Assessment 2 Steps 7-10 – Draft v1
ACCT11081 ASS#2 Steps 3-5 Draft Work
WARNING: Take care with the Trial Balance
My last attempt at the Trial Balance was not correct, according to what the assessment expectations are!
So here is attempt no. 2:
Trail Balance – Assessment 2 Step 5 – Draft v2
My warmest thanks to Tash Wilson for pointing this out. She has saved my Step 5, essentially.
In Step 5, we have to show how the temporary (nominal) accounts of the income and expense accounts get closed off at the end of the reporting period, i.e. the balance date. Therefore, we have to include in the trial balance columns all of the Other Comprehensive Income (CI) figures, including those which will soon be transferred to the equity accounts of ‘Retained Earnings’ and the ‘Reserves’ account.
The adjusted figures after the closing off process will be in the Balance Sheet. For example, the final figures for the Equity accounts will be in the Balance Sheet columns, but the preliminary figures of Retained Earnings and Reserves minus the Income, Expenses and Other CI figures, will be in the Trial Balance columns.
This will provide the assessment markers evidence that we understand that Income and Expense accounts are temporary accounts, which get closed off at the end of the reporting period and start at a $0 balance at the beginning of the new reporting period.
Dr Tyler’s example in the HE Term 2 2018 Week 4 video on Moodle helped show me this. Without the video, I would have a correct Trial Balance but lack the evidence of the learning and understanding behind the theory. From my understanding, Steps 3-5 are all about doing practical exercises to prove our learning and understanding of the theoretical. Which means we have to back up our written work with practical examples.
Nevertheless, be careful of Dr Tyler’s spreadsheet on Moodle, because she says in the video that Wesfarmers puts only a little bit of CI into Retained Earnings but not all of it into the Reserves account. See 00:57:50 to 01:00:40 mins & 01:08:00 to 01:09:30 mins. She said she was putting all CI into the Reserves account for the ease of showing us and to keep it simple. Therefore, do not copy Dr Tyler’s exact formula, but apply a similar formula to your firm’s particular situation.
Key learning point:
Because my company has already closed their income and expense accounts at the balance date, I need to show preliminary figures for Retained Earnings and the Reserves accounts in the Trial Balance, and adjusted and official figures in the Balance Sheet.
FY17-18 Trial Balance for Cochlear Ltd
Assessment 2 Step 5 for review and discussion:
Trial Balance – Assessment 2 Step 5 – Draft
(see pages 64 – 67 of 116 for Financial Statements)
Media Links for Cochlear Ltd
Videos about Cochlear:
These videos are chiefly about the Cochlear company.
Cochlear™ Company profile (02:58 mins)
Cochlear’s 30 year mission (01:42 mins)
Scientific Invention of Cochlear Implants Helps Those with Hearing Damage (02:26 mins)
These videos star Cochlear’s First Global Hearing Ambassador, Australian cricket legend Brett Lee.
Cochlear’s First Global Hearing Ambassador – Brett Lee (00:22 mins)
Cochlear’s Sounds of Cricket campaign advertisement (00:31 mins)
Cochlear Global Hearing Ambassador review featuring Brett Lee (02:15 mins)
These videos show some of Cochlear’s products.
How a cochlear implant works (00:45 mins)
Nucleus® 7 overview – the first cochlear implant sound processor that’s Made for iPhone (01:59 mins)
Nucleus 7 Sound Processor is a cochlear implant product.
How the Baha Connect System works (01:05 mins)
Baha sound processor is an acoustic product.
Videos about some of Cochlear’s main competitors:
MED-EL Medical Electronics
MED-EL The Greatest Gift (01:42 mins)
The MED-EL SYNCHRONY Cochlear Implant System: It’s Your Moment (01:33 mins)
Advanced Bionics – a Sovona Group Company
Why Choose Advanced Bionics (03:03 mins
New to Cochlear Implants? (00:31 mins)
Sovona
Sonova – For a life without limitations (01:42 mins)
Videos about the Health Care Equipment and Services Sector:
How To Get A Cochlear Implant | 3 Step Process (05:13 mins)
3 Biggest Lies In The Hearing Aid Industry And Why They Should Make You Angry (04:50 mins)
Videos about Cochlear’s Opportunities and Challenges:
ASEAN is the Australian Government’s Australian Trade and Investment Commission
Recent News Articles about Cochlear:
(2019-03-05) Top broker slaps buy rating on Cochlear shares
(2018-02-13) Cochlear adds R&D reform to tax wishlist
Recent Feature Articles about Cochlear:
NSW Government Department of Industry – Case Study – Cochlear Limited
Australian Advanced Manufacturing Council – Showcase – Cochlear
Salesforce.com – Customer Success Story – Cochlear
Recent News Articles with relevance to Cochlear’s Opportunities and Challenges:
(2018-11-26) The Implant Files: Australian Taxation Office targets $12b medical device industry
Recent News Articles about the Health Care Equipment and Services Sector:
(2019-02-08) Call to regulate the hearing aid industry
(2018-09-28) Leading Australian hearing clinic pays penalties for misleading customers
Recent Feature Articles and Reports about the Health Care Equipment and Services Sector:
Deloitte – 2019 Global health care outlook – February 2019
Macquarie University – Cochlear implants: not just for babies – March 2019
The Motley Fool – Should you buy these 3 ASX healthcare giants? – July 2018
Hearing Care Industry Association – About Hearing Loss – June 2017
Cochlear Blogs:
Hear & Now – Cochlear Americas
Hear & Now – Hearing Center – Cochlear Americas
Health Care Equipment and Services Sector Blogs:
American Cochlear Implant Alliance – Community Blogs
SCIC Cochlear Implant Program, a service of the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children – Blog
Health Care Equipment and Services Sector Websites:
SCIC Cochlear Implant Program, a service of the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children – Links
Hearing Care Industry Association
Australian Government’s hearing website and other links
Australian Government Department of Health – Hearing Services Program
AusBiotech – Australia’s Biotechnology Organisation
ASX Listed Health Care Equipment & Services Companies
S&P/ASX 200 Health Care (Sector) – Market Index
Cochlear’s Competitors:
Advanced Bionics – a Sonova Group Company
My Key Concept Questions for Cochlear Ltd
Assessment 2 Step 3 – My Key Concept Questions:
My key concepts are underlined, my questions in italics, and my reflections have normal formats.
Inside Cover Page and Page 1
Upon opening the 2018 Annual Report, I could tell straight away that this company is a profitable company. Cochlear certainly communicates this very clearly on page 1, with a graphical financial summary, no doubt intended for prospective and potential investors. The financial summary shows information on the number of product units manufactured, sales revenue, net profit, and dividends per share. They are all growing, especially the sales revenue and dividends. I found this impressive!
The inside cover page told me that Cochlear has a global tax strategy, corporate governance, and a detailed strategy. They have separate documents regarding these things, for investors to look at.
Profit drivers are the elements of a firm that drive up their profit. They can include price, variable costs, fixed costs and sales volume, just to name a few key ones (bizcoach.org, n.d., para. 2).
Knowing that Cochlear is a profitable company makes me excited. I was wondering what is driving and growing its profits, and consequently its dividends. Obviously, I can see that the number of product units manufactured and sales revenue have increased. With more product units to sell, and with success in sales, this must be one of the key factors resulting in a high turnover for the company (Queensland Government, 2016).
What are the elements that are contributing to strong sales revenue results?
What are the elements that are contributing to strong net profits results?
What are the economic and business realities of this firm, contributing to its recent success?
Operating and financial review – Page 7
Cochlear has a market capitalisation of A$10 billion plus. I was thinking that this might mean how much a firm was worth in terms of market value? But I forget what market capitalisation is. If I am to truly understand what I am reading and what is really going with my firm, then I need to ask questions, even if they are rather plain and simple.
What is market capitalisation?
Market capitalisation is the market value of a company’s shares, according to the current market price of one publicly offered share (Investopedia, 2018). According to Investopedia (2018), it is calculated as:
Number of company shares outstanding x Market share price.
Having reminded myself of the definition, I found this concept fascinating, because this definition actually answers one of my original key concept questions for Assessment 2 Step 1 of ACCT11081. These were:
“How does one then account for changes in the value of the equity in the financial accounts, i.e. according to the market value of the equity?
If the current value of a firm and the equity of the firm’s owners is expressed in the financial accounts then are these just changed through the revenue and expense accounts?
After all, these values, that of the firm and that of the equity belonging to the firm’s rightful owners, are changing all the time.” (Spurway, 2019, p. 17)
I now know the answer to the first question!
Cochlear’s investment proposition – Page 8
An investment proposition is a written position developed by management for investors, detailing the benefits of investing into the firm, which will hopefully attract and encourage investors to commit investments to the firm (Business Dictionary, n.d.). It usually contains some of the most relevant and prominent information about a firm, including the firm’s qualities, history, growth potential, business objectives, and prospects for return on investment (Business Dictionary, n.d.). If well-developed, it can be a powerful tool to draw investments (Adviser Business Review, n.d.).
I found this concept exciting because an investment proposition is where one gets to hear the really great things about a firm, including its investment prospects. This is surely a key part of a firm’s pitch to investors and other stakeholders, revealing something about its ability to create value for these parties with a genuine interest in the firm’s activities.
In summary, Cochlear’s investment proposition highlights 5 key points to potential investors:
– Cochlear is a global leader in its industry;
– It has long-term market growth opportunity;
– It has a clear commitment to product innovation;
– It has developed a growing annuity income stream; and
– It has strong free cash flow generation for growth in industry, innovations and dividends.
If an investment proposition is so useful, powerful and yet simple, then why don’t some firms feature one within their annual reports?
Market-leading technology – Page 12
Research and development (R&D) is important to firms because it helps to differentiate them, enhances their sustainability, generates more revenue, can assist in accessing tax incentives, and can give firms a competitive advantage (Ganapathy, 2014). R&D needs to be looked as a potential value creator and driver.
I agree with this concept, because it seems like R&D can be a real game changer for firms if these benefits are realised. In order to survive and thrive, firms should always be looking to be better than what they are, and look for opportunities to create more value. R&D is part of that looking! It is about being sustainable. It is about being a part of a broader strategy to advance.
What are the appropriate strategies for engaging in R&D spending?
What is the return on investment and cost of capital benchmarks regarding this?
How might R&D spending be sustained within a firm?
What is the right way to plan a R&D spend?
For FY2017-18, Cochlear spent A$168 million on R&D (Cochlear Ltd, 2018, p. 12). They continue to spend more and more on R&D because they are committed to retaining industry leadership through market-leading technology (Cochlear Ltd, 2018, p. 6). They are also able to access the Australian Government’s tax incentives for significant R&D work (Cochlear Ltd, 2018, p. 3).
Growing revenue across all business units – Page 18
A sales revenue analysis allows a firm to make decisions regarding their business strategy, showing it how products are performing, and helping it to decide on where further investments or discontinuations are needed (Chron, n.d.).
Cochlear has produced a sales revenue analysis within its annual report, showing a breakdown of its products’ sale revenues. Figure 1 shows the graphic used.
Figure 1. Cochlear’s sales revenue analysis for the last 4 years. From 2018 Cochlear Limited Annual Report, by Cochlear Ltd, 2018 (https://www.cochlear.com/shared-library/downloads/global-downloads/about-cochlear/annual-report-fy-2018).
I believe this is a good concept and tool to use, because it can show what products are driving sales revenues and what ones are lagging. Also, a sales revenue analysis will help a firm in deciding upon which areas to engage in for R&D, for future product upgrades or replacements.
How common are sales revenue analyses? Where are they used most?
What other analyses will be useful in strategic product and R&D decisions?
Cash flow – Page 22
Free cash flow (FCF) is a measure of profitability that is the calculation of residual cash available after accounting for the necessary maintenance spending on operations and the capital assets (Investopedia, 2019). Being a pure cash measure, it excludes non-cash items.
Operating cash flow (OCF) is another measure of profitability that is the calculation of the cash generation from a firm’s normal business operating activities (Investopedia, 2019). Being a pure cash measure, it involves using the earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) and then making changes with non-cash items, in order to arrive at the OCF (Investopedia, 2019).
I agree with these key concepts, because they are very different concepts, being arrived at in different ways. Nevertheless, they are similar also, being both cash measures. They can both be measures of success for a firm! In ACCT11059, I had some confusion in thinking they were both the same thing. Yet while reading the ACCT11059 Study Guide, ‘cash’ was actually often meaning FCF. But I did not know what FCF was before ACCT11059. I only knew what OCF was. However, they are both different. FCF is always a certain bottom line total, OCF is not.
Cochlear has obviously put together much financial analysis for potential investors. This is very organised. The figures of the FCF and OCF in particular, will be useful and of great interest for any sophisticated investors.
For FY2017-18, Cochlear’s figures are strong: OCF = A$258.1 million, FCF = A$202.7 million (Cochlear Ltd, 2018, p. 22).
In my view, this is a great way to attract more investors. That is, to do a lot of the financial analysis work for them.
Why don’t more firms put out their FCF for potential investors?
Is it because of a lack of human capital or time taken to prepare the annual report?
What do the ‘sophisticated investors’ look for in an annual report? What is important to them?
Capital employed – Page 23
Capital Employed represents the amount of capital being used up for a firm’s capital assets and projects, in order to generate value (Investopedia, 2019). According to Investopedia (2019), it is calculated as:
Total Assets – Current Liabilities
or
Total Equity + Non-Current Liabilities.
I found this concept interesting, and potentially helpful for a firm, because it allows one to see the value of the capital being used in the firm, and where it is being used, for value creation (Investopedia, 2019). This figure is useful to calculate the return on capital employed (ROCE), which is EBIT divided by capital employed (Investopedia, 2019).
What might ‘capital employed’ be able to tell us about the economic and business realities of a firm beyond what has just been said?
For FY2017-18, Cochlear has A$697.0 million worth of capital employed, being an increase of A$24 million mostly by way of working capital increases (Cochlear Ltd, 2018, p. 23).
Net debt – Page 23
Net Debt represents the amount of cash that would be left if the firm’s debts were paid immediately in the short-term (Investopedia, 2019). It only compares the liquid cash assets to the payment of the debts, regardless of other current assets of value (Investopedia, 2019). According to Investopedia (2019), it is calculated as:
( Short-Term Debts + Long-Term Debts ) – ( Cash + Cash Equivalents ).
I thought that this concept was useful, but somewhat confusing, being among so many other debt metrics out there. Some of the other debt metrics that exist are: Debt-to-Equity Ratio, Cash Conversion Rate, and the Net Liquidity Ratio (Investopedia, 2019). Each other metric has its own way of analysing and looking at the debt situation of a firm. I would love to know the difference and significance of each.
What are the other debt metrics? What are their differences?
When should each type of debt metric be used? How can they be used together?
What is the best way to make a sound judgement about a company’s solvency?
What is the best way to make a sound judgement about a company’s debt situation?
Should ‘net debt’ best be used in conjunction with other debt metrics, to get a better picture?
Cochlear has obviously given prominence to the ‘net debt’ concept and calculation. Just how often is it used in companies?
Areas I Found Difficult to Understand:
I found some of the terminology used difficult to understand. In particular, ‘indications’ on page 5 and ‘tender activity’ on page 20.
In the health care sector, indications are the latest innovations relating to existing treatments that are already available (Investopedia, 2018).
Tender activity, in the context of the cause of growing sales revenues, refers to Cochlear’s winning of contracts, in order to go ahead with the supply of their products (Investopedia, 2019).
Areas That Were Most Important to Me:
The following areas were of most importance to me:
The recent Financial History, the Chairman’s Report, the CEO & President’s Report, the Investment Proposition, the Growth Drivers, the Company Strategy, the Results of Operations, the Financial Review, the Business Risks, the Financial Statements, and the Shareholder Information.
These areas were important to me, because I really want to engage with and connect to the economic and business realities of this firm. In other words, I want to find out what is really going on, and what makes this firm tick. What makes it successful. What drives its value creation. Therefore, these areas were important to me so I could learn about and discover Cochlear’s economic and business realities.
About the Key Challenges:
Cochlear is doing extremely well. Therefore, their key challenges look more like opportunities than difficulties.
One of Cochlear’s main key challenges is to raise awareness among, and treat, the 95% of people who could benefit from a quality implantable hearing solution and who are currently missing out (Cochlear Ltd, 2018, p. 9). This presents a great opportunity to Cochlear (Cochlear Ltd, 2018, p. 2). Figure 2 highlights the situation. This is expected to drive Cochlear’s growth and that of its industry (Cochlear Ltd, 2018, p. 9).
Figure 2. The hearing loss market. From 2018 Cochlear Limited Annual Report, by Cochlear Ltd, 2018 (https://www.cochlear.com/shared-library/downloads/global-downloads/about-cochlear/annual-report-fy-2018).
Another challenge for Cochlear is to maintain innovation and R&D investments. The reason for this is to retain market leadership and remain competitive and sustainable (Cochlear Ltd, 2018, p. 25). As new products and services become replicated by their competitors, the price of these will fall, and consequently the revenues (Cochlear Ltd, 2018, p. 25).
An additional challenge is to deliver on their plans for continued growth and a dividend payout of 70% of net profit (Cochlear Ltd, 2018, p. 18). Cochlear has made ambitious plans. However, recent business and market conditions would suggest that they will probably deliver. Nevertheless, they are forecasting a weighted average AU/US exchange rate of 75 cents for the 2018-2019 financial year (Cochlear Ltd, 2018, p. 6). On recent exchange rate figures, for the year so far, I’m not sure they will hit this target. They may end up falling under it.
How it is meeting the Key Challenges now:
Cochlear is building collaborative partnerships to achieve research and treatment access for those affected by hearing loss (Cochlear Ltd, 2018, p. 3). Initiatives include:
– committing US$10 million over 10 years to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in the United States, in order to address hearing loss as a global health priority;
– setting up the Cochlear Chair in Hearing and Healthy Ageing at Macquarie University in Australia, to bring about collaborative research; and
– partnering with the Chinese government and universities to establish an international hearing research centre (Cochlear Ltd, 2018, p. 3).
Cochlear is continuing to spread awareness about hearing loss and their solutions, through their products, programs and services (Cochlear Ltd, 2018, p. 5). Initiatives include:
– strengthening Cochlear’s servicing capability to provide world-class products, programs and services;
– investing in sales and marketing activities, including direct-to-consumer marketing activities and marketing through the hearing aid channel; and
– reinvesting efficiency gains into more market growth activities (Cochlear Ltd, 2018, pp. 5-6).
Cochlear is going to keep on investing significantly in innovation and R&D (Cochlear Ltd, 2018, p. 6). Initiatives include:
– monitoring the world for new technologies that may advance Cochlear innovations;
– making small early-stage innovation investments with other organisations, like Otoconsult working on technology to have a superior cochlear implant fitting, Sensorion looking into therapeutic approaches with cochlear implants, and Epi-Minder developing a monitoring device for epileptic seizures; and
– investing in product developments to grow sales revenues (Cochlear Ltd, 2018, p. 3).
Cochlear is striving to maintain its growth. They seek to work toward delivering excellent customer outcomes, and returns for investors. Initiatives include:
– continuing product developments;
– promoting market growth activities;
– reinvesting operating cash flows for building awareness and market access;
– upholding disciplined investment;
– reinvesting any efficiency, currency or tax gains into market growth activities; and
– progressing large long-term investment projects, like the construction of a new Chinese manufacturing facility and stronger IT platforms to advance health, digital and cyber security capabilities (Cochlear Ltd, 2018, p. 6).
“Cochlear invests more than $160 million each year in R&D and currently participates in over 100 collaborative research programs worldwide.” (Cochlear Ltd, 2018, p. 7).
About the Company Strategy:
Figure 3 sums up Cochlear’s chief business and mission is, i.e. what they set out to do.
Figure 3. Cochlear’s chief business. From 2018 Cochlear Limited Annual Report, by Cochlear Ltd, 2018 (https://www.cochlear.com/shared-library/downloads/global-downloads/about-cochlear/annual-report-fy-2018).
Cochlear wants to be the standard of care for people when it comes to hearing loss (Cochlear Ltd, 2018, p. 11).
Their strategy centres on:
– activities to build awareness of hearing loss and their products,
– efforts to improve access to hearing solutions,
– strengthening servicing capability to provide products, programs and services for patients, and
– being the industry technology leader by investing in R&D to improve hearing solutions (Cochlear Ltd, 2018, p. 11).
Figure 4 sets out what Cochlear are trying to do to fulfil and accomplish their mission.
Figure 4. What Cochlear is doing in terms of strategy to accomplish their mission. From E. M. Spurway, 2019.
Figure 5 shows what Cochlear’s strategic priorities are.
Figure 5. Cochlear’s strategic priorities. From 2018 Cochlear Limited Annual Report, by Cochlear Ltd, 2018 (https://www.cochlear.com/shared-library/downloads/global-downloads/about-cochlear/annual-report-fy-2018).
Retain market leadership
Cochlear is delivering market-leading products, generating strong sales revenues (Cochlear Ltd, 2018, pp. 12, 19). They recently delivered A$1,351.4 million overall, up by 9% in FY2017-18, including:
– 62% from cochlear implants;
– 26% from services, including sound processor upgrades and accessories; and
– 12% from acoustics, including bone conduction and acoustic implants (Cochlear Ltd, 2018, p. 19).
They are also striving for a world-class experience for customers, through reliable products and consistent customer engagement efforts (Cochlear Ltd, 2018, p. 14).
Grow the hearing implant market
Cochlear seeks to build market awareness, access, and hearing solutions based on clinical evidence (Cochlear Ltd, 2018, pp. 15-17). Figure 6 shows their target market segments.
Figure 6. Cochlear’s chosen market segments and targets. From 2018 Cochlear Limited Annual Report, by Cochlear Ltd, 2018 (https://www.cochlear.com/shared-library/downloads/global-downloads/about-cochlear/annual-report-fy-2018).
Deliver consistent revenue and earnings growth
Cochlear seeks to invest significantly in sales, marketing and R&D activities; reap and reinvest savings from operational efficiencies through their scale; and maintain a strong Balance Sheet and FCF with the aim of returning substantial dividends to investors (Cochlear Ltd, 2018, p. 18).
References
Adviser Business Review. (n.d.). 5 good reasons to document your investment proposition. Retrieved from https://adviserbusinessreview.com/5-good-reasons-document-investment-proposition-part-1/
Bizcoach. (n.d.). Bizcoach, small business ideas. Profit drivers. Retrieved from http://www.bizcoach.org/profit-drivers.htm
Business Dictionary. (n.d.). Investment proposal. Retrieved from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/investment-proposal.html
Chron. (n.d.). Sales revenue analysis. Retrieved from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/sales-revenue-analysis-63664.html
Cochlear Ltd. (2018). 2018 Cochlear Limited annual report. Retrieved from https://www.cochlear.com/shared-library/downloads/global-downloads/about-cochlear/annual-report-fy-2018
Cochlear Ltd. (n.d.). Cochlear implants & cochlear implant technology. Retrieved from https://www.cochlear.com/au/home/understand/hearing-and-hl/hl-treatments/cochlear-implant
Ganapathy, V. (2014). Role & relevance of R&D in organization’s growth. Retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20141018170340-20365684-role-relevance-of-r-d-in-organization-s-growth
Investopedia. (2018). Market capitalization. Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/marketcapitalization.asp
Investopedia. (2018). New indications. Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/n/new-indications.asp
Investopedia. (2019). Capital employed definition. Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/capitalemployed.asp
Investopedia. (2019). Free cash flow – FCF. Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/freecashflow.asp
Investopedia. (2019). Net debt – Definition. Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/n/netdebt.asp
Investopedia. (2019). Operating cash flow (OCF). Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/o/operatingcashflow.asp
Investopedia. (2019). Tender. Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/tender.asp
Queensland Government. (2016). Profit drivers. Retrieved from https://www.business.qld.gov.au/running-business/finances-cash-flow/managing-money/more-profit/profit-drivers
Spurway, E. M. (2019). ACCT11081 assessment task 2 step 1 submission.
Spurway, E. M. (2019). What Cochlear is doing in terms of strategy to accomplish their mission. [Communication Image]
Understanding the Economic and Business Realities of a Firm
In 1974, management expert Peter Drucker discussed the concept of an ‘entrepreneur’ as someone with “the capacity to ‘foresee’ market trends and make a timely response” (Burns, 2016, p. 9).
As CQU HE Term 1 2019 ACCT11081 students explore their firms, they will attempt to engage with and connect to the economic and business realities of their firms. This will involve gaining an understanding of what is really going on with a firm. Knowing about the chief business difficulties, challenges and strategies of a firm will certainly help with this, as will learning about the inventory and depreciation policies.
Being able to understand the economic and business realities of a firm is important if one is indeed an entrepreneur, investor or an accountant. The reason for this is because if one knows what is really vital to a firm’s success, i.e. the business drivers, and can see what the real-world market trends are likely to be, then one can predict whether a firm is likely to be able to create value or not through its normal business activities going forward, i.e. its future interactions with other parties to exchange value, for the purpose of profit-making. This is really what business is all about: being able to see an opportunity in a firm’s general or specific business environments, knowing the relevant trends interacting with these environments, and then making a timely response accordingly, be it an investment or an advantageous commercial decision, in order to add value!
Reference:
Burns, P. (2016). Entrepreneurship and small business: Start-up, growth and maturity (4th ed.). New York City, New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Cochlear Limited
Having checked that my given company has ‘inventories’ in the Balance Sheet and ‘depreciation’ in the Notes to the Financial Statements section of the annual reports for 2018, 2017, 2016 and 2015, it is now confirmed that my company for the ACCT11081 Assessment 2 is Cochlear Limited.
About my Company:
Cochlear Limited is an international company, which is designs, develops and sells hearing products.
This is the company responsible for the famous ‘cochlear implant’, which is a device placed inside the human ear, to improve hearing, and to resolve loss of hearing quality, by sending signals to the brain (Cochlear Ltd, n.d., para 1). Their products and solutions continue to enhance hearing in people all over the world.
Cochlear has offices in just about all parts of the world, including Australia, New Zealand, Japan, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, India, United States, Canada, Panama, Switzerland, England, Germany, France, Belgium, Italy, Sweden, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
Working within the health care equipment and services sector, this company is an industry leader, with world-leading innovative and technological products.
Cochlear Limited (COH) is a company listed on the ASX.
Without reading through the annual reports just yet, I figure that this must be a profitable company, because its current share price in Australia, closing as at 15 March 2019, is AU$181.080.
As I discovered in the study of business finance, or corporate finance if you like, the current stock market share price is a reflection of the expectations of market investors regarding that particular company. A high share price would suggest that investors expect good returns on investment if investing in the company. Intelligent investors would not expect good returns if they thought that the company was not profitable.
Reference:
Cochlear Ltd. (n.d.). Cochlear implants & cochlear implant technology. Retrieved from https://www.cochlear.com/au/home/understand/hearing-and-hl/hl-treatments/cochlear-implant
Starting ACCT11081
Well, HE Term 1 2019 has started.
This term I am doing ACCT11081 Introductory Financial Accounting at CQU.
This unit is very similar in structure to ACCT11059, which I did 12 months ago. However, there is a 50% exam at the end.
I am required to use this blog for ACCT11081. So here I am! Let’s go!
Figure 1. Time to work. By Pexels, 2018 (https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-s-hand-on-top-of-laptop-while-working-938963/). Copyright 2018 by Pexels. Reprinted with permission.
Reference:
Pixels. (2018). Person’s hand on top of laptop while working [online image]. Retrieved from https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-s-hand-on-top-of-laptop-while-working-938963/
Ratios and Economic Profit
Economic Profit/Loss:
The Economic Profit/Loss shows how much money the firm has made over and above its expenses and its cost of capital (the opportunity cost). This figure needs to be positive, a profit. It uses the weighted average cost of capital (WACC), which is the percentage of the opportunity cost to the firm. It represents the rate of return on investment (ROI) that could have been made on another existing investment option. This is exceptionally important for a firm. For GSL, with a WACC of 10%, the results are terrible. They have not made an economic profit for any of the four years, but rather have made large economic losses. This suggests that GSL is an extremely bad investment option for shareholders.
How do your firm’s ratios differ to the ratios of firms of other students?
Steven Minehan’s firm of Dynamic Holdings Limited has excellent profitability ratios, poor efficiency ratios, good liquidity ratios, is more equity funded compared to debt, and has great earnings and dividends paid on shares. The firm has mixed ratios based on reformulated financial statements. Return on Equity (ROE), Return on Net Operating Assets (RNOA), Net Borrowing Cost (NBC) and Profit Margin (PM) are all pretty good. However, for all four years the efficiency ratio of Asset Turnover (ATO) is very bad and there are large economic losses.
Scott Anderson’s firm of Credit Corp Group Ltd has great profitability ratios, poor efficiency ratios, excellent liquidity ratios, is more debt funded compared to equity, has great earnings and dividends paid on shares and has excellent ratios based on reformulated financial statements (except for Asset Turnover – ATO). His firm is excellent. It is making excellent returns and has large economic profits for all years.
Kimsoth Ryan’s firm of FirstGroup PLC has modest profitability ratios, good efficiency ratios, average liquidity ratios, is heavily debt funded compared to equity, has modest earnings and dividends paid on shares and has great ratios based on reformulated financial statements (a pleasant surprise to finish). Her firm is the only one I have seen with a good efficiency ratio of Asset Turnover (ATO), being greater than 1.
My firm of Greatcell Solar Limited has poor ratios everywhere compared with the firms of these other students. Although, my firm has an improving Asset Turnover rate and still has a good Current Ratio. So, as bad as things are, it’s not over yet.
What do your firm’s ratios tell you about how well your firm is performing?
The ratios of my firm tell me that the firm is performing very poorly. They are making no money, but are rather losing money in a big way.
What new questions the ratios might raise in your mind about your firm?
No new questions were raised in my mind about GSL.
However, I could see, from the comparison with the firms of other students, that the economic profit relies on the RNOA being greater than WACC. If RNOA is not greater than WACC than there will certainly be an economic loss. The reason for this is that you will be multiplying by a negative figure. This was the main reason for the economic losses that I saw. Therefore, RNOA is indeed a key driver of economic profit.
(RNOA – WACC) x Net Operating Assets (NOA) = Economic Profit/(Loss)
Economic Profit Discussion:
My firm has large economic losses for all four years. I believe the key thing driving this is the large losses seen in the operating income after tax (CI) figures. The net operating assets are clearly not generating enough revenue. Therefore, there are large negative RNOA figures. As a result of this, there is a negative figure, in economic loss, for each year. The economic loss figures are roughly the same for all four years. Perhaps the most recent economic loss is lower than the other losses, but this is only because the net operating assets are a bit smaller because of the increased operating liability of ‘trade and other payables’. Perhaps the firm is also falling behind in paying its bills.
In comparison with the firms of other students (Steven Minehan, Scott Anderson and Kimsoth Ryan), I can see varying results.
Steven Minehan’s firm of Dynamic Holdings Limited has large economic losses for all four years, despite having good RNOA and PM, and big, healthy and positive NOA. However, his firm has really bad ATO, worst than my firm. This probably means that his firm is not efficient in making sales transactions, despite making excellent returns when the firm does make sales transactions. His firm simply needs to make more sales. Perhaps his firm isn’t as good as I initially thought it was.
Scott Anderson’s firm of Credit Corp Group Ltd has excellent economic profits for all four years. His firm has RNOA above 10% and positive NOA, and therefore can expect an economic profit as a certainty. The firm also has a PM above 20%, which is excellent. However, the firm also has an average ATO. Therefore, to continue the great results, the firm is going to have to make more sales transactions in the future. In other words, be more efficient with those operating assets.
Kimsoth Ryan’s firm of FirstGroup PLC has modest economic profits for the last three years. Despite not having PM above 10% for any given year, and only having RNOA above 10% for 2015 and 2017, the firm has excellent ATO rates for all four years, being well above 1.5. This means that the efficiency of the firm is the key difference. The excellent efficiency combined with the modest profitability has meant that economic profit is being made. However, the economic profits are small. It is as though the firm is really just breaking even for all four years. This is not too bad. Nevertheless, as an investor, one would want good economic profit all of the time.
I cannot see how my firm is similar to these firms at all. Simply because my firm has bad profitability and efficiency. A recipe for disaster. It makes big losses and has poor ATO rates. Therefore, the economic losses are big also.
What insights have you gained by ‘breaking into bits’ your firm’s financial statements? What insights have you not gained?
I have learnt more about the key drivers of economic profit: If RNOA is bigger than WACC and NOA is positive then there will be an economic profit as a certainty. The elements of good efficiency and good profitability make for the best RNOA. If one element is average and the other element excellent, there may be an economic profit or a break-even-ish figure.
