Changes of the Level of Liquidity in Time of the Financial Crisis: A Case of Polish Companies

The financial crisis undoubtedly exerted a pressure on the companies operating in Poland. Thus, it is important to undertake researches that reveal the paths and strength of the transmission of financial crisis with regard to the business entities. This paper presents partial results of the researches dedicated to the analysis of the impact of financial crisis on the financial situation of companies operating in Silesian Region in Poland. It analyses and discusses the general changes in the financial ratios that inform about the company’s financial liquidity and the level of liquidity risk. As a research paper, it aims at justifying hypotheses about the changes of liquidity and liquidity risk in companies operating in Poland, Silesian Region within the period of 2006-2009. The tested hypotheses generally indicate the decrease of liquidity in the aftermath of crisis and a worse situation in the Silesian Region, as compared to the national level. The study is based on an application of a part of authors ’ self-developed method—the CFS Watch (Corporate Financial Situation Watch), which consists of five analytical modules. In this study, one module is applied: the FLA Module (Financial Liquidity Analysis) with regard to financial liquidity and the level of liquidity risk. The research is based on the data collected by the Polish Central Statistical Office. The analysis of FLA Module is based on two samples of companies: companies operating in the Silesian Region (denoted as the MEPP sample), and companies operating in Poland (denoted as the MAPP sample). This allows developing a comparative analysis between regional and national dimension. The results of the study represent an