Working Capital Strategy of Walmart# Short Paper

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WORKING CAPITAL STRATEGY OF WAL-MART# SHORT PAPER FIN:500 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT INSTRUCTOR: STEVE B. YOUNG MARCH 7 ,2015 Wal-Mart is by far the largest retailer in the world with more than $400 billion in store revenues in 2009, far ahead of competitors like Costco, Target, and Best Buy. Retail and consumer goods manufacturers realize significant sales through Wal-Mart's retail channel. This gives Wal-Mart leverage to influence and push suppliers to sell at cheaper prices. Wal-Mart , with its power over suppliers and strong credit quality, can thus efficiently manage its working capital. Below we briefly discuss the components of Wal-Mart's working capital, and how they together add value to the company. Rotating Inventory: Wal-Mart had an inventory of close to $34.5 billion at the end of 2008 and around $33 billion at the end of 2009. With annual sales of more than $400 billion 2009, the company is rotating about its entire inventory almost every month. The purpose of keeping inventory low is to reduce overhead costs related to inventory management as well as reduce the risk of inventory obsolescence (leading to markdowns). Freeing Up Cash For Investments : Wal-Mart currently maintains accounts payable of close to $30 billion, while its accounts receivables are close close to $4 billion. Accounts payable is the amount that Wal-Mart is yet to pay to its suppliers for the inventory it has purchased, while accounts receivable is the sales revenue that Wal-Mart is yet to collect from its customers. Wal-Mart has been able to maintain the wide difference between payable s and receivables because of its influence over the suppliers and the brand image that it has built over the years . Higher payable balance allow Wal-Mart to hold significant cash that it can invest in its own business or that can earn interest. Wal-Mart can earn more than $2 million

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