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Simon Companys year-end balance sheets follow.

At December 31	Current Year	1 Year Ago	2 Years Ago
Assets
Cash	$ 32,238	$ 37,683	$ 38,476
Accounts receivable, net	89,400	62,500	50,500
Merchandise inventory	111,500	82,500	54,000
Prepaid expenses	10,382	9,892	4,275
Plant assets, net	297,478	273,803	237,549
Total assets	$ 540,998	$ 466,378	$ 384,800
Liabilities and Equity
Accounts payable	$ 136,056	$ 79,606	$ 51,302
Long-term notes payable	102,725	108,340	85,891
Common stock, $10 par value	162,500	162,500	162,500
Retained earnings	139,717	115,932	85,107
Total liabilities and equity	$ 540,998	$ 466,378	$ 384,800

The company’s income statements for the current year and one year ago follow. Assume that all sales are on credit:

For Year Ended December 31	Current Year		1 Year Ago
Sales		$ 703,297		$ 554,990
Cost of goods sold	$ 429,011		$ 360,744
Other operating expenses	218,022		140,412
Interest expense	11,956		12,765
Income tax expense	9,143		8,325
Total costs and expenses		668,132		522,246
Net income		$ 35,165		$ 32,744
Earnings per share		$ 2.16		$ 2.02

(3-a) Compute inventory turnover.

(3-b) For each ratio, determine if it improved or worsened in the current year.