Financial statement analysis America Online, Inc. Case Study 1
1. Prior to 1995, why was America Online so successful in the commercial online industry relative to its competitors CompuServe and Prodigy?
AOL offered a broad range of features including real-time talk, electronic mail, e-magazines and newspapers, online classes, shopping, and internet access. They also had software for the internet such as for production and distribution of original content, interactive marketing and transactions capabilities, and networks to support the transmission of data. In other words, AOL was a platform that connected the person with the need to internet access with the person who had the internet content by charging membership fees.
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Considering the uncertainty in the subscription life, in order to provide more accurate report AOL should change its accounting policy and charge the subscriber acquisition cost to the period in which it is incurred. The company was not consistent with this point of view and actually increased the amortization period from 12-18 months to 24 months in 1995. AOL was too confident in its market strategy and retention ability and ignored the increased competition in the market. 5. What would be the effect on AOL’s 1994 and 1995 ending balance sheets if the company had followed the policy of expensing subscriber acquisition outlays instead of capitalizing them? What would be the effect of expensing subscriber acquisition costs on AOL’s 1995 income statement?
If AOL expensed the subscriber acquisition outlays instead of capitalizing them, it removes these costs from the asset section on the balance sheets, which reduces the total assets. The shareholder's equity decreases as a result. If these costs were expensed, they would appear in the expense section on the income statement. Therefore, increasing the expenses and reduce the net income on the income
Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) is a report used by cities, and local governments to provide the public with their financial records each year, while adhering to government accounting standards board (GASB) guidelines. The report presents a comprehensive picture of the reporting entity’s financial condition, it provides how funds are spent and allocated throughout the year.
If the depreciation method changes from straight-line method to accelerated method then, depreciation expense would be increase and net income would decrease. The EPS ratio would represent a loss of $0.19 per share.
American Eagle Outfitters sells accessories, personal care products, graphic T’s, outerwear, footwear, swimwear, and the company started a new line of children apparel a few years ago (Hill, 2011). The Saturday nearest January 31st is the date that American Eagle Outfitters Store reports their most recent reporting for the end of the year. The balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow statements were presented completely in 3years.
Solution – QUESTION 2 (written by Asher Curtis) - 10 Marks Suggestions only: 1. (3 marks for identifying the three dimensions) Applications of cost and equity differ on three dimensions. First, the treatment of dividends, is written against the investment account (Equity) or recognised as revenue (Cost). Second, the treatment of profits reported by the associated entity and the ammortisation of goodwill (the difference in the cost paid and the fair value of the net assets acquired) are not recognised when applying the cost method. The only case where net profit is not affected by choice of the method is where there is no goodwill (cost = fair value of net assets acquired) and the firm pays out all of its profit as dividends. Any of the following alternatives provide examples (2 marks for any of the following): a. The case for a profitable company that pays less than 100% profits out as dividends: The net value of the investment increases under the equity method, which will be more than cost unless the investment is revalued. b. The case for a loss company that pays no dividends: Unless the investment is subject to a recoverable amount test, application of the equity method
During 2010, management revised its estimate of the customer list economic life, and began assigning an amortization period of 15 years to newly acquired national customer lists. Amortization expense for the year ended December 31, 2010, was $3 million. To test the economic lives of the customer lists, the engagement team asked management what the reasoning was for the change in the assumed economic life this year. Management provided a memorandum that discussed the rationale for using the 25-year economic life to amortize the various customer lists, as well as the rationale for the current-year change in management’s estimate of the newly acquired national customer lists lives.
There were two accounting policies used by AOL that were considered aggressive, as well as controversial. The first was to amortize its software development costs and the second was to capitalize subscriber acquisition costs.
Answer: The revenue coming from the promise to integrate internet technologies on Windows 95 and office would be recognized in the future by the revenue recognition policy. However, the development costs to provide these enhancements are already incurred in the and expensed in the company’s treatment for the software development costs. The combined effect of these two policies is the mismatch of expense with revenue.
The next segment of this look at the financial condition of Amazon.com involves a horizontal and vertical analysis of Amazon’s income statement and balance sheet. Since both of these statements involve many segments, we will address key and noteworthy figures to gain a broad understanding of Amazon’s progress in the last three years.
America Cable Company (ACC) should use APV approach to value cash flows from 2008 to 2012. This is because ACC uses classis LBO approach for acquisition where it purchases the target with significant amount of debt, and then in the long run paid the debt to bring down the leverage to industry norms. The goal is to use a tax efficient route and maximize the present value of tax shields, and minimize the amount of up-front equity invested in the deal.
The statement of cash flows outlines some of the changes to the capital structure. The company added $164.5 million in a consolidated loan facility, and it paid out $138.1 million in dividends. There were no share buybacks during the year. The company states in the annual report (p.4) that it intends to maintain a conservative gearing ratio. The company in this section attributes its increased borrowings to projects and opportunities on which it has embarked. These investments lie within the integrated retail, franchise and property system. One of the
Reporting subscriber acquisition costs as an asset allowed AOL's management lots of discretion in determining net income because the amount capitalized and the level of the amortization expense are both determined by managers. As a result, it was not clear whether AOL's income number is a good measure of the economic performance of the firm. Managers could have taken advantage of this situation, distorting the income number in order to get some personal benefits (e.g., higher bonuses, a higher stock price which would add to their personal wealth, etc.).
The purpose of this essay is to perform financial statement analysis on Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN ). We start with an introduction of Amazon and its industry. We then evaluate the company’s financial position, liquidity, operating capability and financial flexibility using different ratios. To evaluate the financial performance of Amazon.com, Inc we disclose recurring NICO and do full ROE disaggregation.
Aggreko PLC (Aggreko) provides temporary powerand temperature control solutions . The company's lease and provides its services on a rental basis . Renting its services power generators , temperature control , humidity control , oil-free air luggage.
Ms. Ringer is largely supporting operations through her line of credit versus managing costs. In review of the operating costs, overhead and administration have increased by 8% from 2008-2011 or $116,870. In addition salary dollars continue to increase from 2008-2011 by $111,150 with no efforts to flex. The other expenses are staying steady in proportion to gross revenues. There may be opportunities in these areas however salaries and overhead is the greatest opportunity to scale back costs and contribute to increased net income and ultimately positive cash flows. Flexing salaries and benefit to 44% of gross revenue and reducing overhead and expenses to 10% of gross revenue is recommended for Ms. Ringer to increase net income to $152,956 and equity to $240,214 (exhibit Operating Statements-2012 proforma).
Landry’s Debt to Asset ratio also increased from year 2002 to 2003. In 2002 Landry had a debt to asset ratio of 0.39. In 2003 Landry’s debt to asset ratio increased to 0.45. While both numbers are acceptable and considerably low, the increase from 2002 to 2003 could influence potential investors to not invest in Landry’s stock. This increase also suggests that Landry’s debt also increased from 2002 to 2003. Overall, while there was a slight increase from 2002 to 2003 Landry’s still had a good debt to asset ratio. We think that a contributing factor to the debt