PE 14-9A Times Interest Earned Obj. 6 EE 14-9 Sprout Company reported the following on the company's income statement in two recent years: Interest expense Current Prior Year Year $510,000 $480,000 Income before income 5,610,000 6,720,000 tax expense a. Determine the times interest earned ratio for the current year and the prior year. Round to one decimal place. b. Is the times interest earned ratio improving or declining? >