In this paper I will be analyzing the financial statements of Kroger and Costco. It is my job to compare and contrast the two companies’ based on their liquidity, solvency, and profitability. This will be done by integrating the concepts I have been introduced to throughout the course by using appropriate ratios and current accounting principles. I chose Kroger Company since it is an American retailer that was rated the country’s largest supermarket chain by revenue and second-largest general retailer. Kroger maintains markets in 34 states with over 2,600 supermarkets and multi-department stores. Also, I chose Costco since it is the third largest retailer in the United States falling right behind Kroger. Liquidity is important for a company since it is the short-term ability of the company to pay its liabilities and to meet sudden needs for cash. Creditors such as banks and suppliers are usually the most interested when it comes to analysing a company’s liquidity. There are four things to look at when comparing a company’s liquidity. First is the company’s working capital, the difference between the amounts of current assets and current liabilities, in which Kroger had a negative balance of 2,492 (millions) and Costco had a positive balance of 3,176 (millions). This shows that there is a greater likelihood that Costco will pay its liabilities and Kroger might not be able to pay back its current liabilities. Next is the current ratio, calculated by dividing current assets
Financial ratios are important in assessing the two companies’ performances. Referring to Exhibit A and B, we see that Sears relied heavily on debt financing. Although its 1997 ROE was high, it had a 300 days cash conversion cycle and a slow A/R turnover ratio. After evaluating various ratios, we concluded that the driving force behind Sears’ profitability was its proprietary card business. For a retailer, a strategy of using flexible payment options to boost sales is not a viable long term solution. The slow A/R turnover and negative operating cash flow cause concerns. On the other hand, Wal-Mart had a quick cash conversion cycle of 91 days, and a working capital turnover of 24/yr (vs.10/yr for Sears). These ratios represent a retail company with sound fundamental strategies, as well as the implementation and execution of those strategies. The financial ratios gave us insights into the companies’ operating and financing strategies, putting the two companies’ annual results into
1. Liquidity ratios are a class of financial metrics that is used to determine a company's ability to pay off its short-terms debts obligations. Generally, the higher the value of the ratio, the larger the margin of safety that the company possesses to cover short-term debts.
The liquidity of firm can be measured by computing certain ratio’s such as current ratio and acid ratio. For measuring Target Corporation’s 2014 liquidity; the firm’s current ratio and the acid ratio is computed. The company’s current ratio is 0.91 times which is computed by comparing current asset ($11, 573,000) with current liabilities ($12,777, 000) of the year 2014 (TGT Company Financial, n.d). The firm’s acid ratio is 0.26 times which is computed by deducting inventory ($8,278,000) from current assets. The inventory is deducted from current assets because the company has not received any money for the unfinished good or from unsold inventory worth ($8,278,000). To analyze the Target Corporation’s liquidity trend in 2014; the current ratio and acid ratio of 2014 is compared with the 2015’s ratios. In 2015, the firm’s current ratio was 1.20 times and the acid ratio was 0.45 times. These liquidity ratios reflect that the firm’s liquidity was better in 2015 than 2014. (See Table 1).
The purpose of this paper is to advise analyze the financial statements of Dillard’s, Inc. in order to recommend whether or not my client should invest $1 million in the large retail company. I will compare the financial statements of Dillard’s, Inc. its competitor, Kohl’s Corporation. Investing in retail can be risky because a retail company’s performance is very heavily influenced by factors that have nothing to do with the actual company such as the overall performance of the economy or the weather during the holiday shopping season. There is, however, potential for profitability within the retail sector. Based on my analysis, I recommend that the client should not invest in Dillard’s, Inc. for the following reasons. First, Dillard’s has experience a decline in net income in the last three years. Second, liquidity ratios indicate that they could face possible liquidity constraints in the future. Third, long-term debt paying ability ratios indicate that the company could have trouble paying off the principal of its current debt obligations. Fourth, the profitability ratios are well below industry averages, suggesting that there are more profitable companies to invest in within the industry. And finally, Investor analysis ratios provide mixed opinion of the future performance of the company. I conclude that retail can be a profitable industry to invest in if an investor has the risk tolerance and risk capacity to withstand the uncertainty, but neither Dillard’s
The analysis of a company's financial statements helps in the determination of both the weaknesses and strengths of the concerned entity. Further, such an analysis helps in the determination of the future viability of firms. There are a wide range of techniques utilized in the analysis of financial statements. In that regard, it is important to note that the relevance of a horizontal, vertical as well as ratio analysis of a company's financial statements cannot be overstated. This is more so the case when it comes to the interpretation of the various dollar amounts presented in both the balance sheet and the income statement. In this text, I carry out a horizontal, vertical as well as ratio analysis of both The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo, Inc. The analysis' results will be critical in the evaluation of each company's performance. Findings will be used as a basis for recommendations on how each company can improve its financial status.
In conclusion, financial statements of Dollar General present the increase in company’s profitability and sales over the last two years, they reduced their expenses as well. The only information that the statements do not disclose is which brands of merchandise increased their sales, and what was the cost of goods sold compared to the profit they made. Since the company was concerned about promotion of their private brand it would be helpful to know what percent of sales does their private brand make comparison to other brands. Nevertheless, the long-term liquidity risk does not look as safe. The company will have to show the stability in its ratios overtime to insure investors that it has low risk and is able to repay its debt in a long run as well as maintain stable
Solvency refers to a company’s ability to meet its financial commitments in the long-term. Based upon the debts-to-assets ratios of the two companies, we can determine that Kraft Heinz is more well-equipped to meet their long-term financial obligations than General Mills is because the total liabilities of Kraft Heinz are a smaller percentage of their total assets than General Mills’s total liabilities are. In regards to liquidity, Kraft Heinz has a current ratio of 0.92, whereas General Mills has a current ratio of 0.79. Liquidity refers to a company’s ability to meet its financial commitments in the short-term.
Liquidity ratios measure how well a company is able to meet its short term obligations without relying on selling inventory (David, Fred). Starbucks three main components in these current categories are cash, inventory and accrued liabilities. The current ratio indicates that if Starbucks needed to liquidate they would be able to cover their current liabilities. They would be unable to meet their outside obligations without selling off inventory to
Overall regards to liquidity ratios, the higher the number the better; however, a too high also indicates that the firms were not using their resources to their full potential. Current ratio of 1.0 or greater shows that a company can pay its current liabilities with its current assets. JWN’s ratio increased from 2.06 in 2007 to 2.57 in 2010, and slightly decreased to 2.16 in 2011. JWN’s cash ratio increased significantly from 22% in 2007 to 80% in 2010. JWN has a cash ratio of 73% in 2011, which is useful to creditors when deciding how much debt they would be willing to extend to JWN. In addition, JWN also has moderate CFO ratio of 46%, indicating the companies’ ability to pay off their short term liabilities with their operating cash
These ratios are computed to judge the short term liquidity of the business. Two most important liquidity ratios are current ratio and quick ratio. These ratios determine the ability of firm to meets its current liabilities out of its current/quick assets.
Liquidity represents a company’s ability to pay its short-term obligations. In the following schedule is the calculation of the ratios that are indicators of the liquidity position of a company.
Liquidity ratio. The firm’s liquidity shows a downward trend through time. The current ratio is decreasing because the growth in current liabilities outpaces the growth of current assets. The quick ratio is also declining but not as fast as the current ratio. From 1991 to 1992, it only decreased 0.35 units while the current ratio decreased 0.93 units. Looking at the common size balance sheet, we also see that the percentage of inventory is growing from 33% to 48% indicating Mark X could not convert its inventory to cash.
Liquidity ratios measure the short term ability of a company to pay its obligations and meet their needs for maintaining cash. According to Cagle, Campbell & Jones (2013), “A good assessment of a company’s liquidity is important because a decline in liquidity leads to a greater risk of bankruptcy” (p. 44). Creditors, investors and analysts alike are all interested in a company’s liquidity. After computing liquidity
This paper reviews the Cash Flow Statements of Yum Brands, Inc., Panera Bread, and Starbucks documented by case study 10-10 in our textbook for the purpose of analyzing financial health based on cash flow data. (Gibson, 2013).
The liquidity position of a company can be evaluated using several ratios which evaluate short-term assets and liabilities and a firm’s ability to settle short-term debts (Gibson, 2011). These ratios can provide insight into a firm’s ability to repay its debts in the short term (Gibson, 2011). In turn they suggest a firm’s capacity for debt-satisfying capabilities into the future (Gibson, 2011). This paper will use financial statement data as cited in Gibson (2011) from 3M Company (3M) to better understand liquidity measures to evaluate a firm’s total liquidity position. The following paper will focus on various liquidity calculations, their meaning, and their interpretation relative to 3M. Finally, an overall view of 3M’s liquidity