Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The impact of working capital management on the profitability of Pharmaceutical industry in the
UK
By
Name
Professor
Course
Date
2
Declaration
I, …………………………………………………………………………………………….
declare that this thesis and the work presented in it are my own and has been generated by me as
[title of thesis]
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………..
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………
I confirm that:
1. This work was done wholly or mainly while in candidature for a research degree at this
University;
2. Where I have consulted the published work of others, this is always clearly attributed;
3. Where I have quoted from the work of others, the source is always given. With the
exception of such quotations, this thesis is entirely my own work;
5. Either none of this work has been published before submission, or parts of this work have
been published as: [please list references below]:
Signed: …………………………………………………………………………
Date: …………………………………………………………………………
3
Abstract
Working capital is a source of existence for any financial body. The management of this
working capital is regarded as one of the essential parts of a business. For this reason, working
capital is continually prioritized by the corporate word in many ways. All those companies have
an effective use of their working capital have an overall competitive advantage over their
competitors. This study examines the impact of working capital management on the profitability
of pharmaceutical firms in the UK for a period of ten years (2012-2016). Ten companies are
chosen randomly from the London Stock Exchange. The study uses descriptive statistics,
correlation analysis, and regression analysis to investigate the relationship between profitability
(gross operating income) and working capital management measured using the cash conversion
cycle. Other variables that were used in the study include a number of days of accounts payable,
the number of inventory days and accounts receivables. The study shows there is a negative
relationship between the working capital management and cash conversion cycle. There is also a
negative relationship when it comes to the gearing and profitability in the pharmaceutical firms.
Keywords: Working capital management, gross operating income, London Stock Exchange,
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I am grateful to all of those I have had the pleasure to work with during this and other
related projects. Each of the members of my dissertation committee has provided invaluable
support and professional guidance and taught me valuable lessons about research and life in
general. I would especially like to thank the chairperson of my committee who has also doubled
as my teacher and mentor during this whole time. He has shown by example, what scientists
I would also like to thank the members of my family, who have supported me all through
this project. I would like to thank my parents for their unwavering support and continuous
List of Tables
3. Correlation tabulation.
6
Table of Contents
List of Tables...............................................................................................................................................5
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................8
Background.............................................................................................................................................8
Rationale................................................................................................................................................10
Project Outline.......................................................................................................................................11
Literature review.......................................................................................................................................12
Methodology.............................................................................................................................................18
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................18
Research Philosophy.............................................................................................................................18
Analytical Procedure.............................................................................................................................23
Descriptive Statistics.........................................................................................................................23
Correlation.........................................................................................................................................23
Ethical Issues.........................................................................................................................................23
Summary...............................................................................................................................................23
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................24
7
References.................................................................................................................................................26
8
Introduction
Background
Financial managers in most organizations are entrusted with the arduous task of working capital
research focuses on working capital management in UK pharmaceutical firms and the policies
followed by these companies. Working capital is obtained by subtracting the current assets from
the current liabilities on a firm’s balance sheet. Therefore, financial managers should employ
optimal capital management strategies since current assets are used to pay off current liabilities
(Vishnani and Shah, 2007). Diversifying the sources of current assets for most institutions has
become a priority as managers seek to reduce the costs associated with short-term financing.
This study is important since it shows the internal and external performance of the
pharmaceutical industry in terms of profitability. Additionally, the study tries to analyze the
impact of working capital management on profit for the pharmaceutical companies in the UK.
Presently, efficient management of working capital is a core value for most firms around the
world and the creation of shareholder value (Howorth and Westhead 2003).
Management of working capital to meet these demands is one of the most challenging
tasks in today’s organizations (Vishnani and Shah, 2007). Thus, it is the goal for most financial
managers to minimize working capital and maximize profitability through revenues (Sharma and
Kumar, 2011). While it is hypothesized that there is an inferential relationship between working
capital management and profitability, this study tries to determine which elements significantly
9
contribute to this relationship by studying the pharmaceutical companies in the UK that are
This research will be based on previous works by (Deloof, 2003; Vishnani and Shah,
2007; Howorth and Westhead 2003) who use the cash conversion cycle to measure the impact of
working capital on a firm’s profitability. Both regression and correlation analysis will be used to
determine which variables are significant predictors of profitability in relation to the cash
management of working capital and its components makes it difficult to carry out its daily
operations. Therefore, research shows that most managers spend at least 60% of their time trying
to manage working capital. Therefore, the goal of this research is to determine the relationship
between working capital and a firm’s profitability. Moreover, the research will assess how the
The aim of this study is to determine the impact of working capital management on the
profitability of pharmaceutical firms in the United Kingdom. The different objectives of the
a. Studying the working capital in the area of pharmaceutical industry in the UK.
b. Identifying the effects of the different working capital management’s components on the
c. Establishing the relationship between working capital and the profitability of the ten
d. Finding out the relationship between the financial ratios and the profitability of the
pharmaceutical industry.
e. Conclude on the relationship of the working capital management with the profitability of
Rationale
Working capital is an essential component in the business structure and the overall
development. The pharmaceutical industry in the UK plays a very vital role in the growth of the
country as well as it being depended for production in other countries. The project aims at the
financial evaluation of these companies. This is after a close examination of their current value
and the value after a certain period of time. The payback period is the time that the company will
require to recover from an investment. The working capital management in these companies will
The research will feature ten companies that will be analyzed periodically for ten years.
The paper has attempted to provide an empirical support for the hypothesized impact of working
management capital on the profitability of pharmaceutical industry in the UK. The data is
obtained from London Stock Exchange. The requirements included an internet source and SPSS
software.
There were different limitations in the study. The study is based on a ten-year data only,
therefore, a detailed trend for a long time is not covered. The data is obtained from a secondary
source, London Stock Exchange, making its dependency be upon the accuracy and the reliability
of the source. Also, only a few of the pharmaceutical firms in the UK were used for the study.
11
Project Outline
The project is segmented into several phases to ensure that there is a sufficient collection
of the data. All these phases are also aimed at ensuring that once a single phase is completed, the
next stage proceeds. The segmentation is in a waterfall approach where all the phases are
analyzed using sufficient resources until data is obtained sufficiently. The first chapter introduced
the topic of discussion. In the next chapter, the review of the literature was addressed
accordingly. This was to present an overview of all the previous studies that have been conducted
in relation to the topic. Third, in the methodology chapter, the research was aimed to exploit all
the data techniques that were used and their effectiveness. In the next phase, the obtained results
were analyzed systematically. Finally, there were discussions resulting from the data that was
collected.
12
Literature review
Deloof (2003) claims that managers can increase firms’ profitability by reducing the
number of days accounts receivables and inventories. This study shows that less profitable firms
wait longer to clear their bills. According to this research, the effects of profitability on WCM
could account for the negative relationship between WCM and profitability. Additionally, a
negative relationship between sales and inventory can be explained by declining sales, which
leads to lower profits and more inventories. The study also claimed that another plausible
explanation for the negative relationship between accounts receivable and profitability is that
customers take their time to assess the quality of an asset prior to purchasing for firms with
decreasing profitability. Finally, the study suggests that managers can create shareholder’s value
by reducing the number of day’s accounts receivable and inventories to an optimum low.
Filbeck and Krueger (2005) carried out a novel literature analysis to determine some of
the metrics used in measuring working capital and to analyze whether firms in a clustered
industry had uniform characteristics. The study tried to determine whether firms in a particular
industry could quickly convert their sales into cash. The study showed that there is consistency in
how industries stack up within a particular industry. Secondly, it was revealed that working
capital measures are not constant and vary from one industry to another. The researchers argue
that the changes shown by working capital management can be explained by the variation in
macroeconomic factors such as interest rates, the rate of innovation and competition within a
given industry. An increase in interest rates would encourage debtors to make late payments,
that, would, in turn, stretch the accounts payable, receivables and cash accounts. One of the
major discoveries for this study is the different levels of WCM exhibited by each industry. Some
of the possible factors that can be used to explain these differences are the improving economy
13
during the study period, improved turnover levels, and a short study timeframe during a period of
market recovery.
Lazaridis and Tryfonidis (2006) investigate the relationship between working capital
management and corporate profitability using a sample of companies listed on the Athens Stock
Exchange (ASE). This study revealed that there is a significant relationship between profits
measured using the gross profit metric and the cash conversion cycle. Additionally, the research
shows that managers can improve profitability by handling efficiently the cash conversion cycle
and ensuring that each component of the cash conversion cycle that is; the accounts payable,
receivables and inventory are at an optimum level (Howorth and Westhead 2003). The research
shows there is a strong negative relationship between the cash conversion cycle and corporate
profitability (gross profit). The study also showed that lower gross profit margins were
significantly associated with the number of days of accounts payable. Similar to previous studies,
this explains why smaller firms take longer to pay their bills when compared to larger and more
profitable organizations.
determine the impact of working capital management on firms. This study uses the return on
total assets as a measure of profitability. Moreover, a regression analysis was used to show
whether there was a significant relationship between working capital metrics and profitability.
The results showed that high investment in inventories is associated with small profit margins.
Finally, the study also shows that working capital management for small firms differs
significantly from large firms, mainly due to the accounts payable period.
Juan García-Teruel and Martinez-Solano (2007) use the return on assets (ROA) as the
dependent variable in order to determine the effects of working capital management. The
14
independent variables include the cash conversion cycle metrics such as the accounts receivables
and payables. The study reveals that there is a significant negative correlation between the return
on assets and the days of inventory, day’s accounts payable, and accounts receivable.
Raheman and Nasr (2007) conducted a research on Pakistani firms to study the effects of
analysis showed that there is a negative relationship between variables of working capital
management and the profitability of an organization. This implies an increase in the cash
conversion cycle will lead to a decrease in profitability of a firm. In addition, the research shows
there is a positive relationship between the size of a firm and its level of profitability.
Gill et.al, (2010) investigate the relationship between working capital management and
profitability across 88 firms in the United States listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Similar
to other studies, this research shows there is a negative relationship between accounts receivables
and company profitability. The studies show that low collection of accounts receivables are
correlated with low profitability. The researchers did not find a significant relationship between
the average days of accounts payable with profitability. Additionally, the study shows there is a
significant positive relationship between the cash conversion cycle and gross operating profit. In
summary, the study showed there is a negative relationship between profitability and average
days of accounts receivable, a positive relationship between the cash conversion cycle and
profitability margins.
15
The pharmaceutical industry in the UK has evolved rapidly over the last few years.
Pharmaceutical companies are working hard to bring new products, to earn a new market share,
reshape portfolios, and optimize the cost base (Eljelly, 2004). Despite the increased effort from
these other activities, pharmaceutical companies have increased their efforts on managing
working capital. A research by Ernest and Young (2014) shows an acceleration in the
2013. Despite this significant improvement, the working capital for the pharmaceutical industry
continues to lag from the values in other industries. The variation between working capital in the
pharmaceutical industry and other industries can be attributed to varying business models and
The wide variation in working capital between the pharmaceutical industry and other
industries shows there is a window of opportunity for pharmaceutical industries in the UK.
Pharmaceutical companies need to embrace more substantial and sustainable changes in how
they conduct their day-to-day activities. These companies need to ensure that business becomes
more responsive and resilient while delivering continuous process improvements and cost
reductions (Sharma and Kumar, 2011). Cost reductions and continuous improvement can be
achieved through lean and agile manufacturing methods for individual market segments and
cross-functional cooperation.
Working capital is an important element for big pharma companies especially during this
transition phase as they embrace more cost-effective and sustainable manufacturing methods.
Efficient working capital management not only raises cash but also reduces costs, improves
16
delivery and mitigates risk on the supply chain process. Recent research shows that big pharma
companies still have as much as $50 billion in excess working capital to meet all their operating
weigh and balance different options they can use to maximize value such as funding acquisitions,
A number of factors may explain the huge variations in working capital in the
pharmaceutical industry and other sectors of the economy in the UK. One of the reasons is
stagnating sales for big pharmaceutical companies (Ernest and Young, 2014). The sales in 2012,
2013 and 2014 remain largely unchanged when compared to the sales in 2015. This can be
Secondly, the persistent volatility in exchange rates also played a major role in driving sales and
working capital in the previous year. The exchange rate between the dollar and the Euro towards
the end of the year was a negative contributory factor to the performance of working capital.
Thirdly, big pharma companies have intensified their efforts on working capital management
since 2013, causing a significant impact on the cash-to-cash performance. Better management of
receivables is the fourth reason. The pharmaceutical industry has reported better receivable
management levels since 2013 which occurred due to the strong receivables collection process
customers and better payment plans. The pharma industry exhibited a further improvement in
payables since 2012, accelerating the progress in payables performance. Companies continue to
register significant benefits from leveraging and consolidating expenses and increasing
collaboration with suppliers. The improved performance in payables suggests that companies are
using different tactics and strategies to manage payables. Some of the strategies include a
17
significant reduction in the supplier base to achieve more negotiation advantages. Finally, big
pharma companies in the UK recorded a significant decrease in inventory performance. The poor
performance in inventory levels was caused by changes in product sales and inventory mix due
to the introduction of higher safety stocks to serve the rapidly growing market. Another major
problem is the generic competition, which has affected the flow of inventory of original drugs.
Methodology
Introduction
This research employs a quantitative method to achieve the main research goals. A
quantitative method is appropriate since it always a researcher to collect data and to model a
cause-effect relationship. The cause, in this case, is the working capital while the effect is the
firm’s profitability. The data is obtained from audited financial statements and annual financial
reports; mainly from the balance sheet and income statements. Due to the nature of the research,
the data cannot be obtained using a face-to-face interview or questionnaires. Data were recorded
and analyzed using SPSS version 19. Some of the analysis that will be done include descriptive
Research Philosophy
Numerous studies have been conducted on the relationship between working capital
management and profitability. However, most of these studies are not in for pharmaceutical
companies in the U.K. Thus, this research will add some insights about working capital
management in the pharmaceutical industry in the U.K. In addition, top managers and policy
makers will use the study during decision making for the organizations and industry relevant
sectors. Moreover, this research gives a clear understanding of the relationship between working
capital and corporate governance and the profitability of a firm. Finally, the study will help the
The working capital is one of the most important parts in an industry. Studies have
any company is heavily dependent on the working capital management and all its components.
19
Many studies have been written on working capital management and its effect on the profitability
of the different companies in the world. However, the pharmaceutical industry has not been
studied heavily in the past. Very little research has been made in the pharmaceutical sector of the
UK. Due to the lack of research in the industry, the pharmaceutical managers in the UK are
facing a lot of challenges when making efforts to understand the working capital management
and its components. The pharmaceutical industry in the UK generally is identified to face a
problem when it comes to its working capital. This has led to the slow growth of the industry,
increased rates of unemployment, and inflation. Also, another problem has been the reduced rates
of exports that have led to the decline of the country’s overall GDP (Choo, C.W. and Bontis,
2002).
The research was conducted in a descriptive survey of the relevant information obtained
from the secondary source. The data from the source was for a period of ten years where
comparisons were made effectively. Due to the unique variables in the study, the researcher had
no control over the results that were obtained in the study. The Positivism approach was used for
the research philosophy. There was a secondary source of data that was used in the study.
Therefore, there was a minimal intervention in the pharmaceutical facilities that were being
studied in the research. Also, based on the data, the researcher had to heavily rely on the sources
and also identify how the data from the source tend to be accurate. Through this, the different
relationships in the variables were explained accordingly the realities of the data also obtained
effectively.
There were ten listed pharmaceutical organizations where data would be obtained. The
secondary source of the data were determined to be the London Stock Exchange as all of these
company trade in the market. For the study, the ten companies are one of the big firms of the
20
pharmaceutical industry in the UK. The sample was seen to cover about 60% of the population.
Due to the availability of the secondary data for a period of ten years, 2012-2016, these
companies were taken as samples. In the analysis of the data, there would be some positive
assumptions in relation to the data obtained from the two companies. The selected data was
ensured to make that the study was contemporary and updated as needed. Providing the latest
data is appropriate as this would help in making analysis and assumptions based on the recent
data obtained from these companies. Therefore, ten annual reports were collected from the
secondary source from 2012-2016. The study was, therefore, made based on the secondary data
obtained. From the obtained data in the research, the descriptive approach was used to describe
the characteristics of these companies from the different perspectives and variables. Use of the
descriptive approach in the analyzing the data was appropriate as a systematic description was
made possible. Also, there was a provision of grounded facts in relation to the different
characteristics of the selected companies based on their different results on the different
variables. All data collected from the secondary source would be compared with all the
participants. From this, it would be easy to identify the differences and the similarities of the
variables from the companies. It effectively determined the impact of working capital
There were different variables that were measured in the research. The variables were
chosen based on the previous studies that have been conducted in relation to the study.
The different pharmaceutical companies used in the research were selected based on a
stratified random sampling. The ten companies were required to provide the data in relation to
21
their working capital for the ten-year period. The table below represents the summary of the
sample selection.
The study employed different variables were used to make comparisons of the existing
firms that were being investigated. These variables provided the financial capabilities of these
firms. The different figures obtained would be used for analysis purposes.
First, Return on Capital Employed was the first variable that measured the firm’s
profitability and the effectiveness of the capital employed. ROCE is derived by dividing the
Second, the payable days variable was used in the identification of the time that it took
for these companies to clear all outstanding Accounts Payable. This was calculated by; Accounts
The other variable was the Receivable days that defined the time that the debtors took to
settle their bills. This is calculated by; trade debtors/ revenue * 365.
Finally, the Inventory Day was used in the determination of the number of days the goods
remain in inventory before being sold. The figures are gotten by; Average Inventory *365/ Sales
Revenue.
Companies
Total (n) N=10
From the table, the expected sample size provided all relevant data that was required in
the study. All of the participants had their ten-year period data obtained from the secondary
source. Since the study was a financial analysis, the main data was obtained from their annual
financial statements. Such included the balance sheets, trading accounts, profit & loss accounts
22
of the firms that were studied. The aim of this study is to build on existing financial management
industry. The relationship between working capital management and profitability within the UK
pharma industry will be analyzed for the last ten years 2012-2016, for 5 pharmaceutical firms
listed on the London Stock Exchange (Dong and 2010). Secondary data obtained from the
company’s financial records and websites will be used in the study. The data was extracted from
the annual reports and balance sheets for the respective firms. The data will be analyzed using
SPSS software. Pearson correlations, regressions, and descriptive statistics were used to check
subtracting the cost of goods sold from sales and divided by the difference between the total and
financial assets (Deloof, 2013). Financial assets form a significant portion of total assets for most
(inventories*365)/cost of sales (Choo and Bontis, 2002) the cash conversion cycle is used as a
detailed measure of the working capital management. The cash conversion cycle is calculated as
(number of days accounts receivable added to the number of day’s inventory – number of days
accounts payable). Further to account for seasonality and trend, we use the natural logarithm of
sales (log-sales), a horizontal trend in sales to determine the sales growth, debt ratio (debt/total
assets), and a control variable obtained as the ratio of fixed financial assets to total assets in the
regression model.
23
Analytical Procedure
Descriptive Statistics
For the descriptive statistics, the SPSS software was used for the statistical analysis of the
different variables presented. This was to identify the different characteristics of these variables
in each of the ten firms that were being studied. The descriptive statistics that were used shows
the average and the standard deviation derived from the minimum and the maximum values of
the variables. This also included editing and tabulating the gathered data of the different
variables from the different companies. Such techniques were applied to ensure that there was a
Correlation
The purpose of correlation in the study was in the exploration of how the different variables
move together. Pearson’s co-efficient of correlation was used to make this analysis.
Ethical Issues
There were some ethical considerations during the collection of the data. One of the
consideration was to respect the data obtained from each respondent. The dignity of the data
collected should be upheld accordingly. Also, the protection of all the samples was highly
considered so that the research data wouldn’t in any way be altered. The data was made to be
confidential until the last day of the presentation stage. Such ethical considerations ensured that
Summary
In conclusion, the results identified that the management of the working capital doesn’t
have any significant effect on the profitability of these pharmaceutical firms. There is a positive
relationship between the gross operating income and the debt ratio. A negative relationship exists
24
between the gross operating income and the other selected variables. Managers can, however,
increase their firm’s value and ability by effectively managing the working capital (Choo, C.W.
Conclusion
The management of the working capital is one of the crucial financial decisions of the
firm (Earnest and Young, 2014). An efficient level of working capital should be present in order
to have a smooth run of the business. Working capital is wholly important regardless of the type
of business in place. From this study, it concluded that maintain an efficient amount or level of
working capital is a very crucial role for the pharmaceutical industry in the UK. The present
study includes ten pharmaceutical industries in the UK. The analysis made in a span of ten years
determined that working capital is very important in the determination of the profitability of a
firm. This success is well determined by two main policies that include the management of
working capital. The main policies identified were the Capital Investing Policy and Capital
Financing Policy. Investing policy is concerned with the management of the current asset of the
business. Financing policy, on the other hand, is concerned with the management of current
liabilities in the company. In addition, working capital investing policy seeks the addition of
more resources to the current assets of the firm. The results of the study show that a conservative
financing policy of the working capital leads to more profitability. Similarly, conservative
financing policy also results to in more profitability. The findings in the study are very important
to help the financial managers of pharmaceutical companies to effectively manage the available
working capital for effective operations and maximum profits. Therefore, in conclusion, an
References
Choo, C.W. and Bontis, N. eds., 2002. The strategic management of intellectual capital and
Deloof, M., 2003. Does working capital management affect profitability of Belgian firms?.
Dong, H. and Su, J.T., 2010. The relationship between working capital management and
http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/ey-cash-on-prescription-2016/$FILE/ey-
cash-on-prescription-2016.pdf
Filbeck, G. and Krueger, T.M., 2005. An analysis of working capital management results across
Gill, A., Biger, N. and Mathur, N., 2010. The relationship between working capital management
and profitability: Evidence from the United States. Business and economics journal,
10(1), pp.1-9.
Howorth, C. and Westhead, P., 2003. The focus of working capital management in UK small
Juan García-Teruel, P. and Martinez-Solano, P., 2007. Effects of working capital management on
Lazaridis, I. and Tryfonidis, D., 2006. Relationship between working capital management and
Mathuva, D., 2015. The Influence of working capital management components on corporate
profitability.
Mohamad, N.E.A.B. and Saad, N.B.M., 2010. Working capital management: The effect of
Padachi, K., 2006. Trends in working capital management and its impact on firms’ performance:
Raheman, A. and Nasr, M., 2007. Working capital management and profitability–case of
Sharma, A.K. and Kumar, S., 2011. Effect of working capital management on firm profitability
Vishnani, S. and Shah, B.K., 2007. Impact of working capital management policies on corporate