Analysis of JNY and LIZ Financial Data Essay

The following financial report provides an analysis of the financial ratios of David Jones with its close competitor in the retail sector, Myer. The financial ratios analyzed include profitability ratios, leverage ratios, efficiency ratios and market ratios for the two companies. The analysis utilizes individual company time-series analysis as well as industry cross-sectional analysis with the aim of determining the competitiveness of David Jones relative to its close competitor Myer.

Jones Apparel Group (JNY) also designs, markets, and distributes apparel, footwear, and accessories. But unlike the other three companies, Jones Apparel Group only conducts business in North America, which makes them more concentrated on this part of market share. Its brands include Jones New York, Anne Klein, Easy Spirit,

J.Crew as an iconic brand targeting young working professional by focusing on preppy and classy look failed in identifying brand focus. Also, their business model is performing poorly in the fast-fashion industry compare to traditional competitors, with its high prices, diverging quality, and undesirable brand image. Hence, the brand perception by customers has changed and many of them prefer to purchase the discounted products rather than full-priced items.

Macy’s, Inc. is known as the Great American Department Store was established in 1858 and now has 810 stores operating in the United States, coast-to-coast. Macy’s stores nationwide are grouped into 69 geographic districts that average ten to twelve stores each. Most stores are located at urban or suburban areas. As of January 30, 2010, the Company’s operations were conducted through four retail operating divisions – Macy’s, macys.com, Bloomingdale’s, and bloomingdales.com. The Company is a retail organization operating retail stores and Internet websites under two brands (Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s) that sell a wide range of merchandise, including men’s, women’s and children’s apparel and accessories, cosmetics, home furnishings and other

In the firms purchasing strategy, Ross Dress for Less obtains high-quality close-out products resulting from errors of judgment, overproduction, miscalculations, canceled orders and liquidation. The products are purchased in large quantities allowing the company to access them at rock-bottom prices (Bischoff, 2011). The company has to apply cost leadership to keep competitive rivalry at bay.

Eddie Bauer yielded the lowest net income among its competitors like The Gap, A & F and Land’s End. It achieved similar gross profit margin but got a poor performance on overall net income at 1% because it suffered from high expenditure on SG&A in both retail and catalog operations which accounted for 37% of its total net sales. This is extraordinary high while compared with its main competitors like A & F, and the Gap whose SG&A amounted to 22% and 27% of their net sales respectively (Table 1). A & F and Eddie Bauer are similar in size,

The purpose of this paper is to advise analyze the financial statements of Dillard’s, Inc. in order to recommend whether or not my client should invest $1 million in the large retail company. I will compare the financial statements of Dillard’s, Inc. its competitor, Kohl’s Corporation. Investing in retail can be risky because a retail company’s performance is very heavily influenced by factors that have nothing to do with the actual company such as the overall performance of the economy or the weather during the holiday shopping season. There is, however, potential for profitability within the retail sector. Based on my analysis, I recommend that the client should not invest in Dillard’s, Inc. for the following reasons. First, Dillard’s has experience a decline in net income in the last three years. Second, liquidity ratios indicate that they could face possible liquidity constraints in the future. Third, long-term debt paying ability ratios indicate that the company could have trouble paying off the principal of its current debt obligations. Fourth, the profitability ratios are well below industry averages, suggesting that there are more profitable companies to invest in within the industry. And finally, Investor analysis ratios provide mixed opinion of the future performance of the company. I conclude that retail can be a profitable industry to invest in if an investor has the risk tolerance and risk capacity to withstand the uncertainty, but neither Dillard’s

The company that I chose to analyze is Tootsie Roll. Throughout my life I have always had somewhat of a sweet tooth and have been very intrigued in the process of business. Now I have the opportunity to look further into such a great company such as Tootsie Roll and really find out how the business is run and what type of work is invested in such a well known business.

-Martin Industries just paid an annual dividend of $1.30 a share. The market price of the stock is $36.80 and the growth rate is 6.0 percent. What is the firm's cost of equity?

Life insurance is meant to provide funds to replace a breadwinner's to protect and support dependents. Chad and Haley are dependents, not income providers. Therefore, the purchase of life insurance is unnecessary and not recommended. The Dumonts should use the money they would spend on policies for the children to increase their own coverage.

Based on The Fashion Channel’s estimated financials for 2006 and 2007, from Exhibit 4 and 5 in Stahl’s HBR article, I have created two spreadsheets, considered in appendix 1. The calculations indicate that continuing the undifferentiated marketing strategy would result in a 1% decline in profits. However, that goes on the assumption that the competing networks will not continue to erode the market for The Fashion Channel. In all likelihood the 1% decline is a best case scenario. The first alternative shows a 3% increase in profit margin for almost an additional $10 million, with no additional outlay in marketing or programming costs.

Despite Abercrombie & Fitch’s efforts to win back loyal consumers with their new rebranding initiative, the company continues to experience a decline in annual revenue and dismal growth coupled with a poor return on investment, making it a risky investment option for potential shareholders. According to the company’s annual report, Abercrombie & Fitch saw a decline in revenue from $4,116.90 billion in February 2014 to $3,744.03 billion in 2015 with fourth-quarter revenues falling nearly 14% to $1.12 billion (Abercrombie & Fitch 41). The company contributed its dismal report to a decrease in the number of operational stores at the end of Q4 fiscal 2014, weak consumer demand for both Hollister and Abercrombie & Fitch, slowing growth in

2. Richard M. Johns (2006). The Apparel Industry. 2nd ed. UK, London: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.. 1-124.

Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) is well known in the apparel clothing field. The corporation engages in the design, marketing and distribution of lifestyle product. This analysis paper will illustrate the current financial situation and forecast the future free cash flow based on the previous financial statement and financial data collected. These information and forecast are served for the potential investor to have a general understanding of RL Corporation and make the right choice on their money.

By comparing the profitability of the two major international retailers, we see that J. Crew Group has a lower return on assets at an average of 5% for 2011-2013 compared to Gap Inc., which has an average ROA of 16% for