Simon Company's year-end balance sheets follow.

At December 31	Current Year	1 Year Ago	2 Years Ago
Assets
Cash	$ 35,313	$ 40,468	$ 41,733
Accounts receivable, net	103,351	71,527	54,519
Merchandise inventory	129,944	95,454	59,254
Prepaid expenses	10,814	10,729	4,684
Plant assets, net	307,364	287,672	265,610
Total assets	$ 586,786	$ 505,850	$ 425,800
Liabilities and Equity
Accounts payable	$ 147,571	$ 83,779	$ 57,892
Long-term notes payable	109,213	114,019	95,984
Common stock, $10 par value	163,500	162,500	163,500
Retained earnings	166,502	145,552	108,424
Total liabilities and equity	$ 586,786	$ 505,850	$ 425,800

For Year Ended December 31	Current Year		1 Year Ago
Sales		$ 762,822		$ 601,962
Cost of goods sold	$ 465,321		$ 391,275
Other operating expenses	236,475		152,296
Interest expense	12,968		13,845
Income tax expense	9,917		9,029
Total costs and expenses		724,681		566,445
Net income		$ 38,141		$ 35,517
Earnings per share		$ 2.35		$ 2.19

(1) Debt and equity ratios.

Debt Ratio
	Numerator:	/	Denominator:	=	Debt Ratio
		/		=	Debt ratio
Current Year:		/		=		%
1 Year Ago:		/		=		%
Equity Ratio
	Numerator:	/	Denominator:	=	Equity Ratio
		/		=	Equity ratio
Current Year:		/		=		%
1 Year Ago:		/		=		%

(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?

Debt-To-Equity Ratio
	Numerator:	/	Denominator:	=	Debt-To-Equity Ratio
		/		=	Debt-to-equity ratio
Current Year:		/		=		to 1
1 Year Ago:		/		=		to 1

(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?

Times Interest Earned
	Numerator:	/	Denominator:	=	Times Interest Earned
		/		=	Times interest earned
Current Year:		/		=		times
1 Year Ago:		/		=		times