Simon Company's year-end balance sheets follow.

At December 31	Current Year	1 Year Ago	2 Years Ago
Assets
Cash	$ 33,068	$ 38,653	$ 41,074
Accounts receivable, net	96,819	71,094	52,638
Merchandise inventory	121,731	90,298	55,482
Prepaid expenses	10,649	10,457	4,431
Plant assets, net	309,644	282,525	249,175
Total assets	$ 571,911	$ 493,027	$ 402,800
Liabilities and Equity
Accounts payable	$ 139,558	$ 81,655	$ 54,233
Long-term notes payable	104,294	111,128	88,129
Common stock, $10 par value	162,500	162,500	163,500
Retained earnings	165,559	137,744	96,938
Total liabilities and equity	$ 571,911	$ 493,027	$ 402,800

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		$ 743,484		$ 586,702
Cost of goods sold	$ 453,525		$ 381,356
Other operating expenses	230,480		148,436
Interest expense	12,639		13,494
Income tax expense	9,665		8,801
Total costs and expenses		706,309		552,087
Net income		$ 37,175		$ 34,615
Earnings per share		$ 2.29		$ 2.13

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?