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The impact of working capital management on the profitability of Pharmaceutical industry in the

UK

By

Name

Professor

Course

Date
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Declaration

I, …………………………………………………………………………………………….

[please print name]

declare that this thesis and the work presented in it are my own and has been generated by me as

the result of my own original research.

[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;

4. I have acknowledged all main sources of help;

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: …………………………………………………………………………
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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,

inventory days, accounts receivables


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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

should be and helped improve my quality of work immensely.

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

guidance in my life pursuits.


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List of Tables

1. Sample size table.

2. Descriptive statistics tabulation.

3. Correlation tabulation.
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Table of Contents
List of Tables...............................................................................................................................................5

Introduction.................................................................................................................................................8

Background.............................................................................................................................................8

Research Aim and Objectives..................................................................................................................9

Rationale................................................................................................................................................10

Scope and Limitations...........................................................................................................................10

Project Outline.......................................................................................................................................11

Literature review.......................................................................................................................................12

The pharmaceutical industry in the UK.................................................................................................15

Methodology.............................................................................................................................................18

Introduction...........................................................................................................................................18

Research Philosophy.............................................................................................................................18

Variable Definition and Measurement...................................................................................................20

Sample Selection and Data Collection Procedure..................................................................................20

Analytical Procedure.............................................................................................................................23

Descriptive Statistics.........................................................................................................................23

Correlation.........................................................................................................................................23

Ethical Issues.........................................................................................................................................23

Summary...............................................................................................................................................23

Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................24
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References.................................................................................................................................................26
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Introduction

Background

Working capital management is a crucial element in the financial management of firms.

Financial managers in most organizations are entrusted with the arduous task of working capital

management, which heavily influences managerial decision-making (Mathuva, 2015). This

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
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contribute to this relationship by studying the pharmaceutical companies in the UK that are

members of the London Stock Exchange (Mohamad and Saad, 2010).

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

conversion cycle. Below is an overview of the entire research thesis.

Working capital management is an important element for any organization. Poor

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

size of a firm affects its payback periods.

Research Aim and Objectives

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

study are summarized as follows.

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

profitability of the pharmaceutical industry in the UK.

c. Establishing the relationship between working capital and the profitability of the ten

listed pharmaceutical companies for a period of ten years.


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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

the pharmaceutical companies.

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

determine the future profitability in many aspects.

Scope and Limitations

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.
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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.
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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
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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.

Padachi (2006) conducted an analysis of small Mauritian manufacturing firms to

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
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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

different variables of working capital management on profitability. A Pearson correlation

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.
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The pharmaceutical industry in the UK

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

performance of WC from 2013. The cash-to-cash metrics fell by 5% after declining by 2% in

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

fundamental differences in management processes.

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 by creating a strategic focus annually. Increased responsiveness to change 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
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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

requirements. Optimization of working capital would allow big pharmaceutical companies to

weigh and balance different options they can use to maximize value such as funding acquisitions,

delivering higher value to shareholders and reducing total debt.

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

attributed to sluggish demand for consumer healthcare products in developed countries.

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

resulting from an implementation of new measures such as improved communication with

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
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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.

Overall, the poor performance in inventory can be attributed to additional improvements in

manufacturing and supply chain operations.


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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

statistics, Person correlation analysis, and regression analysis.

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

researcher to get a better understanding of working capital management concepts at the

organizational level and the industry level.

The working capital is one of the most important parts in an industry. Studies have

identified it to be a measure of any firm’s performance in corporate finance. The management of

any company is heavily dependent on the working capital management and all its components.
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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
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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

management on the profitability of the selected companies in the study.

Variable Definition and Measurement

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.

Sample Selection and Data Collection Procedure

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
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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

earnings before interest and tax with the capital employed.

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

Payable/ Costs of Goods Sold * Number of days in a year.

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.

Category Target Sample Size (n) Sample Size %


Pharmaceutical 10 10 100

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
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of the firms that were studied. The aim of this study is to build on existing financial management

literature, specifically on the aspect of working capital management of the UK pharmaceutical

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

whether there is a significant relationship between the variables in the study.

Profitability is measured using the gross operating income, which is obtained by

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

firms in the pharmaceutical industry. The number of accounts receivable is calculated as

(accounts receivable * 365)/sales while the number of days in inventory is calculated as

(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.
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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

consistency of the data being analyzed.

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

the correct evidence was provided for the overall research.

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
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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.

and Bontis, 2002).

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

aggressiveness in working capital management is inversely related to the profitability of

pharmaceutical firms in the UK (Dong and Su, 2010).


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