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Activity 16 - Vodafone Debtors' Turnover Ratio

Let's repeat these calculations but for Vodafone. Go to the database, find the information you need and calculate the debtors' turnover ratios for them.

Did you get this?

Vodafone is consistent... consistently terrible when compared with the Carphone Warehouse. Can it really be true that a mobile telecommunications business waits three months for its debtors to pay their accounts? After all, the demand for mobile phones is such that Vodafone can insist on its payment terms can't they?

Here's some additional information taken from Vodafone's annual report that will help us to sort this mess out!

 20022001
Debtors due within one year:£m£m
Trade debtors3,3891,852
.........
Total Debtors6,0953,701

Do what the financial analyst did for the Carphone Warehouse and rework the debtors' turnover ratio and find the length of time that trade debtors take to pay their accounts ... is it more sensible and realistic than three months?

Put the data into the same format as before:

Vodafone31 Mar 200231 Mar 2001
 £m£m
Turnover22,84515,004
TRADE Debtors due within one year3,3891,852

Debtors Turnover Ratio for Vodafone
31 March 20023,389
22,845 ÷ 365
54.15 days
31 March 20011,852
15,004 ÷ 365
45.05 days

A lot better and much nearer to what we should expect and ... still a lot longer than the Carphone Warehouse. Try to find out what is it about Vodafone that makes their Trade debtors payment terms so generous when compared with the Carphone Warehouse.

Remember that we talked about the liquidity of debtors when we discussed the acid test ratio. Now we can see that the Carphone Warehouse's debtors are not that liquid.

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