Profitability effects of cash conversion cycle: Evidence from Turkish companies

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of cash conversion cycle and its single components, specifically accounts collection period, inventory turnover in days and accounts payable period, on firm profitability as measured by operating income and stock market return by using pooled panel analysis for the period of 2001-2010. Besides, the possible effects of group affiliation on the impact of CCC and its components on firm profitability are also investigated. The findings suggest that shortening of CCC and its single components, including accounts payable period, improve firm profitability in terms of both accounting and market measures of performance. The findings also indicate that both the affiliated and the unaffiliated firms can enhance firm performance in terms of both performance measures through shortening their CCCs, this effect is stronger for unaffiliated firms and hence working capital management seems to be more important for them.