1. Table 2.1 compares companies according to different profitability measures.
   1. Which two of the six performance measures do you think are the most useful indicators of how well a company is being managed?
   2. Is return on sales or return on equity a better basis on which to compare the performance of the companies listed?

TABLE 21 Profitability measures for some of the world's largest companies, 2017 Company Market capitalization Net income ROSE ROES ROA ($ billion) ($ billion) (%) (%) (%) Return to shareholders (%) Apple 824 48.4 26.9 39.0 16.3 +46.8 Amazon 689 3.0 2.3 9.6 3.1 +27.4 Alibaba 480 6.2 29.8 21.9 9.1 +94.1 JPMorgan Chase 397 24.4 50.2 9.5 1.4 +24.6 ExxonMobil 358 19.7 5.2 11.8 5.7 -5.8 Wal mart 310 13.6 4.1 14.9 11.9 +45.2 Toyota 204 15.8 7.6 13.2 4.1 +5.8 Notes: shares outstanding * closing price of shares on February 02, 2018. BReturn on sales - Operating profit as a percentage of sales revenues. Return on equity = Net income as a percentage of year-end shareholder equity. Return on assets - Operating income as a percentage of year-end total assets. Dividend + share price appreciation during 2017