Size matters
The data confirmed a clear link between size and working capital, with the larger the company, the smaller the ratio of working capital and the smaller the company, the larger the ratio of working capital. Also, companies improved on average Days Payables Outstanding (DPO) to a higher extent than Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) over the four years. This conclusion holds true, if we look at data by industry, size or region. The findings suggest that it is easier for a company to make demands on a customer rather than a supplier. Return on Capital Employed (ROCE) increased in 2017 for all companies with a market capitalisation greater than 100 EURm, while the smallest companies saw ROCE decline. So once again size was a determining factor.
The data also showed that over four years, companies that improved the ratio of Net Working Capital (NWC) to Sales have been able to do so whilst also improving margins. When optimising working capital, there can often be a trade-off between margins and turnover on net working capital. For example, when a company demands longer payment terms from its supplier, the supplier might accept the new terms but increase the price as a compensation, leading to lower margins for the company. However, this does not appear to have been the case.
An opposite trend can be seen for companies with worsening rations of NWC/Sales. On average, those companies haven’t been able to compensate for higher working capital through better margins. This group has on average not been able to compensate for the extra liquidity being tied up in working capital through higher profits but have in fact seen their EBIT margins deteriorate.
As the group of companies who improved NWC/Sales released cash from both margins and less working capital, this lead to a gap in cash conversion ratios compared to those who failed to do so. Companies that have improved working capital have spent the increased cash flow on paying dividends and bringing down debt. They have invested marginally more and grown a bit more in recent years in comparison to peers not improving net working capital.
Looking across regions, working capital levels were found to be generally higher in Asia, which thereby in effect has been financing international trade. Asian companies were shown to have generally longer payment terms than most western countries, with the exception of China. Across industries, there was a wide deviation in the ratio of NWC/Sales with only a few industries improving working capital over the four-year period covered by the data.