NOTE B10 Net working capital
- Index
- 1 NOTE B1 Net sales
- 2 NOTE B2 Underlying raw material & energy costs
- 3 NOTE B3 Underlying EBITDA
- 4 NOTE B4 Underlying depreciation & amortization
- 5 NOTE B5 Underlying net financial charges
- 6 NOTE B6 Underlying income taxes
- 7 NOTE B7 Underlying profit from discontinued operations
- 8 NOTE B8 CAPEX
- 9 NOTE B9 Free Cash Flow
- 10 NOTE B10 Net working capital
- 11 NOTE B11 Underlying net debt
- 12 NOTE B12 CFROI
- 13 NOTE B13 Research & Innovation
In € million |
|
2017 |
2016 |
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December 31 |
September 30 |
June 30 |
March 31 |
December 31 |
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|
||||||||||||||
Inventories |
a |
1,504 |
1,507 |
1,732 |
1,747 |
1,672 |
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Trade receivables |
b |
1,462 |
1,505 |
1,719 |
1,781 |
1,621 |
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Other current receivables |
c |
627 |
693 |
671 |
705 |
736 |
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Trade payables |
d |
(1,330) |
(1,206) |
(1,475) |
(1,563) |
(1,547) |
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Other current liabilities |
e |
(848) |
(882) |
(804) |
(1,078) |
(1,085) |
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Net working capital |
f = a+b+c+d+e |
1,414 |
1,617 |
1,843 |
1,592 |
1,396 |
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Sales(1) |
g |
2,765 |
2,609 |
3,188 |
3,159 |
2,933 |
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Annualized quarterly total sales(1) |
h = 4*g |
11,060 |
10,436 |
12,753 |
12,638 |
11,731 |
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Net working capital/sales(1) |
i = f / h |
12.8% |
15.5% |
14.5% |
12.6% |
11.9% |
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Year average |
j = µ(Q1,Q2,Q3,Q4) |
13.8% |
15.3% |
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Working capital outflow from continuing operations was €(160) million, of which €(140) million industrial working capital, in line with higher sales. The average working capital to sales ratio over the quarters thereby reached 13.8%, 1.5 percentage points better than the 15.3% in 2016, when the receivable on the Inovyn transaction weighed on the balance sheet.
Excluding the reclassification of Polyamides as held for sale, inventories increased in 2017 essentially to support the growing demand in high-performance polymers in automotive and smart device, fueled by new capacities, and also to provide a high level of service to customers in the context of the shale oil and gas market recovery in North America.