Select and EXPLAIN your answer. No participation credit will be awarded for simply choosing an answer below.

Ajax Corps sales last year were $435,000, its operating costs were $362,500, and its interest charges were $12,500. What was the firms times-interest-earned (TIE) ratio?

a. 4.72

b. 4.97

c. 5.23

d. 5.51

e. 5.80