Authors: Parakala Nithin Goud, Dr. S. Narender
Abstract: Finance is the lifeblood of every business enterprise, and the manner in which funds are procured and deployed determines its financial health. Conventional statements — the balance sheet and the profit and loss account — present the position and performance of a business but do not directly reveal the movement of funds between two accounting dates. This article presents a study of the fund flow position of Zuari Cement Limited, a leading South Indian cement manufacturer and part of the Heidelberg Materials group, for the five-year period 2020-21 to 2024-25. The study is based entirely on secondary data drawn from the company's published annual reports, supplemented by journals, textbooks, and authentic websites relating to the cement industry. Adopting an analytical and descriptive research design, the article prepares schedules of changes in working capital, computes funds from operations through the adjusted profit and loss account, and constructs statements of sources and applications of funds, supported by trend analysis and liquidity ratios. The objectives are to examine the conceptual framework of the fund flow statement, analyse changes in working capital, identify the sources and applications of funds, evaluate the efficiency of fund management, and offer suitable suggestions for improvement. The analysis reveals that funds from operations remained positive throughout the study period and constituted the largest source of funds, supplemented by long-term borrowings, while the purchase of fixed assets dominated the applications of funds, reflecting the capital-intensive nature of the cement industry. The net working capital of the company declined in three of the four years, and the liquidity ratios remained below conventional standards, indicating pressure on the short-term financial position.
DOI: http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21408680
