THE EFFECTS OF CREDIT MANAGEMENT ON LIQUIDITY POSITION OF A MANUFACTURING COMPANY
(A CASE STUDY OF NIGERIAN BREWERIES PLC, ENUGU STATE)
ABSTRACT
This project is written in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of Higher National Diploma.
Let me state that I was motivated to write on the topic “The effects of credit management on liquidity position of a manufacturing company” mainly because of the wealth of area of liquidity position in our society.
Looking back at the quality of lectures received on the liquidity position of companies and its procedures, I can now happily say that this work is a dream come true.
The purpose of this work is to make known to people the effect of credit management on liquidity position of a manufacturing company; and the role it plays in our society.
This project is organized in five (5) chapters.
Chapter one; Introduction and Historical background of the manufacturing company this is involved; Nigerian Breweries Plc.  It presents statements of problem, research objective, statement of hypothesis, significance of the study, limitation and scope of the study and definition of terms.
In chapter two, the existing literature in the history of the topic, historical background of credit, credit policy, trade credit, credit management, effects of credit and bad debts on profitability, determination of liquidyt, and the effects of credit on liquidity.
Chapter three, talks about the research methodology, sources of data, survey instrument, statistical treatment and analysis of data and reliability of data.
In chapter four, data analysis, analysis of questionnaire, published and unpublished data collected from the Brewery’s book, the result at a glance and test of hypothesis, interpretation of result.
Chapter five, this is where we have the summary of findings, discussion of findings, conclusion, recommendation and bibliography.
PROPOSAL
This project is written in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of Higher National Diploma.
Let me state here that I was motivated to write on the topic “The effects of credit management on liquidity position of a manufacturing company “OLY because of the wealth of area of liquidity position in our society.
Looking back at the quality of lectures received on the liquidity position of companies and it’s procedures, I can now happily say that this work is a dream come true.
The purpose of this work is to make known to people the effect of credit management on liquidity position of a manufacturing company, and the role it plays in our society.
This project is organized in five chapters.
Chapter one; Introduction and Historical background of the manufacturing company this is involved; Nigerian Breweries Plc.  It presents statements of problem, research objective, statement of hypothesis, significance of the study, limitation and scope of the study and definition of terms.
In chapter two, the existing literature in the history of the topic, historical background of credit, credit policy, trade credit, credit management, effects of credit and bad debts on profitability, determination of liquidyt, and the effects of credit on liquidity.
Chapter three, talks about the research methodology, sources of data, survey instrument, statistical treatment and analysis of data and reliability of data.
In chapter four, data analysis, analysis of questionnaire, published and unpublished data collected from the Brewery’s book, the result at a glance and test of hypothesis, interpretation of result.
Chapter five, this is where we have the summary of findings, discussion of findings, conclusion, recommendation and bibliography.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE:
1.0              Introduction
1.1       Historical background of Premier Breweries Ltd
1.2              Statement of problems
1.3              Research objective
1.4              Statement of hypothesis
1.5              Significance of the study
1.6              Limitation and scope of the study
1.7              Definition of terms
CHAPTER TWO:
2.0              Literature Review
2.1       Historical background of credit
2.2              Credit policy
2.3              Trade credit
2.4              Credit Management
2.5              Effect of credit and bad debts on profitability
2.6              Determination of liquidity
2.7              Effects of credit on liquidity
CHAPTER THREE:
3.0              Research Methodology
Methods and Procedures of collecting and analyzing data
3.1       Sources of data
3.2              Survey instruments
3.3              Statistical treatment and analysis of data
3.4              Reliability of data
CHAPTER FOUR:
4.0              Analysis of data
4.1       Analysis of questionnaire
4.2              Published and unpublished data collected form the breweries book
4.3              Result at a glance
4.4              Test of Hypothesis
4.5              Interpretation of result
CHAPTER FIVE:
5.0              Summary of findings
5.1       Discussion of findings
5.2              Conclusion
5.3              Recommendation
Bibliography
CHAPTER ONE
1.0              INTRODUCTION:
1.1       HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF NIGERIAN BREWERIES:
Nigerian Breweries Plc was founded in 1946 and since then has matured to become the absolute pinnacle of corporate Nigeria.
Today, Nigerian Breweries most recent extension, the new Ama Brewery, has taken the company into a new chapter in its history.  Nigerian Breweries: more than half a century of efforts to achieve world class status in Africa.
Over a period of slightly more than fifty (50) years, Nigerian Breweries has had success after success and has succeeded in anchoring itself firmly in the Nigerian beer market, the business community and indeed in the very hearts of Nigerian themselves.
The “Rising Star” or Nigerian Breweries has, for many decades now, been synonymous with success, quality and commitment.  The organization can boast a wide portfolio of brands that cover the three segments of the Nigerian beer market (Larger, Stout and Malt):  Star, Gulder, Heineken, Legan Extra Stout, Maltina, and Amstel malta.
In 1949, three years after its foundation, the first bottles of star were being filled on the bottling line of the brand new brewery in Lagos.
Three more breweries have been founded since then:  Aba, Kaduna and Ibadan.  Enugu brewery was acquired in 1993.
For decades, Nigerian Breweries had tow large shareholders, one of which, Heineken had always focused on providing the breweries with technical support.  In year 2000, Heineken seized the opportunity of acquiring a 54.2% majority interest in Nigerian Breweries, a decision which underlined Heineken’s commitment to the African continent.
Thanks to the process of democratization that started to emerge towards the close of the 1990s, plus the brewery’s alert anticipation of what would happen in the new situation.  Nigerian Breweries successfully managed to accelerate a growth in sales from 2.5 million hectoliter in 1998 to 5.5 million hectoliter (hi) in 2003.  This was so successful in fact that a luxury problem arose:  the demand for Star, Gulder, and Maltina started to outstrip actual supply.  Nigerian Breweries and Heineken therefore started up the LAKIE output optimization project (Lagos, Aba, Kaduna, Ibadan, Enugu).
An investment of 280 million euros in new bottling lines and brewing plants substantially increased the capacity of these breweries.
The experts were more than aware that an expansion of the existing breweries alone would be insufficient to meet the constantly increasing demand for Star and Gulder.  And because of the rose-coloured prospects in the medium term, early in 2001 Nigerian Breweries and large shareholder Heineken decided to build an ultra-modern brewery fitted with the latest innovations and the most up-to-date plant equipment.  A world-class brewery befitting a world-class company.
The entire brewing community is envious of the new Ama brewery near Enugu.  The construction of a high-tech brewery, in corporating the absolute latest in technological developments and major innovations in a rural tropical environment is a feat which has never before been achieved in the brewery industry.
Nigerian Breweries assigned Heineken Technical Services to design and develop the new brewery and to supervise the construction of this 220 million euro (30 billion naira) project.
There were frowns of concern when the first plans for Ama were presented.  Would it be possible to operate such a high-tech, state-of-the-art brewery in Nigeria?  The start-up phase has proven that it certainly is.  There are two main reasons for Ama’s success.  First of all, Nigerian Breweries invested heavily in the recruitment of young technical professionals straight from technical school and then giving them additional training.  Many key operators and all the managers were sent to Holland and Germany for this additional training, months before the first beer was brewed in Ama.  The others were given the training on recently upgraded equipment in the breweries at Lagos, Aba, Kaduna and Ibadan.
The second success factor is the actual organizational structure.  A state-of-the-art brewery such as Ama calls for a small number of highly professional employees; employees who perform at their best when working in a hierarchically small operation consisting of only three layers.  Work here is based on Total Productive Management (TPM), which for Nigerian Breweries is a new concept introduced by Wiggert Deelen, the Technical Director.
The brewery has an initial capacity of more than 300 million litres of beer and can be extended even further.  The average production is in excess of 1.1 million creates per week.  The Ama brewery uses only natural ingredients for the brewing process, the brewing water being pumped up from five wells two hundred metres below the ground.  This is excellent quality water and needs very little correction to make it suitable for brewing.
The malted barley and hops used are imported from Europe, the malted surghum and maize grits are produced by local farmers, malters and millers.  Ama brewery uses 51,000 tonnes of grain per year, 2,550 truck-loads in all.
The brewery has one brew-house that produces twelve brews of 660 hectolitres high gravity wort per day.  The brew-house is in operation 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
After the boiled wort has been cooled down it is mixed with the yeast and then pumped to the fermentation “celler”.  While the celler is the traditional name for the location where fermentation takes place, in the brewery the 30 fermentation tanks of 5,000 hectolitres each are situated in a building above ground.
The beer is subsequently transported from these tanks to the brewery’s bottling lines.
Here there are four bottling lines, two of which are reserved for the popular brand, Star, and one for Gulder.  Each bottling line has a filling capacity of 30,000 bottles per hour (60cl bottles).
The high level automation and the use of ultra-modern technical equipment make it possible for the brewery to also produce Heineken beer.  Preparations were started for the local production of Heineken beer only six months after the first brew had left the production line.
1.2              STATEMENT OF PROBLEM:
However, the research will be specifically concentrated on the problems which arise when the brewery sells beer to its customers for the purpose of receiving payment in future.
In view of these, the following critical questions demand answers:
1.         What effects does credit management have on liquidity position of Nigerian Breweries Plc, Enugu?
2.         Does credit sales reduces liquidity of this brewery?
3.         Does credit sales increase the profit level of the brewery?
4.         Is there any relationship between credit sales and liquidity position of this brewery?
5.         Has the brewery’s credit policy and credit terms any effect on its liquidity?
1.3              RESEARCH OBJECTIVE:
The primary objective of this study is to find out how effectively and efficiently the Nigerian Breweries Plc has managed its trade credit (selling been on credit to customers) to achieve optimum level of liquidity, which will in turn result in the promotion of the corporate image of the brewery and win the patronage of the public.
The project also aims at making suggestions on how the brewery, based on research findings, can improve its business through greater profitability and growth can be assured.
1.4              STATEMENT OF HYPOTHESIS:
In order to achieve the above objective, the research will make the following hypothesis:
1.         Liquidity of Nigerian Breweries Plc Enugu in a function of proper credit management.
2.         Credit sales do not reduce liquidity of Nigerian Breweries Plc Enugu.
3.         Credit sales increase the profitability of Nigerian Breweries Plc, Enugu.
1.5              SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY:
In carrying out this study, it is intended that it will be of immense help to the accounting staff of Nigerian Breweries Plc Enugu, especially its credit management officers.
This study exposes the intricacies involved in extending credit to customers.
To the customers, this study will enumerate the several benefits that can be derived by making prompt settlements of their debts.  This serves as a means of increasing organizational efficiency.
This study also is particularly important for the financial manager of a small company because a small company has relatively limited access to the capital markets, it relies heavily on trade credits for its short-term financing.
This study will be helpful guide for him.  Thus any company or individual through this study can have a reasonable knowledge of what credit transactions are all about and how it can be effectively managed to attain the much needed profit maximization.
1.6              DEFINITION OF TERMS:
Haven going this far, the researcher sees it reasonably enough to define some key terms or phrases intended to be used in this research project as they operationally apply to the problem:
The terms include:
1.         Trade Credit:
This is the quantity of goods (beer) the brewery sold to its customers with the purpose of collecting cash in the future.
2.         Credit Management:
This is the process by which the brewery properly maintains its credit sales so as to achieve optimum liquidity level.  Or, put in this way, credit management is a way of controlling the brewery’s credit granting attitude in order to maximize the brewery’s value of achieving a balance between risk and profitability.
3.         Liquidity:
This is the volume of cash the brewery has at hand and/or in the bank.  It is the actual total money (most liquid assets) the brewery has as a balance after all expenses (including cost of financial credit) have been made.
4.         Profitability:
This is the total net profit or gain made by the brewery from its selling activities (both cash and credit sales).
5.         Optimum Liquidity:
This is the level of cash (at hand and/or in the bank) at which all the brewery’s assets (resources) are efficiently employed and utilized.
6.         Company:
This is a legal person or entity created by the association of number of persons in accordance with the law for the purpose of a defined objective.
7.         Management:
This is the process of allocating an organisation’s inputs (human and economic resources) by planning, organizing, directing and controlling for the purpose of producing outputs (goods and services) directed by its customers so that organization objectives are accomplished.
8.         Credit Sales:
These are sales made by the brewery without immediate payment.
They are goods (beer) the brewery exchanged for money but with the intention to receive the cash in the future.