#1

A sheaf of papers in his hand, your friend and colleague, Jason, steps into your office and asked the following.

JASON: Do you have 10 or 15 minutes that you can spare?

YOU: Sure, Ive got a meeting in an hour, but I dont want to start something new and then be interrupted by the meeting, so how can I help?

JASON: Ive been reviewing the companys financial statements and looking for ways to improve our performance, in general, and the companys return on equity, or ROE, in particular. Anja, my new team leader, suggested that I start by using a DuPont analysis, and Id like to run my numbers and conclusions by you to see whether Ive missed anything.

Here are the balance sheet and income statement data that Anja gave me, and here are my notes with my calculations. Could you start by making sure that my numbers are correct?

YOU: Give me a minute to look at these financial statements and to remember what I know about the DuPont analysis.

Balance Sheet Data				Income Statement Data
Cash	$800,000	Accounts payable	$960,000	Sales	$16,000,000
Accounts receivable	1,600,000	Accruals	320,000	Cost of goods sold	9,600,000
Inventory	2,400,000	Notes payable	1,280,000	Gross profit	6,400,000
Current assets	4,800,000	Current liabilities	2,560,000	Operating expenses	4,000,000
		Long-term debt	2,720,000	EBIT	2,400,000
		Total liabilities	5,280,000	Interest expense	480,000
		Common stock	1,080,000	EBT	1,920,000
Net fixed assets	4,800,000	Retained earnings	3,240,000	Taxes	672,000
		Total equity	4,320,000	Net income	$1,248,000
Total assets	$9,600,000	Total debt and equity	$9,600,000

If I remember correctly, the DuPont equation breaks down our ROE into three component ratios: the , the total asset turnover ratio, and the .

And, according to my understanding of the DuPont equation and its calculation of ROE, the three ratios provide insights into the companys , effectiveness in using the companys assets, and .

Now, lets see your notes with your ratios, and then we can talk about possible strategies that will improve the ratios. Im going to check the box to the side of your calculated value if your calculation is correct and leave it unchecked if your calculation is incorrect.

Cepeus Manufacturing Inc. DuPont Analysis

Ratios	Value	Correct/Incorrect	Ratios	Value	Correct/Incorrect
Profitability ratios			Asset management ratio
Gross profit margin (%)	40.00		Total assets turnover	1.67
Operating profit margin (%)	12.00
Net profit margin (%)	13.00		Financial ratios
Return on equity (%)	39.51		Equity multiplier	1.82

JASON: OK, it looks like Ive got a couple of incorrect values, so show me your calculations, and then we can talk strategies for improvement.

YOU: Ive just made rough calculations, so let me complete this table by inputting the components of each ratio and its value:

Do not round intermediate calculations and round your final answers up to two decimals.

Cepeus Manufacturing Inc. DuPont Analysis

Ratios	Calculation				Value
Profitability ratios	Numerator		Denominator
Gross profit margin (%)		/		=
Operating profit margin (%)		/		=
Net profit margin (%)		/		=
Return on equity (%)		/		=
Asset management ratio
Total assets turnover		/		=
Financial ratios
Equity multiplier		/		=

JASON: I see what I did wrong in my computations. Thanks for reviewing these calculations with me. You saved me from a lot of embarrassment! Anja would have been very disappointed in me if I had showed her my original work.

So, now lets switch topics and identify general strategies that could be used to positively affect Cepeuss ROE.

YOU: OK, so given your knowledge of the component ratios used in the DuPont equation, which of the following strategies should improve the companys ROE?

Check all that apply.

A. Increase the efficiency of its assets so that it generates more sales with each dollar of asset investment and increases the companys total assets turnover.

B. Increase the firms bottom-line profitability for the same volume of sales, which will increase the companys net profit margin.

C. Decrease the companys use of debt capital because it will decrease the equity multiplier.

D. Increase the interest rate on its notes payable or long-term debt obligations because it will reduce the companys net profit margin.

JASON: I think I understand now. Thanks for taking the time to go over this with me, and let me know when I can return the favor.

#2

Suppose you are conducting an analysis of the financial performance of Blue Hamster Manufacturing Inc. over the past three years.

The company did not issue new shares during these three years and has faced some operational difficulties. The company has thus pilot tested some new forecasting strategies for better operations management. You have collected the companys relevant financial data, made reasonable assumptions based on the information available, and calculated the following ratios.

	Ratios Calculated
	Year 1	Year 2	Year 3
Price-to-cash-flow	6.40	4.48	3.58
Inventory turnover	12.80	10.24	8.19
Debt-to-equity	0.50	0.40	0.32

Based on the preceding information, your calculations, and your assumptions, which of the following statements can be included in your analysis report? Check all that apply.

A. A decline in the inventory turnover ratio can be explained by the new inventory management system that the company recently adopted, which led to more efficient inventory management.

B. Blue Hamster Manufacturing Inc.s ability to meet its debt obligations has improved since its debt-to-equity ratio decreased from 0.50 to 0.32.

C. A decline in the debt-to-equity ratio implies a decline in the creditworthiness of the firm.

D. A plausible reason why Blue Hamster Manufacturing Inc.s price-to-cash-flow ratio has decreased is that investors expect lower cash flow per share in the future.