Table 3. Croatian SMEs liquidity ratios
RATIO FORMULA 2009 2010
cash to current
liabilities ratio
cash / current liabilities - -
quick ratio (cash + accounts receivables) / current
liabilities - -
current ratio current assets / current liabilities 1,06 1,04
financial stability
ratio
noncurrent assets / (equity+ noncurrent
liabilities) 0,96 0,97
working capital current assets – current liabilities 12.671.209 7.925.155
Cash to current liabilities ratio measures how much cash (the most liquid assets) is
available to pay current obligations, if for some reason immediate payment is demanded.
The importance of its value, whether high or law, should not be over- or underestimated,
due to the fact that the amount of cash, which is taken into the calculation of this ratio,
shows only the amount of cash on a certain date – balance sheet date. The amount of
cash can be rather high. For instance, it can reflect a consequence of the last minute
cash inflow. Therefore, a quick ratio is a better liquidity measure. It is generally accepted
that this ratio should be 1 and or higher. If the ratio is 1 the receivables and cash equal
the amount of current liabilities. The current ratio is one of the most important and widely
used measures of liquidity. The entity should have current ratio greater than 2 in order to
retain the entity's good financial health and to avoid financial difficulties regarding not
payment of due current liabilities. When it comes to the Croatian SMEs, a certain margin
of safety is present. That confirms that their current ratio is slightly above 1. However,
taken into account that Croatian small and medium-sized enterprises are mostly trading
companies and that they usually do not have a significant amount of noncurrent assets, it
can be concluded that their liquidity certainly should have been higher. Working capital is
very popular and widespread measure of liquidity. Its absolute value would not bear any
significance for the comparative analysis of entities of different size. The financial stability
ratio should also be computed in order to determine the long-term aspect of liquidity
protection. The value of this ratio, which is lesser than 1, indicates that in the Croatian
SMEs only a smaller portion of current assets is financed by long-term sources. Towards
all the above presented ratios, some difficulties in ensuring a proper liquidity on a global
level need to be emphasized. If liquidity ratios are calculated for every single entity, the
management of that entity can get the valuable information concerning the liquidity and
the potential financial difficulties.
Solvency ratios represent the structure of sources of assets and relate the various
components of sources – capital and liabilities - to each other or to their total. Own
sources of assets are presented through the invested and earned capital (equity). In case
an entity does not have enough of its own resources, it raises capital from creditors,
investors, etc.
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