1. Ratio Analysis

2. Business Performance Types of Information from the Accounts:
Profit and Loss Account – the revenue and costs of a business over a time period
Balance Sheet – the assets and liabilities of a business at a specific point in time
Use these sources to give ratios – the relationship between different aspects of the business

3. Ability of a business to meet its debts
A measure of how much profit activities generate
Ratio Analysis
Liquidity Ratios
Profitability Ratios
Efficiency Ratios
Ability of a business to meet its debts
A measure of the performance of the business

4. Ratio Analysis Key Categories
Profitability ratios - a measure of how much profit its activities generate
Liquidity ratios – ability of a business to meet its debts
Efficiency ratios – a measure of the performance of the business

5. Profitability Ratios
Profitability ratios - a measure of how much profit its activities generate
Gross Profit Ratio
Net Profit Ratio
Mark-Up Ratio
Return on Capital Employed Ratio (ROCE)

6. Profitability Ratios
Profit Ratios (Margin) – relates (compares) profit to turnover (sales revenue).
In general the higher the profit margin the better
A profit margin of 10% means that the firm makes 10p profit for every £1 of goods sold.
Narrow margins – tend to be on products/services which are high volume, mass market products which are highly competitive
Wide margins – tend to be on products/services that are low volume, high value with relatively high degree of monopoly power

7. Profitability Ratios Gross Profit: Turnover – Cost of Sales
Gross Profit Ratio (Margin) = x 100
Gross Profit
Turnover
This represents the amount of Gross Profit for every £100 of sales.
10% means that for every £100 of sales, £10 gross profit (trading profit) was made before any expenses were paid.

8. Profitability Ratios Net Profit: Gross Profit – Expenses
Net Profit Ratio (Margin) = x 100
Turnover
Net Profit
The % of Net Profit on Turnover shows how much PERSONAL income the owner has out of every £100 of sales.
If the Net Profit % increases while the Gross Profit % remains the same – this indicates a reduction in expenses.
Gross Profit
Cost of Sales
- (Profit) Mark-up Ratio = x 100

9. Profitability Ratios Return on Capital Employed Ratio (ROCE)
A measure of the efficiency of the firm in using its capital to generate profit.
A ROCE of 15% suggests that the firm uses every £1 of capital to generate profits of 15p

10. Fixed Assets + Net Current Assets – Long Term Liabilities
Profitability Ratios
Rate of Return on Capital Employed Ratio =
x 100
Net Profit after Tax
Fixed Assets + Net Current Assets – Long Term Liabilities
Generally – the higher the ratio, the more effective the firm is in using its capital assets.

11. Return on Capital Employed
Example:
Assume two firms produce identical products and have identical capital structures:
Firm A – Capital Assets = £1,000,000.
Profit = £250,000
Firm B – Capital Assets = £1,000,000.
Profit = £100,000
Easy to see in this instance that firm A is the more efficient as every £1 of capital generates 25p in profit whereas for Firm B, every £1 of capital only generates 10p profit
ROCE allows us to have a measure of the efficiency for firms with different capital structures

12. Liquidity ratios – ability of a business to meet its debts
Working Capital
Current Ratio
Acid Test ratio

13. Liquidity Ratios
Looks at the ability of a firm to meet its expenditure and how much cash is tied up in the business available to pay for that expenditure.
Careful management of income and expenditure is important to a firm’s cash flow and its ultimate long term survival.
More firms fail through cash flow problems than any other reason.

14. Liquidity Ratios
Working Capital – having sufficient funds at the right time to be able to meet liabilities
Working capital management is crucial to the success of a firm
Working capital = the difference between current assets and current liabilities.

15. Liquidity Ratios
The Current Ratio – the proportion of assets to liabilities.
A current ratio of 2:1 means the firm has sufficient liquid resources to cover its liabilities twice over
A current ratio of 0.75:1 would suggest that the firm is unable to meet its liabilities and could be in a weak financial position.
A ratio below 1 does not mean the firm will collapse but it will be in a vulnerable position.

16. Liquidity Ratios Acid Test Ratio =
(Current Assets - Stocks) : Current Liabilities
The Acid Test Ratio gives an indication whether a firm can meet its liabilities without having to dispose of its stocks. It gives a clear and quick indication of the state of the firm’s liquid assets (those easy to turn into cash).
Comparing the Current ratio and the Acid Test ratio therefore gives an indication of the relative size of the stock holdings of a firm.

17. To improve the Liquidity Position
Sell stock faster – this will reduce stock holding and increase cash/bank
Reduce credit time allowed to debtors – debtors will pay quicker thus increasing cash
Offer discounts to debtors – to encourage them to pay more quickly thus increasing cash
Buy more goods on credit instead of paying by cash – this will increase cash held

18. To improve the Liquidity Position
Inject more capital into the business – this will increase cash held
Find cheaper suppliers – this will result in less cash going out
Reduce drawings – this will result in less cash going out
Sell fixed assets – this will increase the cash coming into the business

19. Efficiency Ratios
Efficiency ratios – a measure of the performance of the business
Expense Ratio
Rate of Stock Turnover
Average Stock
Debtors’ Collection Period
Creditors’ Payment Period
Fixed Asset Turnover

20. Opening Stock + Closing Stock
Efficiency Ratios
Expense Ratio = x 100
Rate of Stock Turnover = = ? Times
Average Stock = = £
Expenses
Turnover
Average Stock
Cost of Sales
Opening Stock + Closing Stock 2
NB – The Rate of Stock Turnover may be expressed as an average stockholding in days, weeks or months simply by multiplying the number of times the average stock is sold by 365 for answer in days, 52 for answer in weeks and 12 for answer in months.

21. Total Credit Purchases
Efficiency Ratios
Debtors’ Collection Period = x 365
The answer is a number of days (or x 52 = weeks, or x 12 = months)
Average Debtors
Total Credit Sales
Average Creditors
Total Credit Purchases
Creditors’ Payment Period = x 365
The answer is a number of days (or x 52 = weeks, or x 12 = months)
NB – Where only one figure is given for debtors or creditors this will be taken as the average.

22. Fixed Assets at Net Book Value
Efficiency Ratios
Fixed Asset Turnover =
The answer should be expressed as a ratio eg 0.75 : 1
Net Turnover
Fixed Assets at Net Book Value

23. Ratio Analysis Limitations of Ratio Analysis:
Usefulness dependent on the accuracy of the figures
Only a part of the jig-saw – needs other information to make full judgement
What has happened in the past is not necessarily a pointer to what will happen in the future!
Statistics always have a limitation in that it depends when they are used and how they are used.
No two businesses are fully comparable as the differences between them will always influence the performance of the business
Ratios do not always reflect the degree of ‘intuition’/’genius’ that may influence the performance of a business

24. Importance of Ratios
To have real significance, ratios have to be compared to a yardstick to determine whether it is good or bad.
This yardstick is provided by comparison to previous years or to competitors ratios

25. Improving Ratios To improve Gross Profit %
Reduce Cost of Sales – change to a cheaper supplier
Cut down on wastage/theft
Increase selling price of goods

26. Improving Ratios To improve Net Profit % Reduce Expenses
Increase Gross Profit
Pay suppliers quicker in order to obtain Cash Discounts

27. Improving Ratios To improve Rate of Stock Turnover
Attract more customers by advertising/sales promotions or offering discounts – this should move stock quicker
Lower the amount of stock you hold