Comparative analysis of working capital management in Turkish apparel industry in terms of firm sizes

Abstract

Working capital, which businesses need to carry out their daily activities and pay their short-term debts, also significantly affects the profitability of companies. The Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 forced countries to close during the periods when the disease increased, which led to almost cessation of domestic and foreign trade. Many enterprises with weak liquidity had to close their short-term debts. With the pandemic, working capital has become much more important for enterprises. In this study, apparel enterprises operating in Turkey and whose financial statement data can be accessed through the Central Bank were classified according to their size and the liquidity ratios of these companies between 2011–2020 were analysed. In the last 10 years, it has been determined that especially large and medium-sized enterprises have strengthened their liquidity and significantly increased their cash and cash equivalents. However, such an increase was not observed in the cash power of small enterprises. In addition, the factors affecting the profitability of the companies were analysed in the study, and it was determined that the decrease in the Financial Leverage and Debt to Equity ratios in large enterprises increased the profitability. In medium-sized enterprises, it has been determined that the increase in current ratio and receivables collection periods increased profitability. It has been determined that the only significant ratio that affects profitability in small-scale enterprises is the current ratio