ASSIGNMENT 1 GBSw LTD Chooye Haatimba (CH), a recent MBA graduate, was recruited as a Loan Officer of an indigenous bank. He had previous banking experience at the bank. His first assignment in this position was to review the account of GBSw, a long-standing client of the bank. GBSw has applied for an increase in their line of credit from K36,000 to K48,000 and also requested a 10-year extension on a K24,000 due on October 2020. CHs started by doing some research into the background of the company. The company was formed in 1978 by Austin Simamba, in mid-40s, who decided to own and operate his own business in the country. The company manufactured and sold high quality sporting wear. It remained small until 2000s. Sales grew steadily, going from K51,600 in 2000, to K110,400 in 2005, and K241,200 in 2010, and K308,400 in 2015. Of these sales 70% were on credit. Until 2010, GBSw had been a operated by the Simamba family. In 1994 Manns Simamba took over from his father in 1994. Under his management GBSw was growing tremendously in sales and profits. Upon his retirement in 2014, GBSw was sold two times within the next year first to a group of Ndola businessmen and then to a group of Kitwe businessmen headed by Martin Haambotwe, thus ending the 36-year Simamba control of the business. The Simamaba family had been quite conservative in their management of GBSw, limiting the product line to high quality sporting wear sold only in sporting shops and specially approved mens wear stores, but the Haambotwe syndicate took a more aggressive approach. They expanded the product line to include sporting shorts, sporting jackets, T-shirts and sweaters, drastically expanding the discount stores. This expansion in the product line was financed in large part through the issuance of K90,000 10% long term loan in October 2018. This debt was due in 15 years (2033), and carried a sinking fund provision of K6,000, with the first sinking fund payment being made one year after the debt was issued. Apart from the K24,000 bank loan due in June 2020, this was the first long term debt that GBSw had contracted, previously limiting the capital structure to ordinary shares. The Haambotwe group was hopeful that this aggressive expansion, relying on heavily on the good name of GBSw, would help to recapture the companys growth recorded in the 2000s. For the past four years the Bank has granted GBSw a line of credit for K36,000. The need for seasonal borrowing for GBSw is a result of its highly seasonal sales pattern and limited production facilities. Throughout the year GBSw is forced to keep production near full capacity, building large inventories that will be reduced from mid-July through December when 90% of the sales take place. Thus, for GBSw, short term borrowing generally reaches a peak in August and is completely repaid by the end of November. While they have had a line of credit of K36,000 for the past four years, the companys high credit was only for K31,200 in August 2018. In preparing his report for the Bank, CH will be required to prepare a statement of cash flow for the past 2 years, to provide some insight into how GBSw has used its funds in the past. A complete ratio analysis of the firm, focusing on liquidity, debt, coverage, and profitability ratios, also will be necessary. In addition to the calculations of these ratios and an analysis of them, a tentative recommendation on both the line of credit and the loan extension is required by CH. 2 The analysis will be based upon the financial data in Exhibits 1,2 and 3. EXHIBIT 1 GBSw Ltd Statement of Income for years ending August 31, 2017 through 2019 2017 2018 2019 K000 K000 K000 Net sales 247.2 290.4 308.4 Cost of goods sold 176.4 207.6 220.8 Gross profit 70.8 82.8 87.6 Other operating expenses (Admin, selling and general) 11.916 21.936 26.796 Depreciation 7.8 7.8 7.8 19.716 29.736 34.596 Profit before interest and taxes 51.084 53.064 53.004 Finance cost (Interest expense) 2.4 2.4 2.4 Profit before tax 48.684 50.664 50.604 Income tax 17.039 17.732 17.111 Net profit after tax 31.645 32.932 33.493 Dividends paid 19.800 22.050 22.050 Retained profit 11.845 10.882 11.443 EXHIBIT 2 GBSw Ltd Statement of financial position as at August 31,2017 to 2019 2017 2018 2019 K000 K000 K000 K000 K000 K000 ASSETS Non-current assets 274.80 324.00 414.00 Accumulated depreciation 75.60 79.20 82.80 199.20 244.80 331.20 Goodwill 144.00 144.00 144.00 Non-current assets 343.20 388.80 475.20 Current assets Inventory (Note 1) 43.20 57.60 75.60 Trade receivables 16.80 21.60 18.00 Cash and bank 25.20 21.60 19.20 Total current assets 85.20 100.80 112.80 Total assets 428.40 489.60 588.00 Current liabilities Line of credit 28.80 31.20 28.80 Trade payables 8.40 12.00 19.20 Accrued expenses 3.60 6.00 9.60 Total current liabilities 40.80 49.20 57.60 3 Bank loan (due June 2020) 24.00 24.00 24.00 Long term debt - - 90.00 24.00 24.00 114.00 Total liabilities 64.80 73.20 171.60 Assets less liabilities 363.60 416.40 416.40 Equity Ordinary share capital 192.00 204.00 204.00 Share premium 120.00 156.00 156.00 Revenue reserves 51.60 56.40 56.40 Equity 363.60 416.40 416.40 Note 1 Inventory 2017 2018 2019 K000 K000 K000 Raw materials and supplies 9.60 12.00 14.40 Work in progress 31.20 42.00 55.20 Finished goods 2.40 3.60 6.00 Total inventory 43.20 57.60 75.60 EXHIBIT 3 INDUSTRY AVERAGES FOR SELECTED RATIOS RATIO AVERAGE Gross profit margin 23.4% Net profit margin 9.64% Return on assets (Earning power) 7.96% Asset turnover 0.826 times Inventory turnover 3.877 times Average collection period 40.3 days Current ratio 1.943 Acid test ratio 0.969 Total debt to equity 0.636 Long term debt to total capitalisation 0.487 Interest coverage ratio 4.533 times Required 1. Compute the financial ratios for GBSw for 2017 to 2019 and Comment on the strengths and weaknesses revealed by this analysis.

The second part of this question has not been answered. All i am asking for are comments on the STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES as indicated above.