...Gearing = 280/780 X 100 = 35.9% ROCE = 16/780 x 100 = 2.0% Stock turnover = 137/64 = 2.14 or 170 days Gross profit = 53.6% Current ratio = 0.88:1 Out and About have a very low gearing ratio, of only 35.9%. A gearing ratio of 35.9% means that for every 100 pounds invested in this firm, only £35.90 is borrowed money. This could result in the potential for further borrowing because the ratio is very low. The higher the level of borrowing, the higher the risks to a business, since the payment interest and repayment of debts are not optional in the same way as dividends. The ratio indicates that a significant proportion of the 14 million could be borrowed, as Out and About seem to be a well-established business that would be financially stable to finance its activities using debt. Out and About plc could raise their capital because the gearing uses long-term debt, which is normally cheap, and reduces the amount that shareholders have to interest in the business. An advantage is that it will reduce interest payments, so more investment can occur elsewhere and the firm can have more cash flow to take on bigger and potentially more profitable projects. This would be helpful in the consideration of extending and diversifying their business. However, the poor profitability and liquidity problems could deter potential creditors. The current ratio is 0.87:1 and the acid test is 0.47:1. This shows significant liquidity problems, which further relates to the...
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...Out and About plc Capital is the funds that are invested into a business to be used for the growth and expansion of a business. In the case of Out and About plc, they are going to use this capital in order to fund its marketing budget. Out and About have a current ratio of 0.87:1 and an acid test ratio to one. This suggests that they are suffering from very severe liquidity problems especially short term liquidity. As they have £800 million worth of non-current assets, it would be useful for them to sell off some of these assets because it will increase the amount of cash they have, thus also increasing their current assets figure. Also, they could then use this cash to also reduce its current liabilities figure by paying off some its trade payables; this then will cause both their current ratio and acid test ratio to increase. Trade debtors are worth £70 million out of the £140 million of current assets. This means that they make up 50% of the total current assets. The trade receivables take 87 days to pay the business back; this suggests that they are to very quick in terms of repayment. This will cause further problems for Out and About plc because it could mean that they may not receive payments from its debtors causing them to write these debts off as 'bad debts'. If these bad debts start to build up, this can cause a business's expenses to increase and the value of the receivables asset to decrease. One major concern for Out and About plc is its profit margins...
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...methods for communicating business information, using examples for different types of audience. M1 - analyse different types of business information and their sources M2 - analyse the legal, ethical and operational issues in relation to the use of business information, using appropriate examples. D1 - evaluate the appropriateness of business information used to make strategic decisions D2 - evaluate the effectiveness of business information and its communication as key contributors to the success of an organisation, using examples to illustrate your points. Explain different types of business information, their sources and purposes Tesco has stores in 14 countries across the world. In the UK it is the grocery market leader it has about 30% of market share. This means that Tesco is the main supermarket leader in the shores of the UK. The key purpose of Tesco is to make profit. Tesco’s is the third largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and is the second largest in the world measured by its profit. Tesco is in the tertiary sector. This is because its sells the products, it doesn’t manufacture or directly get the product from its primary sector. Tesco’s has millions of shareholders which the majority shareholder only has around 3% of the shares. This just shows the vast amount of shareholders that...
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...4) One reason Out and About plc should go with the proposed new plan is because of the declining success of the firm. In recent years the market share and profits have declined by 15% due to competition from new competitors such as JJB and Argos. Therefore, it is necessary for Out and About plc to adopt a new plan as market research has shown that the new target market (extreme sports) is one of the fastest growing sectors of the outdoor activities market. Also, with Out and About plc currently losing 15% market share and profits, the UK extreme sports market is forecasted to grow 15.7% in market size by value, therefore this could result in a significant increase in profits, which is needed according to the state the business’s current profits are in. A second reason Out and About plc should go with the proposed new plan is because it would create a whole new brand image for the business. Their current target market is predominantly middle aged and middle class or retired. Their new target market would be 16-30 year old interested in ‘extreme sports’. According to the data, the amount that these customers are willing to spend on extreme clothing is increasing, which could increase create higher revenues and increase profits. However, the current products which Out and About plc sells do not cater to the 16-30 year old target market. Therefore, with this target market having more disposable income, it would be sensible to accept the proposed plan. One reason they should...
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...shareProducts offeredPrices chargedPlaces where products are available, including onlinePromotion including activities other than advertising(Include evidence from 1. Compare and contrast main competitors) | Talking to the customersInternet Talking to employees | 2/2/2013 | 9th February 2013 | Conflict between stakeholders | An example of a situation when there was conflict between two stakeholders | InternetTalking to the employees | 2/2/2013 | 9th February 2013 | Evaluation of why stakeholders are important to Morrison’s PLC The meaning of stakeholders is when people or organisations have interest in the business. By having too many stakeholders it could cause a conflict between the stakeholders because different groups may have different interests. The stakeholders of Morrison’s PLC: * Shareholders (owners) * Customers * Employees (staff) * Suppliers * Local community * Government Shareholders Morrison’s PLC are owned by shareholders there are exactly 39,239 private shareholders that partly own the business, these private shareholders own 84.55% of the business which is the most from this it shows that the private shareholders are mainly responsible of investing in the business because from...
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...March 2012: M plc Question a i. Evaluate the risks to M plc associated with allowing subscribers to post comments and views on the newspaper website. M plc is a long established publisher of newspapers and provider of web media. Based on their mission statement, their reputation is depending on the quality of report and information. The quality of information referred to truthful and accurate information given by M plc to the readers. The online version of newspaper that allows subscriber to post comments and view the newspaper website is a good decision. But they need to aware with the various type of risk that they need to face. The first risk is about inaccurate post and false information. Subscriber can post anything in their mind that can attract more people for their own publicity. This will occur in M plc because they don’t have any control to edit or verified what the subscriber wants to comment. For example, the information about beauty of artist by taking a beauty capsule post in M plc website. This is a false statement where that artist having a neutral beauty without taking any beauty capsule. Other risk is false claim about the information given in M plc website. When subscribers give a false statement, the injured party will be sue and take an action to the website owner rather than to the person who made the false posting. They will blame to the owner of web site where M plc have a power to delete and approve the comment that had post at the web site...
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...they serve through their job descriptors. PLC’s were born out of the newest attempt of educational reform surrounding educational standards, in order to focus on best practices within the classroom that achieve the best outcomes. The following websites have been reviewed as a part of research into PLC’s. www.ascd.org The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development...
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...Marketing in Business assignment 2013 Cleanse PLC New Product Development Assumptions As the information given by Cleanse PLC is not enough, here are some assumptions. 1. Cleanse PLC’s competitors are local companies in Turkey. 2. Assume that the “Wonder Wash powder” was not selling well because the product did not fulfill the target market (Turkey)’s needs and cultural. Introduction and Background Cleanse PLC is a major producer of domestic washing powders and other domestic cleaning products since 1901. It is based in Manchester in the United Kingdom. The company have been produced a lots of products under well-known domestic brand names. The company owns four production plants in the United Kingdom, each of them specializing in particular products and brands, and to satisfy the growing demands for their products across Europe. The company also has a production plant in Genoa, Italy. The European Board members of Cleanse PLC have invested many millions of Euros into the Turkish production plant for construction and operation. Cleanse PLC has recently acquired an additional production plant located in Istanbul, Turkey. The company did this in an attempt to tap into the growing demand for domestic washing products in Turkey and its surrounding countries. Cleanse PLC’s Turkish production facility mostly produces washing powder with other Cleanse PLC products. The branded washing powder ‘Wonder-Wash’ was not selling well in the...
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...Financial Ratio Comparison of Tesco Plc and Sainsbury Plc Introduction Abraham Brilloff once said, “Financial statements are like a fine perfume-to be sniffed but not swallowed.” This means to make rational decisions in keeping with objectives of the firm by busing the financial statements (Helfert, 2003), it is important to critical and analytical sniff but to simply swallow the statistical information from the statements. Using what tools to get into the deep sight of financial statement and see the beautiful sight of the financial world is what the essay focuses about (Matsumoto, Melkote & James, 1995). This essay centers on demonstrating and understanding of the purpose of financial ratios analysis, applying a range of financial accounting ratios to analyze and interpret financial statements and trend analysis of financial statements, using these ratios to critically evaluate the comparable companies’ performance and critically propose constructive suggestion to the discussed companies. And this essay selects Tesco Plc and Sainsbury Plc as a set of basement to analyze financial ratios of the companies’ financial statements. Tesco Plc and J. Sainsbury Plc are the comparable companies. Tesco Plc, whose headquarters are in UK, is one of the world's largest retailers with operations in 14 countries. Tesco Plc operates not only store mainly offering food, general merchandise, clothing, and electrical products, but also finance service, such as retail banking, financial, and...
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...Tesco plc. * Tesco plc. Is a multinational business, it was found in 1919 and was found by Jack Cohen. * Tesco plc. Is the third largest retailer business in the whole world measured by revenues and the second largest business measured in profits? * Tesco Plc. has headquarters located in Cheshunt, Broxbourne and in Hertfordshire. * Tesco has been improving their revenue hugely every year which shows that they are very successful. * The chairman of Tesco Plc. is currently Sir Richard Broadbent; he has been doing a great job coping the business to survive in the market. * Tesco Plc. has two executive directors and eight non-executive directors. * Tesco is owned mainly by the shareholders because Tesco is a public limited company. For every function in Tesco, has a team which is controlled by a financial director. Its controlled by the financial director so then the business can make much profit as well as it helps tout because a financial directors mainly are the ones which help out to make profit. Tesco has many functions to keep the business on the market. Tesco has a product group which only concentrates on making the products nothing else will be done by them. Tesco care a lot about their consumer type, they are very interested in what the customers want. They call their method “Customer Lifestyles”. The customer lifestyle is “you are what you buy”, it’s a way of them offering on range of things needed. Tesco thinks that this is the best...
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...Case: Diageo Ple Analysis Fact Pattern This is a strategic options case regarding Diageo PLC. Diageo is a conglomerate focusing on premium alcoholic beverages. Diageo is a United Kingdom based consumer product company. Diageo was formed in November 1997 from the merger of Grand Metropolitan Plc. and Guinness Plc., two of the world’s leading consumer product companies. The company began with the mission to be the strongest premium alcoholic beverage producer worldwide. Diageo Plc. is the seventh largest food and drink company in the world with a market capitalization of nearly ￡24 billion and annual sales of over ￡13 billion to more than 140 countries. Although the largest and the fastest growing business was the Spirits and wine business, with sales growth of 8% for the year and 15% operating margins and growth in total operating profits of 15%. And the second largest division was Guinness Brewing, which produced and sold beer to markets around the world. And the Diageo was in the process of integrating the two business, which may result in cost reductions of ￡130 million annually. To that end, they have acquired a majority of premium brands in the spirits industry and a large portfolio of premium wines, while at the same time divesting itself of those companies not in line with its new goals. Diageo’s two remaining business were in packaged and fast foods. As a matter of fact, the stock price of the company was far low from the average stock price after 7/1/99. In 2000...
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...THE IMPACT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ON ACCOUNTING SYSTEM A CASE STUDY OF FIRST CITY MONUMENT BANK PLC MAKURDI ABSTRACT This study examines the impact of information technology on accounting system. The researcher has done this research using primary and secondary sources of data thereby adopting the questionnaire method and personal interview as a data collection technique. The statistical tool adopted in testing hypothesis was analyzed using chi-square. The major findings of this research revealed that, the positive impact of information technology outweighs the negative impact and both banks and customers benefit from it. Fraud is a major problem associated with information technology as it is on the increase by the day. The research recommended that, Government should improve the electricity supply in the country; they should support local IT firms by providing loans, and lowering tariffs with a view to encouraging them in carrying out their activities. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Tittle page - - - - - - - - i Approval page - - - - - - - - ii Declaration - - - - - - - - iii Acknowledgement - - - - - - - iv Dedication - - - - - - - - v Abstract - - - - - - - - vi Table of contents - - - - - - - vii CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the study - - - - - 1 1.2 Statement of the Problem. - - - - 2 1.3 Objectives of the study. - - -...
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...BENSON IDAHOSA UNIVERSITY BENIN CITY COUSE CODE: ACC 811 TOPIC: EXAMINE THE ISSUES WHICH WERE THROWN UP IN THE CBN AUDIT OF THE NIGERIAN BANKING SYSTEM IN 2009 AND ASSESS THE EXTENT TO WHICH THIS COULD BE ATTRIBUTED TO ACCOUNTING FAILURE BY OBOR OMUEKPEN EVARISTA (MSC ACCOUNTING) EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The reform started when it became clear that poor corporate governance practices, over and undue exposure to the capital market, oil and gas sector, poor risk management practices and inadequate disclosure and transparency about the banks’ financial position characterised the Nigerian banking sector. The CBN, in June 2009 took a three –pronged approach to assess the financial condition of the twenty four (24) banks. One of the approaches was the special audit jointly carried out by the CBN and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation. The exercise highlighted inadequacies in capital asset and liquidity ratios as well as weakness in corporate governance and risk management in ten banks. These banks were found to be in distress as they failed to meet the minimum 10% capital adequacy and 25% minimum liquidity ratios. Apart from accumulating high non-performing loans, the banks were seriously exposed to the oil and gas sector as well as the capital market. Poor risk management practices in the form of necessary control measures were prevalent as the boards and managements of the banks had failed to observe established controls. Although the remaining fourteen banks had holes...
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...INTERNATIONAL J OURNAL OF M ULTIDISCIPLINARY S CIENCES AND ENGINEERING, VOL . 2, NO. 8, NOVEMBER 2011 PLC and its Applications Sadegh vosough1 and Amir vosough2 Department of Electronics, Ahvaz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz, Iran Department of Mechanics, Mahshahr Branch, Islamic Azad University, Mahshahr, Iran vosough.sadegh@yahoo.com, vosoogh_amir@yahoo.com Abstract— In this paper about the important concept of PLC and its application has been discussed. Early PLCs were designed to replace relay logic systems. These PLCs were programmed in "ladder logic", which strongly resembles a schematic diagram of relay logic. The main difference from other computers is that PLCs are armored for severe conditions (such as dust, moisture, heat, cold etc) and have the facility for extensive input/output (I/O) arrangements. PLC applications are typically highly customized systems so the cost of a packaged PLC is low compared to the cost of a specific custom-built controller design. On the other hand, in case of mass-produced goods, customized control systems are economic due to the lower cost of the components, which can be optimally chosen instead of a "generic" solution, and where the non-recurring engineering charges are spread over thousands or millions of units. Keywords– PLC-Feathers, Application of PLC and Ladder Logic I. INTRODUCTION C ontrol engineering has evolved over time. In the past humans were the main methods for controlling a system. More recently...
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...interpretation of business and financial performance has interested me and I want to learn more about and it is the topic I feel most comfortable with having completed my ACCA studies. Writing reports and analysing business performance was covered in papers F7 and P3 and through this report I will have the opportunity to enforce practically the knowledge acquired. Moreover undertaking this research project will improve my performance at work and enhance my professional and communication skills. I work in accountancy practice and this project will be invaluable experience. I decide to write a research project on Marks & Spencer plc. and the reason being is that I had carried out an investigation on this company before and I have preliminary knowledge on its activities and the sector in which operates. Marks & Spencer is well known and reputable retailer which I personally favour as a customer. Marks and Spencer Group plc. is an international multi-channel retailer with headquarters in London, in the City of Westminster .It carries out the retailing of apparel, home products and food items. It was started as a Penny Bazar 1884 in Leeds selling only British made goods (Enc. Britannica,2004) As of 30 March 2013 the Company’s product were sold through 766 UK stores and 418 stores internationally (www.marksandspencer.com, 2013) 1.1.2 The reason for choosing the John Lewis Plc. as the comparator company John Lewis was selected as a comparator company because it is a public...
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