The strategies of net working capital management and their impact on the profitability of Polish it and electromechanical stock companies

Abstract

The aim of this study is to explore the character and strength of the correlation between the established strategy of net working capital management and the profitability of particular stock companies belonging to different sectors. The theoretical-empirical study in the paper tests the general research hypothesis, which stipulates that sectoral differences can be observed in the impact of the strategy of net working capital management on the profitability of enterprises. It may be assumed that the growth in profitability of electromechanical stock companies, as opposed to IT stock companies, is most often connected with retaining the proper financial liquidity. The study comprises selected companies from the IT and electromechanical sectors which were listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (qualified as of 01.10.2017). The diagnosis is based on annual financial reports dated 2007–2016. The research shows only positive and, more importantly, statistically significant relationships between values of the net working capital and liquidity ratios, and returns on sales, total assets, and equity. Moreover, in the analyzed electromechanical companies there existed stronger positive correlations between the examined variables.