The following table contains financial statement information for AstraZeneca, which is a global biopharmaceutical company focused on discovery, development, manufacturing and commercialization of medicines and is headquartered in London, UK.

Required

a. Compute the return on equity (ROE) for 2011 and 2012. What trend, if any, is evident? How does AstraZeneca's ROE compare with the approximately \(21.5 \%\) median ROE for companies in the Dow Jones Industrial average for 2012?

b. Compute the return on assets (ROA) for 2011 and 2012. What trends, if any, are evident? How does AstraZeneca's ROA compare with the approximate \(6.7 \%\) median ROA for companies in the Dow Jones Industrial average for 2012?

c. What factors might allow a company like AstraZeneca to reap above-average returns?

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($ millions) 2010.. 2011 2012 Total Assets $56,127 52,830 53,534 Net Income $8,106 9,470 6,405 Sales $33,269 33,591 27,973 Equity $23,410 23,472 23,952