International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Management Research Vol. 1 No. 1 (January-June 2011) pp. 63-71 WORKING CAPITAL MANAGEMENT OF BAJAJ AUTO LTD. WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY. Nitin J. Untwal Assistant Professor Finance, M.B.A. Department, G.H. Raisoni Institute of Engineering & Technology, Gat. No. 1200 Nagar Road, Wagholi, Pune, Email: nitinuntwal@yahoo.com. Abstract: Working capital management refers to all management decisions and actions that ordinarily influence the size and effectiveness of the working capital. It is concerned with the most effective choice of working capital sources and determination of the appropriate levels of the current assets and their use. It focuses attention to the managing of the current assets, current liability and their relationships that exist between them. In other words working capital management may be defined as the management of a firm s liquid assets viz-cash, marketable securities, accounts receivable and inventories. In the present day context of rising capital cost and scarce funds, the importance of working capital needs special emphasis. It has been widely accepted that the profitability of a business concern likely depends upon the manner in which its working capital is managed. The inefficient management of working capital not only reduces profitability but ultimately may also lead a concern to financial crisis. On the other hand, proper management of working capital leads to a material savings and ensures financial returns at the optimum level even on the minimum level of capital employed. We also know that both excessive and inadequate working capital is harmful for a firm. Excessive working capital leads to un-remunerative use of scarce funds. On the other hand inadequate working capital usually interrupts the normal operations of a business and impairs profitability. There are many instances of business failure for inadequate working capital. Further, working capital has to play a vital role to keep pace with the scientific and technological developments that are taking place in the concerned area of automobile industry. If new ideas, methods and techniques are not injected or brought into practice for want of working
Nitin J. Untwal capital, the concern will certainly not be able to face competition and survive. In this context, working capital management has a special relevance and a through investigation regarding working capital management in the automobile industry is of utmost importance. An attempt has therefore, been made to undertake an in-depth study on working capital management of Bajaj Auto Ltd with special reference to Automobile industry. 1. INTRODUCTION Working capital management refers to all management decisions and actions that ordinarily influence the size and effectiveness of the working capital. It is concerned with the most effective choice of working capital sources and determination of the appropriate levels of the current assets and their use. It focuses attention to the managing of the current assets, current liability and their relationships that exist between them. In other words working capital management may be defined as the management of a firm s liquid assets viz-cash, marketable securities, accounts receivable and inventories. In the present day context of rising capital cost and scarce funds, the importance of working capital needs special emphasis. It has been widely accepted that the profitability of a business concern likely depends upon the manner in which its working capital is managed. The inefficient management of working capital not only reduces profitability but ultimately may also lead a concern to financial crisis. On the other hand, proper management of working capital leads to a material savings and ensures financial returns at the optimum level even on the minimum level of capital employed. We also know that both excessive and inadequate working capital is harmful for a firm. Excessive working capital leads to unremunerative use of scarce funds. On the other hand inadequate working capital usually interrupts the normal operations of a business and impairs profitability. There are many instances of business failure for inadequate working capital. Further, working capital has to play a vital role to keep pace with the scientific and technological developments that are taking place in the concerned area of automobile industry. If new ideas, 64
Working Capital Management of Bajaj Auto Ltd. With Special Reference... methods and techniques are not injected or brought into practice for want of working capital, the concern will certainly not be able to face competition and survive. In this context, working capital management has a special relevance and a through investigation regarding working capital management in the automobile industry is of utmost importance. An attempt has therefore, been made to undertake an in-depth study on working capital management of Bajaj Auto Ltd with special reference to Automobile industry. This study has the following broad objectives: 1. To workout the overall quantum of liquidity maintained by the giant namely the Bajaj AutoLtd. and also to analyze the amount tied-up in various components of working Capital. 2. To examine the working capital position of the company during the period under study on the Basis of some important parameters of liquidity management such as Current Ratio (CR), Quick Ratio (QR), Cash Position Ratio (CPR), inventory Turnover Ratio (ITR) and Debtors Turnover Ratio (DTR). 3. To compare the liquidity position of the company from year to year. 4. To measure the extent of relationship between liquidity and profitability. 5. To offer necessary suggestions to improve the efficiency of working capital management of Bajaj Auto Ltd. Methodology of the Study The data and information required for this study is for the period 1999-00 to 2007-08 have been collected from the annual reports of Bajaj Auto Ltd for various years. For the purpose of analyzing the efficiency of liquidity management of Bajaj Auto Ltd in this study, the technique of ratio analysis, etc. have been used. In order to test the significance of working capital management. 65
Nitin J. Untwal Case Study of Bajaj Auto LTD. Working capital management refers to the short-term financial strength of a company. The word financial strength is composed of two words viz, financial, and strength. The term financial relates to different sources of finance. These sources are classified as internal sources and external sources. The term strength indicates the ability to meet obligations when they become due. According to Herbert B. Mayo, Liquidity is the ease with which assets may be converted into cash without Losses. Liquidity in the balance sheet needs to balance between earning adequate returns, and the need to cover the financial and business risk. Liquidity also enables a company to make a rapid shift in its direction, should the market so demand. In order to measure the liquidity position of Bajaj Auto Ltd during the period under study the following six important ratios have been computed. Current Ratio (CR) This ratio shows the relationship between current assets and current liabilities of a company. It is an important measure of analyzing the firm s ability to payoff its current obligations out of its short-term resources. The higher the CR, the higher is the amount available per rupee of current obligations and accordingly, the higher is the feeling of safety and security. The rule of thumb about the CR is 2: 1. This rule is based on the logic that in the worse situation even if the possibility of 50% shrinkage in the value of current assets, the firm will be in position to payoff its current obligations. This rule, however, can not be treated as a general guide applicable to all types of businesses. Each firm should develop its own Standard for CR from past experience. Table 1 shows that the CR in Bajaj Auto Ltd registered a fluctuating trend during the period under study. It varied between 0.80 in 2006 and 1.43 in the year 1999. On an average, the CR in Bajaj Auto LTD was 1.07during the period under study. The CR of the company in the last five years of the study was under the conventional norm of 2:1. It indicates that the liquidity position of 66
Working Capital Management of Bajaj Auto Ltd. With Special Reference... the company was not satisfactory. However, no definite inference can be drawn on the basis of this ratio about the liquidity position of the company as CR considers the quantity of current assets only but fails to consider their quality. Thus, it needs a further analysis of quality of short-term assets. Quick Ratio (QR) This ratio is yet another widely used parameter of judging the shortterm repaying ability of a firm in the near future. This ratio a refinement over CR as it considers the quality of current assets. This ratio excludes inventories, which is considered slow moving assets in relation to other current assets, thus it can assess the liquidity position of a company more effectively. The rule of thumb about QR is 1:1. It is evident from Table 1 that the QR also marked a fluctuating trend during the period under study and ranged between 0.78 in the year 2007-08 and 0.92in the year 2006-07. On an average the QR in Bajaj Auto Ltd was 0.88 during the period of study. The QR in Bajaj Auto Ltd was much under the conventional norm of 1:1 throughout the period of study. It clearly indicates that the liquidity position of the company was not satisfactory. Table 1 CR LTR ALR DTR ITR 1999 1.43 0.91 0.02 16.89 20.43 2000 1.36 0.88 0.01 19.94 14.18 2001 1.39 0.87 0.01 29.72 14.15 2002 1.13 0.91 0.02 20.81 23.03 2003 1.05 0.90 0.02 28.29 22.71 2004 0.88 0.90 0.03 40.45 26.74 2005 0.92 0.91 0.04 37.09 29.18 2006 0.80 0.90 0.02 28.35 31.32 2007 0.88 0.91 0.02 20.01 34.24 2008 0.87 0.78 0.03 35.19 27.71 AVG 1.071 0.887 0.022 27.674 24.369 MAX 1.43 0.91 0.04 40.45 34.24 MIN 0.80 0.78 0.01 16.89 14.15 67
Nitin J. Untwal Cash Position Ratio (CPR) This ratio is also known as Super Quick Ratio. This is still a more rigorous test of liquidity position of a concern. Absolute liquid assets (cash in hand, cash at bank and marketable securities) are divided by current liabilities for computation of this ratio. CPR is interpreted in respect of current obligations. A high CPR is good from the creditor s point of view whereas from the management point of view it indicates poor investment policy. Table 1 depicts that CPR in Bajaj Auto Ltd showed a fluctuating trend during the period under study. It ranged between 0.01 in the year 2001-02 and 0.04 in the year 2004-05. On an average, this ratio was 0.02 during the period of study. This indicates that the liquidity position of the company in most of the years was not good enough to meet its obligations in time. However, to draw any conclusion in this regard the credit facilities granted by the banks to the company should be taken care of. Inventory Turnover Ratio (ITR) This ratio focuses light on the inventory control policy adopted by a concern. This ratio shows the relationship between the cost of goods sold during a particular year and inventories kept by a concern during that year. Higher ITR shows higher efficiency of the management and vice versa. It is evident from Table1 that the ITR registered a fluctuating trend during the period under study in Bajaj Auto Ltd. It varied between 14.15 in the year 2000-01 and 34.24 in the year 2006-07. The average of this ratio was 24.36 during the period under study. It can also be observed from table1 that this ratio started improving after reaching at the lowest (14.15) in the year 2000-01 and reached at the second highest during the last year i.e. 2005-06. It is thus, clear that the management tried to control its inventory levels to a great extent during the later period of the study. As per the study conducted by CMIE, average ITR of Indian Manufacturing Companies was 2.12 (CMIE, 1998, P.7). The average of ITR in Bajaj Auto Ltd was higher than the standard set by the CMIE. It is thus; clear that in general the inventory management of Bajaj Auto Ltd was satisfactory during the period under study and it was more efficient during the later years of the study. 68
Working Capital Management of Bajaj Auto Ltd. With Special Reference... Debtors Turnover Ratio (DTR) This ratio throws light on the credit and collection policy pursued by a concern. DTR is an important tool of analyzing the efficiency of liquidity management of a company. The liquidity position of a company depends on the quality of debtors to a great extent. It measures the rapidity or the slowness of their collectibility. The high DTR implies the prompt payments made by debtors and vice versa. According to the study conducted by CMIE, average DTR of 11 is considered to be satisfactory in an Indian manufacturing company (CMIE, 1998, P.7). It can be seen from Table 1 that the DTR also recorded a fluctuating trend during the period under study in Bajaj Auto Ltd. It was highest in the year 2003-04 and lowest in the year 1999-2000. On an average, the DTR in Bajaj Auto Ltd was 27.67 during the period under study. The DTR in Bajaj Auto LTD was much over and above than the standard set by the CMIE in most of the years under study. It appreciates collection policy followed by the company. Important Suggestions and conclusions of the study 1. Bajaj Auto Ltd should always try to maintain an adequate quantum of net current assets in relation of current liabilities as to keep a good amount of liquidity throughout the year. 2. The company must increase its level of quick assets in relation to current liabilities which will also increase the ratio of net working capital to current liabilities. 3. The company must maintain a reasonable level of absolute liquid assets in order to meet short-term commitments and emergency requirements. This will also help the company in increasing its working capital margin. The company may also make adequate arrangement of credit facilities with banks as to maintain good amount of liquidity at its end. 4. The inventory of slow moving items should be reduced to the maximum possible extent. Suitable format presenting the level of different components of inventory at fixed time 69
Nitin J. Untwal internal be introduced to exercise an effective control on the overall inventories maintained by Bajaj Auto Ltd. 5. The company should tighten the debt collection efforts and should reduce the amount tied up in debtors. In order to improve the quality of debtors and also to bring down the amount tied-up in debtors, a periodical report of the over dues may be prepared and effective action may be taken by the management time to time to expedite the collections. 6. The overall state of working capital should be improved as to put a favorable impact on the profitability. 7. The management of Bajaj Auto Ltd should also try to maintain a definite proportion among various components of working capital in relation to overall current assets to keep an adequate quantum of working capital at all times. Such proportion can be worked out on the basis of past experience by the management of Dagger Frost Tools. The management is finally advised to follow the principles of THREE Es to manage, solvency, Profitability, survival and growth of the business. Following are the messages of THREE Es : (i) (ii) E1 stands for Economy i. e. at what minimum cost it can produce the goods. E2 stands for Efficiency i. e. to do the thing right and finally. (iii) E3 represents Effectiveness i.e. to do the right thing only. Working Capital Management should not be treated as an isolated management function but it is the part and parcel of overall corporate management functions and impact of corporate management policy and strategy effects working capital management practice of the firm. It is thus necessary to work out and analyze cause-effect relationship of every function of the management to assess its impact on the working capital management. 70
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