Simon Company's year-end balance sheets follow.

At December 31	Current Year	1 Year Ago	2 Years Ago
Assets
Cash	$ 31,830	$ 36,101	$ 37,989
Accounts receivable, net	90,425	64,466	50,652
Merchandise inventory	112,544	87,742	54,489
Prepaid expenses	10,250	9,476	4,138
Plant assets, net	289,095	262,684	228,932
Total assets	$ 534,144	$ 460,469	$ 376,200
Liabilities and Equity
Accounts payable	$ 135,662	$ 76,263	$ 50,652
Long-term notes payable	102,427	104,849	85,634
Common stock, $10 par value	163,500	162,500	163,500
Retained earnings	132,555	116,857	76,414
Total liabilities and equity	$ 534,144	$ 460,469	$ 376,200

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		$ 694,387		$ 547,958
Cost of goods sold	$ 423,576		$ 356,173
Other operating expenses	215,260		138,633
Interest expense	11,805		12,603
Income tax expense	9,027		8,219
Total costs and expenses		659,668		515,628
Net income		$ 34,719		$ 32,330
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?