Simon Company's year-end balance sheets follow.

At December 31	Current Year	1 Year Ago	2 Years Ago
Assets
Cash	$ 33,850	$ 38,392	$ 42,032
Accounts receivable, net	94,222	67,872	55,499
Merchandise inventory	118,466	93,311	57,362
Prepaid expenses	10,793	10,181	4,534
Plant assets, net	310,714	279,938	252,773
Total assets	$ 568,045	$ 489,694	$ 412,200
Liabilities and Equity
Accounts payable	$ 142,858	$ 81,931	$ 53,322
Long-term notes payable	106,792	112,630	88,363
Common stock, $10 par value	162,500	163,500	162,500
Retained earnings	155,895	131,633	108,015
Total liabilities and equity	$ 568,045	$ 489,694	$ 412,200

For both the current year and one year ago, compute the following ratios:

The companys income statements for the current year and 1 year ago, follow.

For Year Ended December 31	Current Year		1 Year Ago
Sales		$ 738,459		$ 582,736
Cost of goods sold	$ 450,460		$ 378,778
Other operating expenses	228,922		147,432
Interest expense	12,554		13,403
Income tax expense	9,600		8,741
Total costs and expenses		701,536		548,354
Net income		$ 36,923		$ 34,382
Earnings per share		$ 2.27		$ 2.12

For both the Current Year and 1 Year Ago, compute the following ratios:

(1-a) Profit margin ratio.

(1-b) Did profit margin improve or worsen in the Current Year versus 1 Year Ago?

(2) Total asset turnover.

(3-a) Return on total assets.

(3-b) Based on return on total assets, did Simon's operating efficiency improve or worsen in the Current Year versus 1 Year Ago?