This study examines the effects of working capital management on the profitability of Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange for single period of year 2013. The paper adopts Returns on Equity (ROE) and Returns on Assets (ROA) as dependent variables for profitability while Current ratio (CRR), Profit before taxation to current liabilities (PCL), Operating cash flow to current liabilities (OCL) and Cash balance to total liabilities (CTL) are proxies for working capital and as well independent variables. The annual account and report of all the eleven banks quoted on the Nigerian Stock exchange as at 2013 served as the sources of data, regression was used to determine the relationship between the dependent and the independent variables, and the study finds that significant and positive relationship exist between the working capital management and the profitability of the DMBs in Nigeria. The findings indicate that the two profitability proxies are positively affected by all the elements of working capital management. The paper noted variety of components of working capital and profitability; this therefore means that banks are to ensure that appropriate management of working capital is essential for achieving its objective of maximizing the profitability.
Keywords: Deposit Money Banks, Profitability, Working Capital Management