Adaptation of logistics companies to operation under the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has made the problem of companies adapting to operate under restrictions more acute. Logistics companies were the special focus of researchers because of the specifics of the COVID-19 pandemic. The article aims to determine the features of the management of logistics companies to adapt them against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. The methodological background of the analysis is the analysis of financial ratios — Total Revenue Growth; Capital Expenditure Growth; Working Capital Growth; Debt/ Equity ratio; Equity/Total Assets, as well as the case method — a description of the business situation of the company in the sample of JD Logistics, which have successfully adapted to changes against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic. Analysis of the financial statements of the surveyed companies revealed several trends in their financial management during the pandemic — a decline in net income from sales after the pandemic; an increase of capital investments in 2019-2021; reduction of working capital growth rates after 2019; growth of the debt-to-equity ratio after the beginning of the pandemic; maintaining the equity to assets ratio at a stable level in 2019-2021. A set of factors influencing the exogenous and endogenous environment is identified in support of the logistics companies adaptation programme under the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions by the following blocks: “government action and regulatory policy”; “support of the company’s operation”; “company finance”; “customer relations”; “relations with suppliers”. Prospects for further research involve studying financial and market factors influencing the practice of adaptation of logistics companies in a pandemic, as well as studying the problem of adaptation of companies in the post-crisis phase after the COVID-19 pandemic.