Simon Company's year-end balance sheets follow.

At December 31	Current Year	1 Year Ago	2 Years Ago
Assets
Cash	$ 34,335	$ 41,363	$ 42,233
Accounts receivable, net	101,543	70,951	58,034
Merchandise inventory	128,948	94,704	63,049
Prepaid expenses	11,057	10,535	4,836
Plant assets, net	317,936	294,360	267,148
Total assets	$ 593,819	$ 511,913	$ 435,300
Liabilities and Equity
Accounts payable	$ 149,340	$ 88,244	$ 58,609
Long-term notes payable	112,754	114,208	96,201
Common stock, $10 par value	163,500	162,500	163,500
Retained earnings	168,225	146,961	116,990
Total liabilities and equity	$ 593,819	$ 511,913	$ 435,300

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		$ 771,965		$ 609,176
Cost of goods sold	$ 470,899		$ 395,964
Other operating expenses	239,309		154,122
Interest expense	13,123		14,011
Income tax expense	10,036		9,138
Total costs and expenses		733,367		573,235
Net income		$ 38,598		$ 35,941
Earnings per share		$ 2.38		$ 2.21

(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?