1. 2011 2012 ROCE = 30% ROCE = 34.58% Gearing = 32% Gearing = 28.2 % Asset turnover = 4.83 Asset turnover = 2 .38 Appendix A gave me a overall view of superstyles profitability and asset turnover. In 2012 superstyle has increased its return on capital employed by nearly 5 %. This is an advantage for the business, as it states that the business gets more money back from their money invested in 2012. Not only the ROCE has improved, the gearing ratio has decreased by 4%.
This indicator is increasing dramatically by almost 11 days in two years, because of increase of Collection and Inventory days by 16 and minor increase of Payables days by 5 (Exhibit 2 and 3). The change in Working Capital (Exhibit 4) very clearly presents the greater increase of receivables than payables, which means that the company pays faster than its customers pays to the company. Therefore, additional source of financing should be found. Further, it is worth mentioning that debt-to-equity ratio increased in this period from 0.82 to 2.65. As a result, it is very easy to understand that the main source of financing the operations of the company are loans and other type of debts (Exhibit 5 and 6).
Slashing prices as they have over the many years lures in consumers to bring in more sales. Wal-Mart’s rapid growth strategy is aggressive as well. In 2003, 425 stores were added. Then, consumers demanded Super Centers so Wal-Mart supplied 4,000 globally. This leader began its massive international expansion of stores from “2,181 in 2006 to 2,757 in 2007 and 3,121 in 2008.
The income statement’s total revenues doubled in two years due to their unusual growth. The problem to behind income statement and balance sheets stems from their company owned and franchised factories; instead of selling the donuts, the company sold machinery to make their products. The goodwill and required franchise rights doubled each year until 2004 which raised questions and concerns as to whether Krispy Kreme improperly implemented accounting treatments. Compared to the industry, Krispy Kreme was apparently a very high performing company, but we questioned the performance data. First problem we encountered were the current and quick ratios were unusually high due to the amount of cash, receivables and short term investments that Krispy Kreme held.
The current ratio was 3.6 on February 29, 1988which mean that it has plenty of cash to cover any of its current liabilities. Moreover, Interco’s capitalized leases were 19.3%. The company was financially “overcapitalized”. When looking at the company collectively, Interco also looks healthy, with sales increasing 4.04% in 1987 and 13.4% in 1988.Growth in earnings moved Interco further toward its goal of a 14-15% return on equity: 1988’s ROE of 11.7% was up from 9.7% in fiscal 1987. However, if closer examination is undertaken, it is clear to see that the general retail and apparel businesses are struggling while footwear and furniture have been flourishing.
Main factors that contributed to this trend are the increased smoking bans and consumers’ perception of moist smokeless tobacco as less risky than cigarettes for health. In 1997-1998 UST was one of the most profitable US companies with a five-year return on capital of 92.1% that was about 20% higher than the 2nd ranked firm. Financial figures for the 11-year period from 1988 to 1998 show a continuous increase in sales, earnings and cash flow with CAGR of 9%, 11% and 12% respectively (HBR 2001). To have a deeper insight in UST business risks and assessment, SWOT analysis (McGee et al. 2010) is provided below.
Average turnaround time (TAT) has grown from about three days in 1989 to more than five days in 1991 while its main competitor, Golden Gate, has achieved two-day TATs and is now promising one day. As a percent of revenues, branch profits in 1989 were 20.2%; in 1991, the branch suffered a 1.7% loss (Exhibit 1). Analysis There are five fundamental problems with the current process: 1. The relative value of new policies and renewals is not clear to the underwriting teams. While new policies are important for Fruitvale’s long-run viability, they are more risky (Exhibit 1) and require more labor to process (Exhibit 2a).
Firstly the market RM are currently operating in is dealing which lead to them seeing profits fall by 12% last year. If these trends continue RM will its eventually struggle to operate and may even begin to make a loss. The new market Harry is suggesting is in fact growing rapidly with a predicted rise in digital subscriptions from 3-10million in the next 2 years (333%) as consumers are switching from print magazines to digital due to the growth of tablets,phones and laptops. The company has also carried out some market research on a small sample group of 300 women. Their research showed that 60% (180) of the group would be willing to pay at least £5 for the magazine monthly which would hopefully indicate larger revenues being generated by the company especially if the number of subscribers increases inline with the market growth trends.
This is the area that would allow the most potential growth in sales and profitability. The proceeding report will allow you to examine and understand our analysis of each scenario. Thank you for selecting Group 5 in your consulting needs, and we look forward to working with you in the future. Sincerely, Group 5 • Strategic problem and issue identification The architectural paint industry is the largest market within the U.S. paint industry, holding onto roughly 43 percent of total industry dollar sales. However, while the architectural paint industrial sales are expected to grow year after year, the total number of paint companies is expected to drop by 2 to 3 percent per year.
(See attachments). Firm is currently facing cash flow problems due to several factors. Working capital increased substantially due to increase in sales and inefficient operational management resulting in high collection period and low inventory turnover. Cash outgo for payment to Mr. Holtz compounded the problem. Capital expenditure of $155,000 was incurred during last 2 years.