Analysis of Country Road's financial performance Assignment

Analysis of Country Road's financial performance - Assignment Example The company net profitability declined in 2012 as compared to the 2009; whereas the gross profitability increased by a mere 0.7% in 2012 as compared to 2009. This signifies the growing inefficiencies and disabilities in the company to control costs and expenses. Step Three The profitability provided a better measure as compared to the profits. This is because the profitability analyses the profits with terms to the growing sales; and therefore, helps in measuring the efficiency of the company in controlling costs and expenses with the increasing sales. (Keiso 1999) Step Four a. Appended figure 3 shows the extended trend analysis on the expenses for the period 2009-2012. b. Depreciation and Amortization expenses have increased the most over the period. The expense has increased by 57% in 2012 as compared to the expense in 2009. The second most increased expense is the occupancy expense which increased by 38.4% over the same period. Step Five a. Appended figure 4 shows the vertical ana lysis performed on the identified items of the income statement. b. Cost of goods sold, employment expense, marketing expenses and other expenses as a percentage of sales have decreased over the period 2009-2012 whereas occupancy expense and depreciation and amortization expense as a percentage of sales have increased over the same period. c. The company has been efficient in controlling certain costs and expenses with the increase in sales. The increase in depreciation and amortization is due to increase in total assets. Step Six Over the period, the sales have increased 22.1 percent showing improved performance by the company. However, the profit margins have declined because of the increasing expenses over the same period. The company has proved to be inefficient in controlling its administrative and selling expenses which have all increased compared to the base year 2009. The company has been holding too much inventory in its warehouses which has increased its management expense s. On the other hand, the company has been prudent in controlling its direct costs which has helped them improve their gross margins. Similarly, this could also happen due to the accumulated inventory which would be priced lower in the inflationary period. Step Seven a. Appended figure 5 shows the trend analysis on several balance sheet item totals from 2009-2012. b. This clearly explains the trend which signifies that the falling ROE is due to the increase in the equity by 26.2 % but with no cumulative effect on the net profits which have been declining during the same time. On the other hand, the assets have increased by 3.3% whereas the earnings before interest and tax have declined over the period; again the reason for the falling ROA. c. ROE measures the return to the equity holders- the owners of the company where as ROA measures the ability of the company in using its resources to make profits for the all stakeholders-owners as well as creditors. (Keiso 1999) d. ROA would be considered a better measure by the investors. It is because is measures the returns to all the stakeholders- the owners as well as lenders. Likewise, it also measures the ability of the company in the usage of the resources. It helps in evaluation the management of the company as well. (Keiso 1999) Step Eight a. Appended figure 6 shows the calculations and the ratios. b. The dividend payout ratio

The Sensory Nervous System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Sensory Nervous System - Essay Example The basic unit of the entire nervous system is the neuron. The neurons themselves have three parts 1) the dendrite-which receive message impulses from other cells and transmits it to the cell body 2) the cell body 3) the axon-which transmits messages away from the cell body. There are three types of neurons namely sensory or afferent neurons, motor or efferent neurons and intermediate neurons. The sensory neurons are responsible for the transmission of messages from the various sensory receptors or organs in the human body, which receive the external stimulus, to the central nervous system. The intermediate or relay neurons are present only in the CNS. The motor neurons transmit the message impulses from the CNS to the corresponding effector organ which might be a muscle or a gland which responds to the received impulse. The plasma membrane of the neuron has an unequal distribution of electrical charges between its inner and the outer surfaces, i.e., positive on the inner membrane an d negative on the outer membrane. When a message impulse is to be transmitted the polarities reverse temporarily resulting in what is known as an action potential. This action potential which begins in one spot spreads to the adjacent membranes thereby transmitting the message across a neuron. While the action potential allows transmission within a neuron neurotransmitters allow the transmission of messages between different neurons through the synaptic cleft. The synapse is the space between two nerve cells. (Farabee, 1992). Depending on the type of external stimuli, various parts of the brain are targeted through various pathways through the spinal cord. For example the somatosensory system has three modalities. One particular modality being the discriminatory touch enables the human body to perceive shapes and sizes by touch alone. In this system sensory inputs are provided