International Journal of scientific research and management (IJSRM)

\||Volume||3||Issue||5||Pages|| 2823-2842||2015||
Website: www.ijsrm.in ISSN (e): 2321-3418

Trade off between Liquidity and Profitability

Hina Mushtaq*, Dr. Anwar F. Chishti**, Sumaira Kanwal*, Sobia Saeed*
*University of Sargodha, Women Campus, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
**Muhammad Ali Jinnah University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Abstract
The study investigates the trade off between liquidity and profitability in the five sectors of Pakistan
(Chemical, Fuel & Energy, Paper-Board & Products, Food (Sugar) Sector & Cement Sectors). The central
objective is to understand the relationship between liquidity and Profitability in a profit driven Business to the
nature and extent of the relationship between them. Further, to find the balance of the conflicting objectives
of liquidity and profitability and to determine whether a functional relationship exists between Liquidity &
Profitability and then estimate whether or not both reinforce each other or not.
Liquidity measures are Current, Quick, Interest Coverage, and Debt to Equity, Creditors, and Stock &
Receivables Turnover while the profitability measure was the Return on Assets. Investigation and quantitative
analysis methods were used for the study. Analysis is based on data extracted from BSA and the accounts
of the companies for the relevant period. Correlation and Panel regression analysis, respectively, are
employed to examine the nature and extent of the relationship between the variables and determine whether
any cause and effect relationship between them.
An Econometric model of perceived functional relationship is specified, estimated and evaluated. Evaluation
is based on relevant statistics of Panel regression result. The results show that all the measures of liquidity
except Debtors Turnover and Debt to Equity Ratio are contributing positively towards the profitability of the
firms. So all these things show that if the firm has sound liquidity, then it will ultimately lead towards the
profitability because by this the company would be able to generate the spontaneous financing. However, the
findings of this paper are based on a study conducted on the selected company only. Hence, the results
are not generalizable to other companies. Secondly, the sample comprises the five sectors. Therefore, the
results are valid for those Sectors only.

Key Words: Liquidity, Profitability, Relationship

1. Introduction
The relationship between liquidity and profitability has remained a source of disagreement among experts,
researchers, professional financial analysts and even managements of profit- oriented businesses. Therefore,
Hina Mushtaq, IJSRM volume 3 issue 5 May 2015 [www.ijsrm.in] Page 2823
views on the actual relative importance of each in business enterprises have continued to differ.
Liquidity is a basic thing to ensure that firms are able to meet its short-term obligations. The liquidity
position in a company is measured based on the 'current ratio' and the 'quick ratio'. The current ratio
establishes the relationship between current assets and current liabilities. Normally, a high current ratio is
considered to be an indicator of the firm's ability to promptly meet its short term liabilities. The quick ratio
establishes a relationship between quick or liquid assets and current liabilities. An asset is liquid if it can
be converted into cash immediately or reasonably y soon without a loss of value. Low liquidity leads to the
inability of a company to pay its creditors on time or honor its maturing obligations to suppliers of credit,
services and goods. This could result in losses on account of non-availability of supplies and lead to
possible insolvency. Also, the inability to meet the short term liabilities could affect the company's operations
and in many cases it may affect its reputation as well. Inadequate cash or liquid assets on hand may force a
company to miss the incentives given by the suppliers of credit, services, and goods as well. Loss of such
incentives may result in higher cost of goods which in turn affects the profitability of the business. Every
stakeholder has an interest in the liquidity position of a company. Suppliers of goods will check the
liquidity of the company before selling goods on credit. Employees should also be concerned about the
company's liquidity to know whether the company can meet its employee related obligations, i.e.,
salary, pension, provident fund, etc. Thus, a company needs to maintain adequate liquidity.
Profitability is a measure of the amount by which a company's revenues exceed its relevant expenses.
Profitability ratios are used to evaluate the management's ability to create earnings from revenue-generating
bases within the organization. The profitability position of a company is measured using the Return on
Assets. Before proceeding, the study defines the variables in the following way.

Return on Assets (ROA)

An indicator of how profitable a company is relative to its total assets. ROA gives an idea as to how efficient
management is at using its assets to generate earnings. Calculated by dividing a company's annual earnings
by its total assets, ROA is displayed as a percentage. Sometimes this is referred to as
"Return on investment". The formula for return on assets is:
Net Income/ Total Assets

Current Ratio
A liquidity ratio that measures a company's ability to pay short-term obligations. It is also known as "liquidity
ratio", "cash asset ratio" and "cash ratio". The Current Ratio formula is:

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 Current Assets
Current Ratio =
Current Liabilities
Quick Ratio
An indicator of a company's short-term liquidity. The quick ratio measures a company's ability to meet its short-
term obligations with its most liquid assets. The higher the quick ratio, the better the position of the company. It
is also known as the "acid-test ratio" or the "quick assets ratio".The quick ratio is calculated as:

Current Assets- Inventories

Quick Ratio =
Current Liabilities
Debt to Equity Ratio
A measure of a company's financial leverage calculated by dividing its total liabilities by
stockholders' equity. It indicates what proportion of equity and debt the company is using to finance its assets.
Total Liabilities
Debt to Equity Ratio =
Shareholder's Equity

Note: Sometimes only interest-bearing, long-term debt is used instead of total liabilities in the calculation. It is
also known as the Personal Debt/Equity Ratio, this ratio can be applied to personal financial statements as well
as corporate ones.
Interest Coverage Ratio
A ratio used to determine how easily a company can pay interest on outstanding debt. The interest
coverage ratio is calculated by dividing a company's earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of one
period by the company's interest expenses of the same period:
𝑬𝑩𝑰𝑻
Interest Coverage Ratio =
Interest Expenses

Inventory Turnover
A ratio showing how many times a company's inventory is sold and replaced over a period. The days in the
period can then be divided by the inventory turnover formula to calculate the days it takes to sell the
inventory on hand or "inventory turnover days." It is calculated as:
𝑺𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒔
Inventory Turnover =
Inventory

Creditors Turnover
A short-term liquidity measure used to quantify the rate at which a company pays off its
Suppliers. Accounts payable turnover ratio is calculated by taking the total purchases made from suppliers and
dividing it by the average accounts payable amount during the same period.
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 Total Supplier Purchase
Accounts Payable Turnover =
Average Accounts Payable

Debtors Turnover
An accounting measure used to quantify a firm's effectiveness in extending credit as well as collecting
debts. The receivables turnover ratio is an activity ratio, measuring how efficiently a firm uses its assets. It is
calculated as:
Net Credit Sales
Average Receivables Turnover =
Average Accounts Receivables
Thus, a financial manager has to ensure, on one hand, that the firm has adequate cash to pay for its bills, has
sufficient cash to make unexpected large purchases and cash reserve to meet emergencies, while on the other
hand, he has to ensure that the funds of the firm are used so as to yield the highest return. This poses a
dilemma of maintaining liquidity or profitability.
The liquidity and profitability goals conflict in most decisions which the finance manager makes. For
example, if higher inventories are kept in anticipation of the increase in prices of raw materials, profitability
goal is approached, but the liquidity of the firm is endangered. Similarly, the firm by following a liberal credit
policy may be in a position to push up its sales, but its liquidity decreases. Similarly, there is a direct
relationship between higher risk and higher return. A company taking higher risk could endanger its liquidity
position. However, if a company has a higher return, it will increase its profitability. Consequently, a firm is
required to maintain a balance between liquidity and profitability in the conduct of its day-to-day
operations. Investments in current assets are inevitable to ensure delivery of goods or services to the ultimate
customers. A proper management of the same could result in the desired impact on either profitability or
liquidity. This suggests that a relationship exists between liquidity and profitability in a business organization.

This study analyses the liquidity and profitability ratios of 5 Sectors of Pakistan over an eleven- year period.
The companies are selected from the Chemical, Fuel & Energy, Paper-Board & Products, and Food (Sugar)
Sector & Cement Sectors. To understand the relationship between liquidity and Profitability in a profit
driven Business. The study is structured into five sections. Following this introduction is section two which is a
review of related literature. Section three discusses the methodology employed in carrying out the study.
Section four dwells on analysis and discussion of results while the last section concludes the study and give
recommendations capable of enhancing policy and investment decisions.

Significance of Chemical Sector:

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The Study has chosen the Chemical Sector because:
 Chemical sector plays a fundamental role in the economic development of any nation.
The global business of chemical forms the structure of the modern world. It converts essential raw
materials into more than 70,000 various products, for industry as well as the goods to consumers that
people depend on in their daily life.
 Pakistan’s market for industrial chemicals is expanding gradually though it has a less- well
developed commercial chemical industry than India.
 As was stated in the Pakistan trade policy 2010, “In order to address our strategic objective of
product diversification for Pakistan’s exports our government aims to provide a clear policy framework
for the development of the chemical sector.”
 Chemical industry in Pakistan is widespread, in the organized & unorganized sector.
 It has an approximation of investment in chemical sectors between Rs.550-600 billion.
 The chemical related imports constitute about 17% of the total import bill.
Significance of Food Sector
The study has chosen the Food Sector because:

 Being a labor-intensive, agriculture based country; it is no surprise that the food industry employs over
20 percent of the country’s working population.
 Approximately 75% population consists of farmers, orchard men, cattle men, fishermen and others
involved in the production of raw materials.
 Pakistan stands among the top ten citrus fruit producer in the world and amongst the top five in mango
production.
 It is estimated that 30-40 % of the fruit goes to waste due to post harvest losses.

Significance of Fuel & Energy Sector

The study has chosen the Fuel & Energy Sector because:
 Pakistan achieved gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 8.4 percent and in 2005/2006 the country
had GDP growth of 6.6 percent.
 According to an impact assessment carried out for the European Commission, the levels of energy
efficiency of coal-fired plants built have now increased to 46-49% efficiency rates, as compared to
coal plants built before the 1990s (32-40%).
 However, at the same time gas is can reach 58-59% efficiency levels with the best available technology.

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 Meanwhile combined heat and power can offer efficiency rates of 80-90%.
Significance of Cement Sector
The study has chosen the Cement Sector because:
 In 1947, Pakistan had inherited four cement plants with a total capacity of 0.5 million tons.
 Some expansion took place in 1956–66 but could not keep pace with the economic development
and the country had to resort to imports of cement in 1976–77 and continued to do so till 1994–
95.
 The cement sector consisting of 27 plants is contributing above Rs 30 billion to the national exchequer
in the form of taxes.
 The Cement sector of Pakistan has 23 players, operating 29 units, with a total production capacity of
44.8 million tons, divided into North and South.
 The overall capacity utilization of the sector, as per FY-10 dispatches is at 76%.
 The basic raw materials for cement include limestone (up to 80%), clay (up to 15%) and gypsum (5%),
all of which are abundant in Pakistan making the basic raw material very cheaply available to cement
manufacturers.

Significance of Paper, Board & Products

The study has chosen the Cement Sector because:

 The Plastic Industry registered a phenomenal growth during the last few years.
 The industry attracted 260 Billion Dollars of investment in Pakistan, almost half of which were in the
form of FDI.
 All these things contribute towards an exceptional Export Growth by 35%.

2. Literature Review
In spite of such a great importance of liquidity-profitability trade-off, it is strange that so long it could not draw
towards as much mindfulness of the researchers as it desires. A brief review of the different researchers’ work is
attempted to site in the following paragraphs.

Survey of working capital management shows that earlier research efforts attempted to develop the models for
optimal liquidity and cash balances for the firms so that their liquidity will not get sacrificed. In this category
Owolabi, S. A. (2011) has investigated the relationship between liquidity and profitability in selected quoted
companies in Nigeria by using Correlation and regression analysis to examine the nature and extent of the
relationship between the variables and determine whether any cause and effect relationship between them.

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Similarly Dr. Amalendu Bhunia (2011) tried to identify the effectiveness of working capital in terms of short-
term liquidity of the private sector steel companies in India and the results reveales that correlation and
regression results are significantly positive. Thus, firm manger should concern on inventory and receivables in
the purpose of creating shareholder wealth. So he emphasize that managers must focus on the inventory,
receivables and payables for the purpose of managing the liquidity for a firm.

Amalendu Bhunia (2012) examined the impact of liquidity on profitability of the FMCG companies in India by
using Normality test, descriptive statistics, correlation statistics and linear regressions and results show that
there are relationships exist between variables of the liquidity management and profitability of the firm.

Profitability and Liquidity have been discussed and analyzed extensively in the literature because the immediate
survival of a business depends on its liquidity, its long-term survival; growth and expansion depend on
profitability. Thus, liquidity ensures short-term survival, and profitability ensures long-term survival. Both are,
therefore, important for any company to survive.

Renato Schwambach Vieira (2010) analyzes the relationship between liquidity and profitability in a group of
companies comprising the major airline carriers in the world between 2005 and 2008. The results show a
significant positive correlation between liquidity and profitability in the short run, contradicting the main
literature. For the medium run it was confirmed that the relationship is positive. It was observed that in almost
2/3 of the cases, companies with a bad indicator of profitability or liquidity faced a deterioration of the other
indicator. Thus and equilibrium between liquidity and profitability seems to be a condition for financial stability
over the medium run. Finally, it was observed that during the year of 2008 companies with a high liquidity
indicator had a much better performance than the less liquid companies.

Similarly, Mihir Dash and Rani Hanuman proposed a goal programming model for working capital
management. The results of the model suggest that working capital, and inventory in particular, should be
streamlined to profitability. In particular, the relationship between different components of working capital,
fixed assets, sales, and profits needs to be examined in greater depth and modeled accordingly to achieve the
desired targets of profitability.

Farzaneh Nassirzadeh, conducted the research on Tehran Stock Exchange to study the relationship between
traditional and modern indices of liquidity with profitability of companies and correlation between these indices

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was also studied. The research findings show that there is a correlation between traditional and modern indices
of liquidity, but this correlation is weak, suggesting that the information content of these ratios are different.
Thus, it is recommended to use modern indices as complement.

Mathias Bernard Baveld (2012) investigated how publicly listed firms in The Netherlands manage their working
capital. The working capital policies of firms during the non-crisis period of 2004-2006 and during the Financial
Crisis of 2008 and 2009 are compared. This comparison investigates whether companies have to change their
non-crisis working capital policies when the economy is in a recession. The results indicate that in crisis
periods, in the short run, firms don’t need to change their working capital policy concerning accounts payables
and inventory, if their goal is to enhance profit because during a crisis accounts receivables have a positive
effect on a firm’s profitability for the next year. On the long-term, benefits of aiding customers during crisis
periods are likely to grow, because future sales will still be there.

David M. Mathuva (2010) conducted the study to check the impact of Working Capital management on firm’s
profitability by using a panel data for the periods 1993 to 2008. He used a sample of 30 firms which are listed
on Narobi Stock Exchanges and found that management can create value for their shareholders by increasing
inventory, reducing the number of days account receivables and by making late payments to their creditors. He
also pointed out that firms can increase its profitability by shortening the cash conversion cycle.

Dr. Parmil Kumar (2012) found that there is a tradeoff between liquidity and profitability by taking 5 years data
of Bharti Airtel Ltd, for the periods 2006 to 2011. He focuses on managing current assets and current liabilities
so that it will have to make a good influence on profitability. The bottom line is to establish equilibrium
between liquidity and profitability.

Yusuf Aminu (2012) investigated the relationship between liquidity and profitability for working capital
management in Nigeria’s manufacturing sector by using different liquidity and profitability ratios. He focused
on balancing the liquidity profitability so that optimum management of working capital would obtain. Vivek
Sharma (2011) did an analysis on liquidity, risk and profitability conditions of Maruti India Ltd by making rank
correlation and report that company is earning good profit with moderate liquidity and high risk.

Dr. Amalendu Bhunia (2011) studies short term liquidity management perspective of working capital
management of private sector steel companies in India by using panel data for the periods 1997 to 2006 and
reports that there is a relationship between liquidity and profitability. He finds that firm manger should concern
on inventory and receivables in the purpose of creating shareholder wealth.

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Sebastian Ofumbia UREMADU (2012) studied working capital management, liquidity and corporate
profitability among quoted firms in Nigeria from Productive Sector by using cross-sectional time series data
covering 2005-2006. He takes all components of working capital as substitute of liquidity to measure their
impact on profitability of Nigerian’s firms. Mohamed Zaheeruddin, (2013) studied liquidity profitability
tradeoff of multinational corporations by considering inventory management practices and finds that all
multinational companies have to survive harder than the national corporations to meet the competitive era.

Qasim Saleem (2011) studied the impacts of liquidity ratios on profitability by using a panel data for the periods
2004 to 2009 of 26 firms which traded their securities on Karachi Stock Exchange. Nasruddin Zainudin (2006)
has conducted a study on the liquidity profitability trade off to get evidence from Malaysian SMEs by using data
extracted from the annual financial statements, from 1999 to 2003, of 145 SMEs in the manufacturing sector.
The study focuses to find out the liquidity level to confirm that the liquidity level vary from industry to industry
and even from one company to another depending on that company’s size.

Abdul Raheman and Mohamed Nasr (2007) studied the impact of different components of working capital on
firm’s liquidity and profitability by taking the sample of 94 Pakistani companies listed on Karachi Stock
Exchange from 1994 to 2004 and report a negative relationship between components of working capital and
corporate profitability. Bordereau, E. and Graham, C. (2010) analyze the impact of liquid asset holdings on bank
profitability for a sample of large U.S. and Canadian banks (1997 to 2009) and results indicate that profitability
has been improved for banks (In US and Canada) that hold more liquid assets, however, there is a point at which
holding further liquid assets diminishes a banks’ profitability, all else equal.

Bourke (1989) finds some evidence of a positive relationship between liquid assets and bank profitability for 90
banks in Europe, North America and Australia from 1972 to 1981, while Molyneux and Thornton (1992) and
Goddard, et al (2004) find mixed evidence of a negative relationship between the two variables for European
banks in the late 1980s and mid‐1990s, respectively. Mujere.M, and Younus.S (2009) finds that The statutory
reserve requirements(SLR) and the high NSD certificate interest rates leads to higher interest rate spreads in the
banking sector in Bangladesh. So its basically a financial puzzle and this study is an effort to solve that financial
puzzle.

Research Hypotheses
On the basis of literature, the following hypotheses are operationalized as a basis for analysis and conclusion on
the relationship between liquidity and profitability.
H1: There is a relationship between liquidity and profitability in a business organization.

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H2: Liquidity and profitability affect each other in a business organization.

3. Methodology
This study employs Panel Regression to examine the nature and extent of the relationship between liquidity
and profitability in the selected companies, and to determine whether any cause and effect relationship exists
between the variables. Corporate liquidity is examined from two distinct dimensions: static or dynamic views
(Lancaster et al., 1999; Farris and Hutchison, 2002; and Moss and Stine, 1993). The static view is based on
commonly used traditional ratios, such as current ratio and quick ratio, calculated from the balance sheet
amounts. These ratios measure liquidity at a given point in time. Dynamic view measures ongoing liquidity
from the firm’s operations as a dynamic measure of the time it takes a firm to go from cash outflow to cash
inflow which is measured by cash conversion cycle.
However, this study examines liquidity from a comparative static dimension because the analysis is based on
Panel data extracted from BSA and the accounts of the companies for the relevant period. The
Correlation analysis technique is used to determine the nature and extent of the relationship, while Panel
regression analysis technique is used to determine whether cause-and- effect relationship exists between
liquidity and profitability.
The Time period of the study is from1998 to2010. The study uses the yearly cross sectional data,i.e. from the 5
most important sectors of Pakistani Economy and checks the changes in the Liquidity and Profitability
positions of the firms in those sectors across the time and that will give rise to the creation of Panel Data and the
study uses the yearly data for this study instead of using the daily or monthly data because if we go for that
then there would be many variations in that because of the ever changing and dynamic environment of
Pakistan’s Government & Economy.

Econometric Model
Following Econometrics models were used to evaluate the results:
Equation for Panel Regression:
The basic Equation which we run without capturing any effect was
ROA= β0 + β1CR + β2QR + β3DER + β4ICR + β5ITR + β6DTR + β7CTR+ Β8FS + ∈𝒕

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∈𝒕 = unexplained variables or error term.
In this study CR = Current Ratio, QR = Quick Ratio, SQR = Super Quick Ratio, ICR = Interest Coverage
Ratio, ITR = Inventory Turnover Ratio, DTR = Debtors Turnover Ratio, CTR = Creditors Turnover Ratio,
DER = Debt to Equity Ratios will be taken as independent variables.

And ROA was taken as dependent Variable. Where, β1, β2, β3, β4, β5, β6, β7, β8 are the linear parameters of
the ROA line While the size of the firm was taken as Control Variable.

Equation showing Industrial Effect:

To capture the effect of Industry the study develops the four dummy Variables because in this study we
have selected the five sectors and model becomes:
ROA=β0+ β2QR + β3DER + β4ICR + β5ITR + β6DTR + β7CTR+ β8FS + β9D1 + β10D2 +
β11D3 + β12D4 + ∈𝒕
D1, D2, D3, D4 were taken as dummy variables.
Equation showing Time Effect:
Then to capture the effect of Time we have created 10 dummy variables because we have taken the data of 11
years and the equation becomes:
ROA=β0+ β1QR + β2DER + β3ICR + β4ITR + β5DTR + β6CTR+ β7FS + β8D01 + β9D02
+ β10D03 + β11D04 + β12D05 + β13D06 + β14D07+ β15D08 + β16D09 + β17D10 + ∈𝒕
D01, D02, D03, D04, D05, D06, D07, D08, D09, D10 was taken as dummy variables.

Equation showing Combined Effect:

Then at the end, the study combines all the dummy variables with our explanatory variables and run the Panel
Regression and regresses all of those on the dependent variable of ROA and check the Results after applying
that Equation.
ROA=β0+ β1QR + β2DER + β3ICR + β4ITR + β5DTR + β6CTR+ 7D1 + β8D2 + β9D3 + β10D4 + β11D01
+ β12D02 + β13D03 + β14D04 + β15D05 + β16D06 + β17D07+ β18D08 + β19D09 + β20D10 + ∈𝒕
D1, D2, D3, D4, D01, D02, D03, D04, D05, D06, D07, D08, D09, D10 were taken as dummy variables to
capture the effect of Industry and Time as well.
Descriptive Statistics

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The results show that all the variables are significant as the values of skewness is less than 1 for almost all
the variables except Debt to Equity Ratio and Inventory Turnover, which shows the value greater than 2 and the
results of Kurtosis are also less than 3 for all the variables except DER, DTR, ICR, and ITR & Creditors
Turnover Ratios.
Descriptive Statistics
N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Dev Skewness Kurtosis
Std. Std.
Statistic Statistic Statistic Statistic Statistic Statistic Statistic
Error Error
ROA 460 -32.90 49.70 6.4725 12.0025 .587 .114 1.239 .227
ROE 460 -73.71 110.35 12.2983 28.3963 .066 .114 1.198 .227
CR 460 .13 317.40 57.9659 74.1124 1.141 .114 .426 .227
QR 460 .00 307.40 50.7210 67.8717 1.306 .114 1.078 .227
DER 460 .00 614.60 78.4274 120.5401 2.104 .114 4.684 .227
ICR 460 -110.70 52.96 1.2191 15.4048 -2.935 .114 19.647 .227
ITR 460 .00 251.82 20.9564 41.3790 3.763 .114 15.190 .227
DTR 460 .00 59.32 8.9440 10.3456 1.680 .114 3.239 .227
CTR 460 .00 2.11 0.2598 0.3676 2.192 .114 5.641 .227
FS 460 2.23 11.65 7.8308 1.7110 -.320 .114 .272 .227

Correlation Matrix
The result of Correlation Matrix shows that there could be the mistake of Multicollinearity as all
the Independent Variables shows the negative or simple positive relationship with one another.
While the Quick ratio is the only variable which shows almost perfect positive Correlation with the
Current Ratio, so from there we thought that there could be that mistake of Multicollnearity. So to check that
mistake in the next step we have taken the Current Ratio as Dependent Variable and then regress it over the rest
of the independent variables and check the value of R² after running the Auxiliary Regression.

ROA ROE CR QR DER ICR ITR DTR CTR FS

ROA 1 .884 .209 .180 -.114 .289 .020 -.099 .294 .167

ROE .884 1 .189 .164 -.017 .242 .065 -.064 .162 .251

CR .209 .189 1 .972* .355 .342 -.107 .081 -.157 -.151

QR .180 .164 0.972* 1 .350 .308 -.088 .086 -.256 -.128

DER -.114 -.017 .355 .350 1 .112 .012 -.038 -.256 -.065
ICR .289 .242 .342 .308 .112 1 .017 -.066 .094 .034
ITR .020 .065 -.107 -.088 .012 .017 1 .070 -.226 .319

DTR -.099 -.064 .081 .086 -.038 -.066 .070 1 .014 -.068

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 CTR .294 .162 -.157 -.256 -.256 .094 -.226 .014 1 -.128

FS .167 .251 -.151 -.128 -.065 .034 .319 -.068 -.128 1

Checking for Multicolinearity

Before checking the error of multicollinearity, the study runs the regression with the existing variables and then
check the value of R² so that later it could be compared with the R² of that regression model, when CR is taken
as Dependent variable.

Adjusted R Std. Error of Durbin-

Model R R Square Square the Estimate Watson
1 .525a .275 .263 10.30658 1.704

Since the results of Correlations show that there exists, an error of multicollineariy, to detect that error,
Current ratio is taken as dependent variable and results show that regressor is in a linear combination of other
regressor and it is affecting the other variables as well. So after applying the regression, the study reports R² of
.956 that is greater than the first one which was .275. So from that it is pretty sure that there exists that problem
so study exclude the current ratio from econometric model.

Adjusted R Std. Error of

Model R R Square Square the Estimate Durbin-Watson
2 978a .956 .955 15.69306 1.317

Pannel Regression
After excluding the Current Ratio and running the regression, the study reports that all the variables CR, QR,
ICR, IT and FS are significantly contributing towards the profitability of the firm and their coefficients Beta as
statistically significant and F statistics are greater than the tabulated one so we will reject the null hypothesis
that there is no correlation between the liquidity and profitability and they don’t reinforce each other.
While the Debtors turn over and Debt to Equity ratios are the only variables which have the negative co
efficient of betas showing that they are negatively contributing towards the profitability of the firms because
when the DTR increased then the risk of the firm is also increased and that contributed negatively towards
the profits of the firm by increasing the Required return by investors and ultimately the WACC and
secondly when we tight the credit policy and start collecting our debtors with more speed then that leads
towards the loss of sales and ultimately leading towards the decrease in the profitability. So that’s why these

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two ratios show the negative signs.
R² is .275 which shows that 27% of the variation in the ROA is brought by our explanatory variables. Further
their VIF is also less than 2 for all the variables which shows that our results are quite significant.

Unstandardized Standardized Collinearity

Coefficients Coefficients Statistics
Std.
B Error Beta T Sig. Tolerance VIF
(Constant) -9.335 2.626 -3.554 .000

QR .056 .008 .319 6.718 .000 .711 1.406

DER -.014 .004 -.140 -3.197 .001 .839 1.192
ICR .121 .034 .156 3.582 .000 .846 1.182
ITR .021 .013 .072 1.645 .101 .836 1.196
DTR -.136 .047 -.117 -2.870 .004 .960 1.041
CTR 12.083 1.469 .370 8.225 .000 .792 1.263
FS 1.472 .302 .210 4.875 .000 .865 1.156

After considering the effect of Industry

Then after excluding the Current ratio, the study adds the 4 dummies to capture the effect of the industry as
the study has taken the 5 sectors and after running the regression, the study finds that the previous values of
Coefficients of Variables don’t get change after adding dummies so that shows that our model is good.
Results report the value of R² is .397 which shows that almost 40% change in the ROA is explained by the
change in these Explanatory variables. The results of all the variables in T statistics are also more than 1.97
except DTR and DER and D2 and D4 and the results of P values also shows the significant results i.e. less than
.05.

Unstandardized Standardized
Coefficients Coefficients
B Std. Error Beta t Sig.
(Constant) -8.376 2.847 -2.942 .003

QR .052 .008 .293 6.600 .000

DER -.013 .004 -.126 -3.105 .002
ICR .125 .031 .160 4.010 .000
ITR .022 .012 .077 1.897 .058
DTR -.242 .056 -.209 -4.313 .000

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 CTR 10.956 1.500 .336 7.306 .000
FS 1.537 .302 .219 5.091 .000
D1 -4.139 1.640 -.139 -2.523 .012
D2 7.385 1.588 .260 4.650 .000
D3 -3.260 1.746 -.118 -1.868 .062
D4 -1.010 2.014 -.032 -.502 .616

After capturing the Effect of Time

After that to capture the effect of the time we have created the ten dummies as we have taken the data of 11
years. After running the regression the again almost all the variables show the significant results except
DTR and DER and D02, DO5, D08 and D09 and D10. R² becomes .382. And again DTR and DER are showing
the negative beta coefficients.
Unstandardized Standardized
Coefficients Coefficients
B Std. Error Beta t Sig.
(Constant) -13.138 3.187 -4.122 .000

QR .071 .013 .401 5.566 .000

DER -.007 .006 -.069 -1.190 .235
ICR .154 .034 .197 4.532 .000
ITR .014 .013 .047 1.036 .301
DTR -.116 .047 -.100 -2.477 .014
CTR 12.233 1.519 .375 8.051 .000
FS 1.515 .298 .216 5.084 .000
D01 -1.997 3.167 -.050 -.630 .529
D02 .484 3.313 .012 .146 .884
D03 -1.232 2.983 -.029 -.413 .680
D04 2.350 3.051 .058 .770 .442
D05 1.083 2.883 .027 .375 .707
D06 9.211 2.309 .233 3.990 .000
D07 6.365 2.340 .155 2.720 .007
D08 3.341 2.339 .081 1.429 .154
D09 .519 2.375 .012 .219 .827
D10 1.350 2.375 .031 .568 .570
After capturing both the Effects of Industry & Time
Then in the last, the study combines all the dummies to capture both the effect of Industry and Time as
well and report the following results. The model’s R² is .442 which means 44% change in the ROA is
explained by our explanatory variables and again DTR and DER shows the negative Beta coefficients
Hina Mushtaq, IJSRM volume 3 issue 5 May 2015 [www.ijsrm.in] Page 2837
which means they are negatively contributing towards the Profitability of the firms and rests of the variables
are contributing positively.
Dummies p values are also significant results, i.e. less than 0.05 except D02, D05, DO9 and D10 while their
T values also shows significant results, i.e. greater than 1.97 except DTR, DER, D1, D03, and D09. Durbon
Weston is 1.750 and F= 16.513 which is greater than tabulated figure (5.32) so we reject the entire null
hypothesis and there exists a relationship between the liquidity and profitability and they reinforce each other.

Unstandardized Standardized
Coefficients Coefficients
B Std. Error Beta t Sig.
(Constant) -12.591 3.368 -3.739 .000
QR .064 .012 .364 5.458 .000
DER -.007 .005 -.068 -1.274 .203
ICR .155 .031 .199 4.971 .000
ITR .018 .012 .062 1.495 .136
DTR -.194 .056 -.167 -3.459 .001
CTR 11.215 1.563 .344 7.177 .000
FS 1.662 .300 .237 5.546 .000
D1 -3.646 1.602 -.123 -2.275 .023
D2 7.219 1.556 .254 4.640 .000
D3 -2.840 1.720 -.103 -1.652 .099
D4 -1.959 1.981 -.062 -.989 .323
D01 -1.681 2.931 -.042 -.574 .566
D02 .757 3.052 .018 .248 .804
D03 -1.497 2.749 -.035 -.545 .586
D04 2.102 2.810 .052 .748 .455
D05 .898 2.656 .022 .338 .735
D06 8.303 2.139 .210 3.882 .000
D07 5.388 2.158 .131 2.497 .013
D08 2.717 2.145 .066 1.267 .206
D09 -.189 2.179 -.004 -.087 .931
D10 .576 2.176 .013 .265 .791
Industrial Effect:
Equation for Paper Board & Products

ROA = -8.38 + 0.05QR - 0.01DER + 0.12ICR + 0.02ITR - 0.24DTR + 10.96CTR + 1.54FS

Equation for Food Sector

ROA = -12.52 + 0.05QR - 0.01DER + 0.12ICR + 0.02ITR - 0.24DTR + 10.96CTR + 1.54FS

Hina Mushtaq, IJSRM volume 3 issue 5 May 2015 [www.ijsrm.in] Page 2838
Equation for Chemical Sector

ROA = -0.99 + 0.05QR - 0.01DER + 0.12ICR + 0.02ITR - 0.24DTR + 10.96CTR + 1.54FS

Equation for Cement Sector

ROA = -11.64 + 0.05QR - 0.01DER + 0.12ICR + 0.02ITR - 0.24DTR + 10.96CTR + 1.54FS

Equation for Fuel & Energy Sector

ROA = -9.39 + 0.05QR - 0.01DER + 0.12ICR + 0.02ITR - 0.24DTR + 10.96CTR + 1.54F

Time Effect:
Equation for Year 2001

ROA = -15.14 + 0.07QR - 0.01DER + 0.15ICR + 0.01ITR - 0.12DTR + 12.23CTR + 1.52FS

Equation for Year 2002

ROA = -12.65 + 0.07QR - 0.01DER + 0.15ICR + 0.01ITR - 0.12DTR + 12.23CTR + 1.52FS

Equation for Year 2003

ROA = -14.37 + 0.07QR - 0.01DER + 0.15ICR + 0.01ITR - 0.12DTR + 12.23CTR + 1.52FS

Equation for Year 2004

ROA = -10.79 + 0.07QR - 0.01DER + 0.15ICR + 0.01ITR - 0.12DTR + 12.23CTR + 1.52FS

Equation for Year 2005

ROA = -12.06 + 0.07QR - 0.01DER + 0.15ICR + 0.01ITR - 0.12DTR + 12.23CTR + 1.52FS

Equation for Year 2006

ROA = -3.93 + 0.07QR - 0.01DER + 0.15ICR + 0.01ITR - 0.12DTR + 12.23CTR + 1.52FS

Equation for Year 2007

ROA = -6.77 + 0.07QR - 0.01DER + 0.15ICR + 0.01ITR - 0.12DTR + 12.23CTR + 1.52FS

Equation for Year 2008

ROA = -9.80 + 0.07QR - 0.01DER + 0.15ICR + 0.01ITR - 0.12DTR + 12.23CTR + 1.52FS

Equation for Year 2009

ROA = -12.62 + 0.07QR - 0.01DER + 0.15ICR + 0.01ITR - 0.12DTR + 12.23CTR + 1.52FS

Equation for Year 2010

ROA = -11.79 + 0.07QR - 0.01DER + 0.15ICR + 0.01ITR - 0.12DTR + 12.23CTR + 1.52FS

Equation for Year 2011

ROA = -13.14 + 0.07QR - 0.01DER + 0.15ICR + 0.01ITR - 0.12DTR + 12.23CTR + 1.52FS

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Ramsey Reset
The study started with 8 variables and end up with 7, it seems appropriate to check whether the estimated
model is correctly specified. So Ramsey’s Regression Specification Error Test is a good measure to check the
misspecification of the estimated model. After running regression our F Statistics Results are .6791 which
should be greater than .05 so that shows that our model is not misspesified.
Omitted Variables: Squares of fitted values
Value Df Probability
t-statistic 0.414009 451 0.6791
F-statistic 0.171403 (1, 451) 0.6791
Likelihood
ratio 0.17479 1 0.6759
Conclusion
Working capital management is an important part in firm financial management decisions. The optimization of
working capital management is could be achieved by firm that manage the tradeoff between profitability and
liquidity. The purpose of this study is to investigate the liquidity management efficiency and liquidity-
profitability relationship. The results of this study found that correlation and regression results are
significantly positive associated to the firm profitability. All of our variables i.e. Inventory Turnover,
Creditors Turn over, Quick Ratio, interest Coverage Ratio, Firm Size are contributing positively towards
the profitability of the firm which are measured by Return on Assets Ratio while the 2 Ratios i.e.
Debt to Equity and Debtors Turnover are negatively correlated to ROA because when the element of Debt
is increased in the Capital Structure of a company then the Risk of the Firm is also increased which
ultimately leads towards the increased Weighted Average Cost of the Capital (WACC) and when
DTR increases that means firm’s tight their credit policy and that leads towards the decreased sales and
ultimately decreased profitability of the firm. Thus, firm manger should concern on inventory and
receivables in the purpose of creating shareholder wealth.

Suggestions and Recommendations

In order to solve the problems relating to the study of liquidity management, a lot of modifications are
necessary. Some of the recommendations have been made.

 Overall inventory management is required to be progressed by way of proper application of

inventory control system, such as, EOQ, JIT, ABC analysis, etc. and improvement of their sales
management so as to reduce stock piling of finished goods.
 Panel Regression indicates that there is a high relationship exists between liquidity and profitability.

Hina Mushtaq, IJSRM volume 3 issue 5 May 2015 [www.ijsrm.in] Page 2840
  On the whole, receivable management is not good in most of the companies. Solution to the enormous
problem of receivables management, an effective professional coordination between sales, production
and finance departments is called for. On time billing, timely reminders to defaulting customers and
immediate action should be ensured. The investment in loans and advances should be minimized to
the extent possible as this ratio ultimately leads towards the decreased profitability of the firms.
 Firms should focus on the Spontaneous Financing instead of focusing on the Debt which is cost
free.
 The firm should not increase their collection process to that extent that it leads towards the lost sales as
it directly affects the profitability of the firms. So a balance should be there.

Limitations of the Study

The study suffers from certain limitations which are mentioned below.
 As the study is purely based on the companies taken from the selected 5 sectors, so the results of the
study are only indicative and not conclusive.
 Accounting ratios used in the study are taken from BSA; no complications would be there if study
directly uses the data from the annual reports of the companies.

References
The Study finds the following research Papers:
Mathuva, D. (2009). The influence of working capital management components on corporate profitability: a
survey on Kenyan listed firms. Research Journal of Business Management, 3(1), 1-11.
Bhunia, A., Khan, I., & MuKhuti, S. (2011). A study of managing liquidity. Journal of Management Research,
3(2).
Sharma, V. (2001). Liquidity, Risk and Profitability Analysis: A Case Study of Maruti India Ltd.
Uremadu, S. O., Egbide, B. C., & Enyi, P. E. (2012). Working Capital Management, Liquidity and
Corporate Profitability Among Quoted Firms in Nigeria: Evidence from the Productive Sector.
Zaheeruddin, M. Inventory Management Practices, Liquidity And Profitability of Multi National
Corporation’s: A Case Study of Siemen’s Electricals Asia.
Saleem, Q., & Rehman, R. U. (2011). Impact of Liquidity Ratios on Profitability. Interdisciplinary
Journal of Research in Business, 1(7), 95-98.
Zainudin, N. (2006). Liquidity-profitability trade-off: is it evident among Malaysian SMEs?.
International Journal of Management Studies (IJMS), 13(2), 107-118.

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Raheman, A., & Nasr, M. (2007). Working capital management and profitability–case of Pakistani
firms. International Review of Business Research Papers, 3(1), 279-300.
Hossain, M. M. (2012). LIQUIDITY AND PROFITABILITY STUDY OF STATE OWNED
COMMERCIAL BANKS (SCBs), PRIVATE COMMERCIAL BANKS (PCBs) AND FOREIGN
COMMERCIAL BANKS (FCBs)-BANGLADESH PERSPECTIVE (Doctoral dissertation, Asian
Institute of Technology).
Schilling, G. (1996). Working capital’s role in maintaining corporate liquidity. TMA journal, 16(5),
4-7.
Bruinshoofd, A., & Kool, C. (2002). The determinants of corporate liquidity in the Netherlands.
Michalski, G. (2008). Liquidity or Profitability: Financial Effectivness of Investments in Working
Capital. Evropské finanční systémy 2008, 129.
Wei, J. D., Ferguson, M., & Chichernea, D. (2011). Deal Risk, Liquidity Risk, and the Profitability
of Risk Arbitrage. Michael F. and Chichernea, Doina, Deal Risk, Liquidity Risk, and the
Profitability of Risk Arbitrage (May 17, 2011).
Owolabi, S. A., Obiakor, R. T., & Okwu, A. T. (2011). Investigating Liquidity-Profitability
Relationship in Business Organizations: A Study of Selected Quoted Companies in
Nigeria. British Journal of Economics, Finance and Management Sciences, 1(2), 11-29.
Bhunia, A., Bagchi, B., & Khamrui, B. The Impact of Liquidity on Profitability: A Case Study of
FMCG Companies in India.

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