Capstan Autos operated an East Coast dealership for a major Japanese car manufacturer. Capstan?s owner, Sidney Capstan, attributed much of the business?s success to its no-frills policy of competitive pricing and immediate cash payment. The business was basically a simple one?the firm imported cars at the beginning of each quarter and paid the manufacturer at the end of the quarter. The revenues from the sale of these cars covered the payment to the manufacturer and the expenses of running the business, as well as providing Sidney Capstan with a good return on his equity investment.

By the fourth quarter of 1990, sales were running at 250 cars a quarter. Because the average sale price of each car was about $20,000, this translated into quarterly revenues of 250 ? $20,000 = $5 million. The average cost to Capstan of each imported car was $18,000. After paying wages, rent, and other recurring costs of $200,000 per quarter and deducting depreciation of $80,000, the company was left with earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of $220,000 a quarter and net profits of $140,000.

The year 1991 was not a happy year for car importers in the United States. Recession led to a general decline in auto sales, while the fall in the value of the dollar shaved profit margins for many dealers in imported cars. Capstan, more than most firms, foresaw the difficulties ahead and reacted at once by offering 6 months? free credit while holding the sale price of its cars constant. Wages and other costs were pared by 25% to $150,000 a quarter, and the company effectively eliminated all capital expenditures. The policy appeared successful. Unit sales fell by 20% to 200 units a quarter, but the company continued to operate at a satisfactory profit.

The slump in sales lasted for 6 months, but as consumer confidence began to return, auto sales began to recover. The company?s new policy of 6 months? free credit was proving sufficiently popular that Sidney Capstan decided to maintain the policy. In the third quarter of 1991, sales had recovered to 225 units; by the fourth quarter, they were 250 units; and by the first quarter of the next year, they had reached 275 units. It looked as if, by the second quarter of 1992, the company could expect to sell 300 cars. Earnings before interest and taxes were already in excess of their previous high, and Sidney Capstan was able to congratulate himself on weathering what looked to be a tricky period. Over the 18-month period, the firm had earned net profits of more than half a million dollars, and the equity had grown from just over $1.5 million to about $2 million.

Sidney Capstan was, first and foremost, a superb salesman and always left the financial aspects of the business to his financial manager. However, there was one feature of the financial statements that disturbed Sidney Capstan?the mounting level of debt that, by the end of the first quarter of 1992, had reached $9.7 million. This unease turned to alarm when the financial manager phoned to say that the bank was reluctant to extend further credit and was even questioning its current level of exposure to the company.

Mr. Capstan found it impossible to understand how such a successful year could have landed the company in financial difficulties. The company had always had good relationships with its bank, and the interest rate on its bank loans was a reasonable 8% a year (or about 2% a quarter). Surely, Mr. Capstan reasoned, when the bank saw the projected sales growth for the rest of 1992, it would realize that there were plenty of profits to enable the company to start repaying its loans.

Mr. Capstan kept coming back to three questions: Was his company really in trouble? Could the bank be right in its decision to withhold further credit? And why was the company?s indebtedness increasing when its profits were higher than ever?

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SUMMARY INCOME STATEMENT (All figures except unit sales in $ thousands) 1990 Year: 1991 1992 3 Quarter: 4 2 4 1. Number of cars sold 250 200 200 225 250 275 2. Unit price 20 20 20 20 20 20 3. Unit cost 18 18 18 18 18 18 5,000 5,500 4. Revenues (1) x (2) 5,000 4,000 4,000 4,500 5. Cost of goods sold (1) x (3) 4,500 3,600 3,600 4,050 4,500 4,950 150 6. Wages and other costs 200 150 150 150 150 7. Depreciation 8. EBIT (4) – (5) – (6) – (7) 9. Net interest 10. Pretax profit (8) – (9) 11. Tax [.35 x (10)r 12. Net profit (10) – (11) 80 80 80 80 80 80 220 270 220 170 170 320 153 4 76 161 178 94 109 142 216 170 67 76 60 33 23 38 50 71 140 110 61 44 92 SUMMARY BALANCE SHEETS (Figures in $ thousands) End of 3rd Quarter End of 1st Quarter 1990 1992 $ 10 $ 10 Cash Receivables 10,500 4,500 $4,510 Inventory 5,400 $15,910 Total current assets Fixed assets (net) 1,760 $6,270 1,280 Total assets $17,190 Bank loan 230 9,731 Payables 4,500 5,400 Total current liabilities $4,730 $15,131 Shareholders' equity 1,540 2,059 Total liabilities plus equity $6,270 $17,190