Impact of working Capital Management on Financial Performance of Quoted Consumer Goods Manufacturing Firms in Nigeria

Working capital management is indispensable in strengthening firms’ liquidity position. A weak liquidity position poses a threat to the solvency of the company and makes it unsafe as well as unsound. The persistent winding up of most Nigerian manufacturing firms and the recent decline in the world oil price which significantly affected all the oil producing countries in the world of which Nigeria is not an exception demand for effective and efficient management of  resources to guarantee going concern.  This study examined the impact of working capital management on financial performance of quoted consumer goods manufacturing firms in Nigeria by specifically examined the impact of working capital management on return on assets and gross operating profit. The secondary data used were obtained from annual financial statements over a period of ten (10) years from 2005 to 2014 of purposively sampled fifteen (15) firms. Descriptive statistics were used to measure variations, statistical inferences were drawn using correlation and panel regression analysis was applied on performance and working capital management indicators to test the formulated hypotheses. The findings revealed that efficient working capital management increases financial performance. In conclusion, a negative relationship exists between Cash Conversion Cycle (CCC) and financial performance while there is a positive relationship between Average Collection Period (ACP) and financial performance. The study recommended that firms within the industry may increase their average collection period above the present industry average collection period of 58 days and proper analysis of working capital components should be constantly carried out to ensure that those critical areas for decision making process as it related to each of the performance measurement variables are identified and properly examined.