Working capital management and shareholder's wealth creation: evidence from manufacturing companies listed in Oman

Working capital management (WCM) is a key factor in the success of manufacturing companies when credit is restricted, as is the case in the current climate caused by the COVID-19 crisis. The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between working capital management, earnings quality, sales growth, and shareholders' wealth of listed manufacturing firms in Oman. The study used balanced panel data of 31 manufacturing firms listed on the Muscat Stock Exchange (MSE) from 2004 to 2019. The study reveals that days in working capital, cash conversion cycle, payable deferred period, sales growth, and earnings quality positively affects shareholder's wealth proxied by the return on assets, whereas, days in working capital have a negative effect on return on assets. Similarly, working capital management was found to have no influence on the earnings per share (EPS). It was also documented that sales growth and earnings quality positively impacted EPS. The study concluded that improving sales growth and earnings quality would result in shareholders' wealth creation. The results are helpful to manufacturing companies to improve their business performance and social welfare through a direct and indirect chain of raising investments, pay, and production scales. This study adds knowledge to the body of literature on working capital management, earnings quality, and sales growth in the areas of methodology, the impact of WCM components on manufacturing firms' shareholder value, and socioeconomic evidence from Oman.