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[The following information applies to the questions displayed below.] Simon Company's year-end balance sheets follow.

At December 31	Current Year	1 Year Ago	2 Years Ago
Assets
Cash	$ 30,889	$ 36,474	$ 36,519
Accounts receivable, net	94,092	65,120	50,167
Merchandise inventory	112,560	84,347	52,380
Prepaid expenses	10,353	9,575	4,017
Plant assets, net	286,325	265,018	229,517
Total assets	$ 534,219	$ 460,534	$ 372,600
Liabilities and Equity
Accounts payable	$ 137,011	$ 78,609	$ 49,675
Long-term notes payable	103,446	105,923	82,345
Common stock, $10 par value	162,500	162,500	162,500
Retained earnings	131,262	113,502	78,080
Total liabilities and equity	$ 534,219	$ 460,534	$ 372,600

For both the current year and one year ago, compute the following ratios:

The companys income statements for the current year and one year ago, follow.

For Year Ended December 31	Current Year		1 Year Ago
Sales		$ 694,485		$ 548,035
Cost of goods sold	$ 423,636		$ 356,223
Other operating expenses	215,290		138,653
Interest expense	11,806		12,605
Income tax expense	9,028		8,221
Total costs and expenses		659,760		515,702
Net income		$ 34,725		$ 32,333
Earnings per share		$ 2.14		$ 1.99

(1) Debt and equity ratios. (2-a) Compute debt-to-equity ratio for the current year and one year ago. (2-b) Based on debt-to-equity ratio, does the company have more or less debt in the current year versus one year ago? (3-a) Times interest earned. (3-b) Based on times interest earned, is the company more or less risky for creditors in the Current Year versus 1 Year Ago?