Last year Altman Corp. had $205,000 of assets, $303,500 of sales, $18,250 of net income, and a debt-to-total-assets ratio of 41%. The new CFO believes the firm has excessive fixed assets and inventory that could be sold, enabling it to reduce its total assets to $152,500. Sales, costs, and net income would not be affected, and the firm would maintain the 41% debt ratio. By how much would the reduction in assets improve the ROE?

Select one:

a. 5.45%

b. 5.73%

c. 5.19%

d. 4.69%

e. 4.93%