Week 3- Evaluating Business Performance Flashcards
Name 3 advantages of the P/E ratio
- A popular and easy to calculate ratio
- Investors look at the P/E ratio of a share to decide whether to invest in a company
- A tool to compare different companies
Name 2 issues with the P/E ratio
- Future earning are used for calculation
- Historic figures are used for calculation
Name 3 limitations of the P/E ratio
- The future is uncertain
- Forecasts are too optimistic
- Often based on 1 year but this might have been an exceptionally good or bad year
How can we evaluate business preformance?
Type of accounting information used :
- Financial statements
Method of analysis:
- Ratio analysis
What is a ratio?
A ratio expresses the relationship between two different figures
What is ratio analysis?
A comparison of the same ratio (i.e. calculated in the same way) over several different time periods to identify whether the ratio is staying the same, raising or falling
How may ratios be compared?
- Past periods
- Similar businesses during the same period
- Planned performance
How do you analyse and interpret financial statements using ratio analysis?
- Identify the major categories of ratios that can be used for analysis purposes
- Calculate important ratios for assessing the financial performance and positions of a business
- Explain the significance of the ratios calculated
- Discuss the limitations of ratios as a tool of financial analysis
What are the 5 categories of ratios?
- Profitability
- Efficiency
- Liquidity
- Financial gearing (long term financial stability)
- Investment (performance)
Describe profitability
- Provides insights into how well a company has created wealth for its owners
- Relates profits made to the size of business and how much capital is invested in it
What are the 3 types of profitability
- Return on capital employed (ROCE)
- Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation & amortisation (EBITDA)
- Gross profit margin/Gross profit percentage
Describe ROCE
- The most important measure of profitability
- Measures relationship between operating profit and long-term capital invested
- Enables assessment of how effectively funds have been deployed
= ( Profit before interest and tax / Capital employed )
Describe ROCE
- The most important measure of profitability
- Measures relationship between operating profit and long-term capital invested
- Enables assessment of how effectively funds have been deployed
= ( Profit before interest and tax / Capital employed ) x 100
Describe EBITDA
- A measure of a company’s overall performance
= Net income + Taxes + Interest expense + Depreciation & Amortisation
Describe profit margin/Gross profit percentage
- Relates gross profit of the business to the sales revenue
- Measures the profitability in buying (or manufacturing) and selling goods or services before any other expenses taken into account
- Tends to be consistent over years, and between similar companies
= ( Gross profit / Sales revenues ) x 100%