suppliers. Such references can be misleading, as they are
usually based on direct credit experience and contain no knowledge of the
underlying financial strength of the customer.

 Financial accounts. The most recent accounts of the customer can be

obtained either direct from the business, or for limited companies, from
Companies House. While subject to certain limitations past accounts can be
useful in vetting customers. Where the credit risk appears high or where
substantial levels of credit are required, the supplier may ask to see evidence
of the ability to pay on time. This demands access to internal future budget
data.

 Personal contact. Through visiting the premises and interviewing senior

management, staff should gain an impression of the efficiency and financial
resources of customers and the integrity of its management.

 Credit agencies. Obtaining information from a range of sources such as

financial accounts, bank and newspaper reports, court judgments, payment
records with other suppliers, in return for a fee, credit agencies can prove a
mine of information. They will provide a credit rating for different
companies. The use of such agencies has grown dramatically in recent years.

 Past experience. For existing customers, the supplier will have access to
their past payment record. However, credit managers should be aware that
many failing companies preserve solid payment records with key suppliers
in order to maintain supplies, but they only do so at the expense of other

12
 creditors. Indeed, many companies go into liquidation with flawless payment
records with key suppliers.

 General sources of information. Credit managers should scout trade

journals, business magazines and the columns of the business press to keep
abreast of the key factors influencing customers' businesses and their sector
generally. Sales staffs who have their ears to the ground can also prove an
invaluable source of information.

 Credit terms granted to customers Although sales representatives work

under the premise that all sales are good (particularly, one may add, where
commission is involved, the credit manager must take a more dispassionate
view. They must balance the sales representative's desire to extend generous
credit terms, please customers and boost sales, with a cost/benefit analysis of
the impact of such sales, incorporating the likelihood of payment on time
and the possibility of bad debts. Where a customer does survive the credit
checking process, the specific credit terms offered to them will depend upon
a range of factors.

These include:
 Order size and frequency: companies placing large and/or frequent orders
will be in a better position to negotiate terms than firms ordering on a one-
off basis.

13
 Market position: the relative market strengths of the customer and supplier
can be influential. For example, a supplier with a strong market share may
be able to impose strict credit terms on a weak, fragmented customer base.

 Profitability: the size of the profit margin on the goods sold will influence
the generosity of credit facilities offered by the supplier. If margins are tight,
credit advanced will be on a much stricter basis than where margins are
wider.

 Financial resources of the respective businesses: from the supplier's

perspective, it must have sufficient resources to be able to offer credit and
ensure that the level of credit granted represents an efficient use of funds.
For the customer, trade credit may represent an important source of finance,
particularly where finance is constrained. If credit is not made available, the
customer may switch to an alternative, more understanding supplier.

 Industry norms: unless a company can differentiate itself in some manner

(e.g., unrivalled after sales service), its credit policy will generally be guided
by the terms offered by its competitors. Suppliers will have to get a feel for
the sensitivity of demand to changes in the credit terms offered to customers.

 Business objectives: where growth in market share is an objective, trade

credit may be used as a marketing device (i.e., liberalized to boost sales
volumes).

14
CREDITORS MANAGEMENT

Creditors are a vital part of effective cash management and should be managed
carefully to enhance the cash position. Purchasing initiates cash outflows and an
over-zealous purchasing function can create liquidity problems. Consider the
following:
Who authorizes purchasing in your company –
 is it tightly managed or spread among a number of (junior) people?
 Are purchase quantities geared to demand forecasts?
 Do you use order quantities, which take account of stock holding and
purchasing costs?
 Do you know the cost to the company of carrying stock?
 Do you have alternative sources of supply? If not, get quotes from major
suppliers and shop around for the best discounts, credit terms, and reduce
dependence on a single supplier.
 How many of your suppliers have a returns policy?
 Are you in a position to pass on cost increases quickly through price
increases to your customers?
 If a supplier of goods or services lets you down can you charge back the cost
of the delay?
 Can you arrange (with confidence!) to have delivery of supplies staggered or
on a just-in-time basis?
There is an old adage in business that if you can buy well then you can sell well.
Management of your creditors and suppliers is just as important as the
management of your debtors. It is important to look after your creditors -

15
slow payment by you may create ill feeling and can signal that your company is
inefficient (or in trouble!).

INVENTORY MANAGEMENT

Managing inventory is a juggling act. Excessive stocks can place a heavy burden
on the cash resources of a business. Insufficient stocks can result in
lost sales, delays for customers etc. The key is to know how quickly your overall
stock is moving or, put another way, how long each item of stock sit on shelves
before being sold. Obviously, average stock-holding periods will be influenced by
the nature of the business. For example, a fresh vegetable shop might turn over its
entire stock every few days while a motor factor would be much slower as it may
carry a wide range of rarely-used spare parts in case somebody needs them.
Nowadays, many large manufacturers operate on a Just-In-Time (JIT) basis
whereby all the components to be assembled on a particular today, arrive at the
factory early that morning, no earlier - no later. This helps to minimize
manufacturing costs as JIT stocks take up little space, minimize stock holding and
virtually eliminate the risks of obsolete or damaged stock. Because JIT
manufacturers hold stock for a very short time, they are able to conserve
substantial cash. JIT is a good model to strive for as it embraces all the principles
of prudent stock management.
The key issue for a business is to identify the fast and slow stock movers with the
objectives of establishing optimum stock levels for each category and, thereby,
minimize the cash tied up in stocks.

16
Factors to be considered when determining optimum stock levels include:

 What are the projected sales of each product?

 How widely available are raw materials, components etc.?
 How long does it take for delivery by suppliers?
 Can you remove slow movers from your product range without
 compromising best sellers?

Remember that stock sitting on shelves for long periods of time ties up money,
which is not working for you. For better stock control, try the following:

 Review the effectiveness of existing purchasing and inventory systems.

 Know the stock turn for all major items of inventory.
 Apply tight controls to the significant few items and simplify controls
 for the trivial many.
 Sell off outdated or slow moving merchandise - it gets more difficult to sell
the longer you keep it.
 Consider having part of your product outsourced to another manufacturer
rather than make it yourself.
 Review your security procedures to ensure that no stock "is going out the
back door!"
 Higher than necessary stock levels tie up cash and cost more in insurance,
accommodation costs and interest charges.

17
OBJECTIVE OF INVENTORY MANAGEMENT

In the context of inventory management, the firm is faced with the problem of
meeting two conflicting needs:

1. To maintain a large size of inventories of raw materials and WIP for

efficient and smooth production and of finished goods for uninterrupted
sales operations.
2. To maintain a minimum investment in inventories to maximize profitability.

Both excessive and inadequate inventories are not desirable. These are two danger
points which the firm should avoid. The objective of inventory management should
be determine and maintain optimum level of inventory investment. Te optimum
level of inventory will lie between the two danger points of excessive and
inadequate inventories.

The firm should always avoid a situation of over investment or under investment
in inventories. The major dangers of over investment are:

 Unnecessary tie up of the firm’s funds loss of profit

 Excessive carrying costs
 Risk of liquidity
The excessive level of inventories consumes funds of the firm, which cannot be
used for any other purpose, and thus, it involves an opportunity cost. The carrying
costs such as the costs of storage, handling, insurance, recording and inspection,
also increases in proportion to the volume of inventory. These costs will impair the
firm’s profitability further. Excessive inventories carried for long period increases
chances of loss of liquidity. It may not be possible to sell inventories in time and at
full value. Raw materials are generally difficult to sell as the holding period

18
increases. Another danger of carrying excessive inventory is the physical
deterioration of inventories while in storage.

Maintaining an inadequate level of inventories is also dangerous. The

consequences of under investment in inventories are

 Production hold-ups
 Failure to meet delivery commitments
 Inadequate raw materials and WIP inventories will result in frequent
production interruptions.

The aim of inventory management is to avoid excessive and inadequate levels of

inventories and to maintain sufficient inventory for the smooth production and
sales operations. An effective inventory management should:

 Ensure a continuous supply of raw materials to facilitate uninterrupted

production
 Maintain sufficient stock of raw materials in periods of short supply and
anticipate price changes.
 Maintain sufficient finished goods inventory for smooth sales operation and
efficient customer service.
 Minimize the carrying cost and time
 Control investment in inventories and keep it at an optimum level.

19
CASH MANAGEMENT

Cash management is one of the key areas of WCM. Apart from the fact that it is
the most liquid asset, cash is the common denominator to which all current assets,
that is, receivables & inventory get eventually converted into cash. Cash is oil of
lubricate the ever-turning wheels of business: without it the process grinds to a
shop.
Motives for holding cash
Cash with reference to cash management is used in two senses:
 It is used broadly to cover currency and generally accepted equivalents of
cash, such as cheques, drafts and demand deposits in banks.
 It includes near-cash assets, such as marketable securities & time deposits in
banks.
The main characteristic of these is that they can be readily sold & converted into
cash. They serve as a reserve pool of liquidity that provides cash quickly when
needed. They provide short term investment outlet to excess cash and are also
useful for meeting planned outflow of funds.

OBJECTIVES OF CASH MANAGEMENT:

I. To meet the cash disbursement needs In the normal course of business firms
have to make payment of cash on a continuous and regular basis to the supplier of
goods, employees and so son. Also the collection is done from the debtors. Basic
objective is to meet payment schedule that is to have sufficient cash to meet the
cash disbursement needs of the firm.

20
II. To minimize the funds committed to cash balances First of all if we keep high
cash balance, it will ensure prompt payment together with all the advantages. But it
also implied that the large funds will remain idle, as cash is the non-earning asset
and firm will have to forego profits. On the other hand, low cash balance mean
failure to meet payment schedule. Therefore we should have optimum level of cash
balance.

CASH IS MAINTAINED FOR 3 MOTIVES:

A. Transaction motive:
Transaction motive refer to the holding of cash to meet routine cash requirements
to finance the transactions which a firm carries on in a variety of transactions to
accomplish its objectives which have to be paid for in the form of cash. E.g.
payment for purchases, wages, operating expenses, financial charges like interest,
taxes, dividends etc. Thus requirement of cash balances to meet routine need is
known as the transaction motive and such motive refers to the holding of cash to
meet anticipated obligations whose timing is not perfectly synchronized with cash
receipts.

B. Precautionary motive:
A firm has to pay cash for the purposes which can not be predicted or anticipated.
The unexpected cash needs at the short notice may be due to: Floods, strikes &
failure of customer Slow down in collection of current receivables Increase in cost
of raw material Collection of some order of goods as customer is not satisfied The
cash balance held in reserves for such random and unforeseen fluctuations in cash
flows are called as precautionary balance. Thus, precautionary cash provides a

21
cushion to meet unexpected contingencies. The more unpredictable are the cash
flows, the larger is the need for such balance.

C. Speculative motive:
It refers to the desire of the firm to take advantage of opportunities which present
themselves at unexpected moment & which are typically outside\ the normal
course of business. If the precautionary motive is defensive in nature, in that firms
must make provisions to tide over unexpected contingencies, the speculative
motive represents a positive and aggressive approach.

The speculative motive helps to take advantages of:

An opportunity to purchase raw material at reduced price on payment of immediate
cash. A chance to speculate on interest rate movements by buying securities when
interest rates are expected to decline. Make purchases at favorable price. Delay
purchase of raw material on the anticipation of decline in prices.

22
 COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF MULTIPLE FMCG CORPORATIONS

Profit & Loss account ------------------- in Rs. Cr. -------------------

PARTICULARS HUL Dabur Godrej Colgate Marico
India Consumer
Mar '13 Mar '13 Mar '13 Mar '13 Mar '13
Income
Sales Turnover 25,810.21 4,349.39 3,789.13 3,324.21 3,409.90
Excise Duty 0.00 0.00 208.11 164.41 2.80
Net Sales 25,810.21 4,349.39 3,581.02 3,159.80 3,407.10
Other Income 1,215.30 86.89 50.65 49.92 96.70
Stock Adjustments 31.13 -25.83 116.91 -18.19 132.70
Total Income 27,056.64 4,410.45 3,748.58 3,191.53 3,636.50
Expenditure
Raw Materials 13,633.79 2,301.80 1,823.99 1,239.22 1,996.17
Power & Fuel Cost 319.91 48.12 82.98 19.58 10.03
Employee Cost 1,318.34 281.24 165.56 249.44 155.69
Other Manufacturing Expenses 0.00 0.00 3.02 11.15 10.89
Selling and Admin Expenses 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Miscellaneous Expenses 6,565.55 937.98 992.31 965.41 844.92
Preoperative Exp Capitalised 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Total Expenses 21,837.59 3,569.14 3,067.86 2,484.80 3,017.70
Operating Profit 4,003.75 754.42 630.07 656.81 522.10
PBDIT 5,219.05 841.31 680.72 706.73 618.80
Interest 25.15 18.40 15.49 0.00 43.68
PBDT 5,193.90 822.91 665.23 706.73 575.12
Depreciation 236.02 73.24 32.27 43.70 33.13
Other Written Off 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Profit Before Tax 4,957.88 749.67 632.96 663.03 541.99
Extra-ordinary items 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
PBT (Post Extra-ord Items) 4,957.88 749.67 632.96 663.03 541.99
Tax 1,161.21 158.69 122.02 166.28 112.90
Reported Net Profit 3,796.67 590.98 510.94 496.75 429.09
Total Value Addition 8,203.80 1,267.34 1,243.87 1,245.58 1,021.53
Preference Dividend 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Equity Dividend 3,999.99 261.44 170.16 380.78 32.24
Corporate Dividend Tax 655.69 43.56 28.13 61.77 5.23
Per share data (annualised)
Shares in issue (lakhs) 21,624.72 17,429.35 3,403.27 1,359.93 6,447.72
Earning Per Share (Rs) 17.56 3.39 15.01 36.53 6.65
Equity Dividend (%) 1,850.00 150.00 500.00 2,800.00 100.00
Book Value (Rs) 12.37 9.15 81.13 36.00 30.89

23
Balance Sheet ------------------- in Rs. Cr. -------------------
PARTICULARS HUL Dabur Godrej Colgate Marico
India Consumer
Sources Of Funds
Total Share Capital 216.25 174.29 34.03 13.60 64.48
Equity Share Capital 216.25 174.29 34.03 13.60 64.48
Share Application Money 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Preference Share Capital 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Reserves 2,457.77 1,420.49 2,727.07 475.99 1,926.95
Revaluation Reserves 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Net worth 2,674.02 1,594.78 2,761.10 489.59 1,991.43
Secured Loans 0.00 22.47 0.65 0.00 289.57
Unsecured Loans 0.00 219.11 260.17 0.00 366.62
Total Debt 0.00 241.58 260.82 0.00 656.19
Total Liabilities 2,674.02 1,836.36 3,021.92 489.59 2,647.62
Application Of Funds
Gross Block 3,868.95 937.70 1,529.17 673.54 531.42
Less: Accum. Depreciation 1,576.05 321.12 383.34 392.88 196.19
Net Block 2,292.90 616.58 1,145.83 280.66 335.23
Capital Work in Progress 215.64 17.07 121.10 101.96 145.34
Investments 2,330.66 729.41 1,450.05 47.12 1,316.47
Inventories 2,526.99 499.74 536.37 185.30 708.98
Sundry Debtors 833.48 255.32 122.13 81.21 123.85
Cash and Bank Balance 1,707.89 319.40 460.55 428.80 22.03
Total Current Assets 5,068.36 1,074.46 1,119.05 695.31 854.86
Loans and Advances 1,604.91 390.37 252.35 181.74 516.37
Fixed Deposits 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Total CA, Loans & Advances 6,673.27 1,464.83 1,371.40 877.05 1,371.23
Deffered Credit 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Current Liabilities 6,260.09 771.96 1,034.03 717.64 466.46
Provisions 2,578.36 219.57 32.43 99.54 54.19
Total CL & Provisions 8,838.45 991.53 1,066.46 817.18 520.65
Net Current Assets - 473.30 304.94 59.87 850.58
2,165.18
Miscellaneous Expenses 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Total Assets 2,674.02 1,836.36 3,021.92 489.61 2,647.62
Contingent Liabilities 894.21 1,719.07 2,826.07 166.77 589.76
Book Value (Rs) 12.37 9.15 81.13 36.00 30.89

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ANALYSIS AND COMMENTS ON WORKINGS

This report is about the comparative analysis and guidelines being made on the
same companies as per their financial values. Here we are going to look into the
financial details of India’s 5 major Fast Moving Consumer Goods companies.
These companies lay a heavy impact on the Indian economy and even a sizable
change in their dealings can lend a heavy blow to the former. These 5 prestigious
companies are:

1. Hindustan Unilever Limited

2. Dabur India Limited
3. Godrej Consumers Limited
4. Colgate Limited
5. Marico Limited

You may have noticed one common link between all these companies. Yes, all
these companies are public limited companies and hence the term private doesn’t
figure in their names. These companies deal in a wide array of products ranging
right from hand soap to breakfast cereals to dinner options and cakes and bakery
products. Therefore their products are of a variety which are fast moving in a way.
These products don’t stay on the shelf for a long time since the demand for them is
huge and the supply is always the type found under the ‘just in time’ production
and supply chain methodology since the freshness of the product plays a huge part
in the role of these products being delivered to the end consumer and their
consuming it on time.

25
Let us here understand the basic origins of these 5 major companies in the
following points:

Hindustan Unilever is a joint venture between Unilever and its Indian counterpart
to sell its wide range of products in India. These days, HUL has set up various
factories across the country to serve the people’s ever demanding needs.

Dabur India Ltd was found in the 1900s (in the past century) and is essentially very
popular in the healthy lifestyle niche of the Indian sub-market. Its Dabur
Vajradanti brand of products are especially popular, not to mention Dabur Honey,
which enjoys a substantial market majority.

Godrej Consumers Limited is another Indian conglomerate engaged in various

business activities since the past century. Today it has ventured into the real estate
business in a huge way.

Colgate is synonymous with toothpaste in India. Although its most famous brand is
of the toothpaste that is available, they also deal in other variety of products.

Marico Limited is a very common name that we’ll find and encounter in the Indian
foods and biscuits market. They have a very good stronghold in the sweet biscuits
category.

Without much further ado, let us move on to the various financial comparative
aspects of these 5 grand companies as follows in the next few lines that can be seen
as under. The details of financial data that precedes this report will be analyzed in a
professional manner which will help the reader in figuring out important financial
decisions regarding this company, such as investing, lending or any other financial
measure of transaction. Let us proceed and understand as further below.

26
Overall Financial Outlook:

 On a very fleeting scale we can clearly make out the most substantial
company in terms of its financial values and figures.

 We can easily make out that of the lot, by the sheer volume of turnover,
HUL leads the pack by a huge margin.

 HUL’s sale turnover is nearly 500% of its closest competitor in the group.

 The closest competitor as we can see is Dabur India, with an operating Sales
Turnover of Rs 4349 crore. The next best performer is Godrej Consumer at
Rs 3789 crore.

 The other two companies are somewhat at the same level of Rs 3000 crore,
but none of the companies can come close to the massive scale of HUL.

 It is interesting to note that the major share capital of the companies are once
again leaded by HUL.

 The other companies’ share capital is of a lower value than HUL and once
again the closest competitor is Dabur India, with the other companies
lagging behind in a huge way.

 The other final important fact to be noted under this sub chapter is that the
Net Profit of HUL stands at Rs 3796 crore.

 The next best performer under this head is once again Dabur India, although,
it lags far behind at just Rs 590 crore.
27
  Marico on the other hand is the lowest scorer in terms of Net Profitability
with its earnings being declared at Rs 429 crore only.

Analysis of Working Capital

working Capital

Year 2012-13 2012-13 2012-13 2012-13 2012-13

Dabur Godrej
Particulars HUL India Consumer Colgate Marico
Current Assets 6,673.27 1,464.38 1,371.40 877.05 1,371.23
Current Liabilities 8,838.45 991.53 1,066.46 817.18 520.65
Net working
capital -2,165.18 473.3 304.94 59.87 850.58

 At just a glance we can clearly see that under this division, HUL is doing
really very poorly due to the negative posting of Rs 2165 crore.

 On the other hand, the best Working Capital manager from the whole lot
of five companies is the smallest one of the group, viz, Marico India Ltd.

 Marico’s Net Working Capital stands at Rs 850 crore, is way beyond the
NWCs of rest of the companies put together.

 This can be attributed to the fact that Marico is a smaller company to

manage and hence the funds are well managed by a select number of
managers without much disruption from managers from senior levels of
hierarchy.

28
  Another interesting thing to note here is that the other companies have
somewhat the same level of investment at about Rs 1000 crore, with
Colgate being the only exception.

 HUL’s once again in a league beyond the rest with its values at a much
higher range, and due to the effects of excessive trading on equity, it
resultantly earned a negative WC.

Understanding the Current Assets of The Companies

Year 2012-13 2012-13 2012-13 2012-13 2012-13

Dabur Godrej
Particulars HUL India Consumer Colgate Marico
Inventories 2,526.99 499.74 536.37 185.3 708.98
Sundry Debtors 833.48 255.32 122.13 81.21 123.85
Cash and Bank
Balance 1,707.89 319.4 460.55 428.8 22.03
Loans and
Advances 1,604.91 390.37 252.35 181.74 516.37
Fixed Deposit 0 0 0 0 0
Total 6,673.27 1,464.83 1,371.40 877.05 1,371.23

 Interestingly enough, once again Marico Ltd is the second placed company
in size of the inventories held by the various companies at Rs 708 crore.

 Further we can see that the debtors of the various companies are vastly
distributed between Rs 833 crore of HUL and Rs 81 crore of Colgate, thus
describing the diversity in them.

29
 The Loans and Advances field of the various companies needs to be given
special attention.

 This is important, because in the Financial Year 2012-13, majority of the

companies were still reeling under the effects of the Subprime crisis of 2008
which erupted from the United States of America.

 Since majority of the people were short of money, these companies, which
had excess cash reserves on hand, thought it wise to invest this money by
lending it to money borrowers and thus earning a handsome interest in
return.

 This can be seen in the financial data attached alongwith this report as the
companies have invested a significant amount in this investment form.

 Another poignant note here is that none of the companies have invested in
Fixed Deposits.

 This is a clear message to all the naïve investors out there who prefer to
invest in Fixed Deposits as they believe that they give the best safety
measures.

 However, the investors do not realize the ultimate moto of the financial and
indeed the real world:

No risk entails no Returns!

 Finally the Total Current Assets of HUL can be seen once again leading the
pack at Rs 6673 crore.

30
A Look At the Current Liabilities of the Five Companies

Year 2012-13 2012-13 2012-13 2012-13 2012-13

Dabur Godrej
Particulars HUL India Consumer Colgate Marico
Current Liabilities 6,260.09 771.96 1,034.03 717.64 466.46
Provisions 2,578.36 219.57 32.43 99.54 54.19
Total 8,838.45 991.53 1,066.46 817.18 520.65

 HUL seems to be reeling under huge debts as its value posted in the
financial records is Rs 8838 crore.

 This can be explained as a result of lesser amount of dependence on using

the company’s own funds.

 The company is rather focussed on making use of Owed funds due to a

fixed rate of return to be provided on the same.

 On the provision front we can see that nearly each company has kept aside
nearly 20-35% of its Total Liabilities as Reserves, to be met out in the future
in case of any setbacks.

 Godrej Consumers has a significantly high amount of Current Liabilities and

is the only exception to the prior statement we saw, as it has a measly 3% set
aside as its reserves.

31
Ratio Analyses using a variety of Financial Stability Indicators:

At this juncture, let us go ahead and analyse the various financial soundness
indicators of all the 5 companies in the following manner. We’ll take each
financial ratio separately and speak a few words about the same and then move on
to the other only after making the salient features of the same known to the reader
in a very standard manner.

Let us proceed as follows:

1. Current Ratio:

Year 2012-13 2012-13 2012-13 2012-13 2012-13

Paritcular HUL Dabur Godrej Colgate Marico
India Consumer
current assets / current 0.755 1.477 1.285 1.073 2.633
liabilities

 The Current Ratio of any company, regardless of the companies

that we have chosen for this study, can be calculated using the
formula: Current Assets divided by Current Liabilities.

 Therefore, we have similarly carried out the calculation in the

attached sheet and will analyze the same here.

 It is quite unsurprising to see that the best Current Ratio is that of

Marico Ltd at 2.633:1, followed by Dabur India’s 1.477:1.

 This simply means that for every Rs 2.63 of Current Assets of

Marico, it has just Rs 1 of Current Liabilities.
32
  Therefore, the remainder amount of Rs 1.63 can be shared between
the shareholders as extra return on their money.

 HUL’s Current Ratio is naturally very disappointing at 0.755:1 as

we earlier saw that it has a Negative Working Capital.

 The company doesn’t have enough assets to cover its total number
of liabilities according to the data provided.

2. Quick Ratio:

Year 2012-13 2012-13 2012-13 2012-13 2012-13

Particulars HUL Dabur Godrej Colgate Marico
India Consumer
TOTAL CURRENT ASSETS - 0.469 0.972 0.782 0.846 1.271
INVENTORIES/TOTAL CURRENT
LIABILITIES

 Quick Ratio can be measured as the Total Current Assets less

Inventories, divided by the Total Current Liabilities.

 It declares the Short Term Solvency of the company in question.

 The Ideal ratio here is again 1:1 or higher as the higher amount of
CA, is the better for the company.

 Once again, Marico leads the pack.

 This can be understood due to the small size of Marico and its thus
more effective managerial methods.

 Dabur Ltd.’s 0.972 is another company whose ratio is nearing the

ideal ratio and thus it must work harder to make it reach the
optimum level.
33
  The worst performer under this ratio is HUL, and it needs to put in
quite a bit of managerial attention if it wants to buck up.

3. Current Assets To Fixed Assets Ratio:

 Under this measurement of Financial Soundness, the company’s

Currents Assets are divided by the Fixed Assets to reach the final
solution of the ratio.

 It indicates whether the company follows a conventional or a non-

conventional mindset while making business decisions regarding
the finances of the same.

 Godrej Consumer’s Lowest ratio of 1:196 is the most confident

and outward energy flowing ratio of all since it is taking a risk and
is always on the edge of its seat in terms of financial and business
decisions.

 On the other hand companies such as HUL, Dabur, Colgate and

Marico are much more conservative in their mindset and keep a
larger ratio of current assets compared to its fixed assets.

 They do so with the plan of playing safe.

4. Receivable Ratio:

Year 2012-13 2012-13 2012-13 2012-13 2012-13

Particulars HUL Dabur Godrej Colgate Marico
India Consumer
DEBTORS/SALES*365 11.78 21.42 11.76 8.916 13.25

34
  The receivable ratio indicates the number of days it takes for the
company to recover its funds from its debtors.

 The company of Colgate and HUL have the best Debtor

conversions at just 9 and 11 days approximately.

 This means that within 11 or 9 days of sales, the debtors of these

two companies cough up the money owed by them.

 Dabur India seems to be providing a lot of credit to its customers

since its debtor collection ratio stands at nearly 21 days, which
when seen from a broader angle, can turn into a month on a daily
business average.

5. Payable Ratio:

 This ratio indicates that how many days the company can elongate
its credit, by not paying up for the products or services that it has
availed from a third party.

 It is exactly the opposite of Receivable Ratio in that sense.

 Here we can see that Godrej is the company with the best
reputation since it is able to manage 207 days of credit without any
issue.

 Also, Colgate manages to fend off its lenders for 211 days before
coughing up.

 Marico, on the other hand seems to be dealing on a more of a cash

basis since its credit delay period is just 85 days.

35
 6. Working Capital Turnover Ratio:

Year 2012-13 2012-13 2012-13 2012-13 2012-13

Particulars HUL Dabur Godrej Colgate Marico
India Consumer
Sales / Net Working -11.92 9.19 12.42 55.52 4
Capital

 This ratio measures the financial standing of the company by

dividing the Total Sales by Net Working Capital of the company.

 Here the greater the number, the better the status of that company
from a financial point of view.

 Surprisingly, Colgate is the one leading the pack here with a figure
of 55.52:1.

 Another important thing to note here is that the WC Turnover

Ratio of HUL is negative.

 This is due to the fact that the WC ratio of HUL is negative to

begin with, and hence, basic arithmetic pronounce, that if the
denominator is negative to begin with, the end result has to be
negative too.

36
 7. Fixed Assets Turnover Ratio:

 This ratio measures how well the sales of the company are
furnished by the net fixed assets (after subtracting depreciation) in
a given period of time.

 In this case the given period of time is the FY 2012-13.

 Once again, the higher this ratio is, the better for the company’s
financial health.

 Here we can see that HUL has a very strong figure posting of Rs
141:1.

 While the next best competitor is Colgate with a figure just 10% of
the one posted by HUL.

 To speak in specific absolute terms Colgate has posted a figure of

14:1.

 The worst performing company in this case is Dabur India, with a

figure of 7.05:1.

8. Net Profit Ratio:

Particulars HUL Dabur Godrej Colgate Marico

India Consumer
Net Profit /Sales *100 141.08 13.587 13.48 14.94 12.58

 The Net Profit ratio simply measures how much of the sales made,
have been at a profit substantial enough to outshine the sales of the
said company.

37
  It measures the financial standing in such a way that if a
company’s sales are 100 then how much will the Net Profit be.

 It is very interesting to see that the huge scale of HUL gives it a

great NP Ratio which is 141% in the FY 2012-13.

 This indicates that for every sales of Rs 100, it earns profits of Rs

141 in return.

 Thus the shareholders of HUL will indeed be very happy with this
result and will further boost investor confidence.

 The NP Ratios of the other companies are at a more pragmatic

level of around 14-13% for the various companies.

 This can be explained due to the scale and market penetration of

HUL in comparison with others.

9. Return on Shareholders’ Funds:

Particulars HUL Dabur Godrej Colgate Marico

India Consumer
Net profit after tax / Share holders
funds
*100 141.98 37.057 0.185 62.91 87.31

 The final ratio under our purview is directly affecting the interests
of the varied amount of shareholders and investors in the
companies that we are analyzing.

 Once again, the greater the result, the better the financial strength
of the company.

38
 A very striking value amongst all the companies here is that of
Godrej Consumer, and which will certainly not go down too well
with the investors of the same company.

 It’s figure hovers just around 0.185%, and is a very disappointing

result for its company’s investors, who had hoped to earn a more
significant return on their capital.

 HUL and Marico provide handsome returns of 141% and 87%

respectively on the investors’ money.

 Thus the investors who took greater risk and invested in these
companies have been rewarded very well.

39
CONCLUSION:

Thus we come to the end of our analyses and study of the financial figures of these
five companies with respect to their reported financial data as posted in public
publications at the end of the FY 2012-13.

The clear outlines that we can draw are that HUL is the most giant of a company
when compared with the others, who fade away in its shadow. This can be seen
with respect to the capital invested, amount of turnover and the Net Profits it earns
for its investors.

The surprise winner in certain areas was the company called Marico Ltd, which
earned a handsome return for its shareholders by earning a return of nearly 87% on
the money set inside the Working Capital by the investors.

Colgate seemed to be the company lagging behind when certain parameters were
taken into consideration. Especially where scale was concerned.

Godrej and Dabur were average performers at best and posted impressive figures
in some tests, whereas not performing so well in others. For example Godrej
performed quite poorly where the return on shareholders’ money was concerned.

Thus we can see that the FY 2012-13 was quite fruitful for all the companies
involved in the comparison. We’ll see certain beneficial trends for each company
as the years unfold and certainly, the day is not far, when each one of these
companies will be considered India’s most regal companies.

40
BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Financial Management Prassanna Chandra.

2. Website of HUL Ltd.
3. Annual reports of HUL Ltd.
4. www.moneycontrol.com

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