Income statements are presented for the Elf Corporation for the three years ending December 31, 2016, 2015, and 2014.

required: write a one-paragraph analysis of Elf Corporations profit performance for the period.

To the student: the focus of this exercise is on analyzing financial data rather than simply describing the numbers and trends. Analysis involves breaking the information into parts for study, relating the pieces, making comparisons, drawing conclusions, and evaluating case and effect.

(In million) 2016 2015 2014 Sales $700 $650 $550 Cost of goods sold 350 325 275 Gross profit $350 $325 $275 Administrative 100 100 100 Advertising and marketing 50 75 75 Operating expenses: Operating profit $200 $150 $100 Interest expense 70 50 30 Earnings before tax $130 $100 $70 Tax expense 65 50 35 Net income $65 $50 $35