Criticisms of Blockbuster by Seidler
1. The bulk of 1988 per share earnings were due to
a) Very slow goodwill amortization
b) Stretched out life for "hit" tapes
c) Nonrecurring items of initial franchise fees, area development fees and sales to new franchises.
2. Steeper growth curve resulting from acquisitions that were treated as pooling
3. Inflation of sales in the fourth quarter. Revenues are recognized when products are shipped with no indication that the stores purchasing were actually open for business.
4. Running out of cash
Our position -
1. On the EPS related issues
a) Regarding the goodwill amortization issue, we suggest a position that is in between the current BV practice (40 years) and Bear's recommendation (5
…show more content…
We do not agree with BV's practice of recognizing the revenue upon shipping the supplies because without acceptance of supplies by stores, it does not satisfy the requirement of completing all activities that lead to completion of the critical event.
4. We agree that BV ran out of cash. The net working capital was -$10384M and Accounts Payable tripled. We also agree with the double counting and mismatch in financial statements.
A3
Part 1 - Concerns that have been addressed
1-b. The "hit" tapes are now being amortized over a much shorter period The costs of non-base stock videocassettes (generally greater than four copies per title for each store i.e. "hits") are amortized on an accelerated basis over three months to an estimated $4 salvage value.
2. Acquisitions treated as pooling All acquisitions were accounted for under the purchase method and accordingly the operating results of the acquired businesses are included in the consolidated results of operations of the company since their respective date of acquisition.
3. Critical event for sale of supplies to stores BV is using a rental library approach for supplies for the new stores. Revenue-sharing allows BV to purchase videocassettes at a lower product cost than traditional buying arrangements.
Part 2 - Concerns that remain
1-a. The goodwill continues to be amortized over a period of 40 years.
1-c The nonrecurring items mentioned by Seidler
If the 5-year amortization were applied in its place of the 40-year timetable, then it is necessary for Blockbuster to identify the goodwill in larger amounts. This would increase tax liability of Blockbuster, which would have represented a loss of $0.09 (0.58 - 0.49) per share
1. Describe the impact the three proposed accounting methods (full revenue recognition, deferral of revenue, and partial revenue recognition) would have on the company’s financial statements: 1) at the time of the sale, and 2) in future periods.
There are basically six technology-driven threats to the traditional rental model: (1) Cable companies offering Video on Demand (VOD), (2) online movie downloads, (3) online movie rentals, (4) disposable DVDs, (5) illegal movie downloads and DVD copying, and (6) Digital (or Personal) video recorders (DVR). (Jackson) One could also consider traditional pay-per-view (PPV) as and additional substitute. Only one of these seven, online movie rentals has proven to be a major competitive substitute for traditional movie rentals. All other areas, except traditional pay-per-view are expanding rapidly, but some face significant challenges.
Revenues are recognized at the POS, when a fixed sales price is established, and collection is probable. For most product sales, these criteria are met when a product is shipped. Online sales are deferred until the customer receives their product, and the transfer of liability is completed.
The film, “the Power of One,” followed the life of a boy named P.K. from a small child to a handsome young man. It showed all the hardship and tragedy he had to endure throughout his life. Although the movie could have focused more on the apartheid, it instead portrayed the vulgarity of those times through the eyes of an English boy. As time went on, P.K. slowly began to realize the full severity of the apartheid. It was difficult for a child to comprehend how horribly people could treat one another for no apparent reason.
The movie thirteen touched many important factors of adolescent’s development. Some of the ones I want to concentrate in this paper are: family system, developmental tasks, and peer pressure.
Cisco allocates the fair value of the purchase consideration of its acquisitions to the tangible assets, liabilities, and intangible assets acquired. The excess fair value of the purchase consideration over the fair values of these identifiable assets and liabilities is recorded as goodwill.
In the movie Wit, English literary scholar Vivian Bearing has spent years translating and interpreting the poetry of John Donne. Unfortunately, she is a person who has cultivated her intellect at the expense of her heart. Both colleagues and students view Bearing as a chilly and unfriendly person lost in her private world of words and mysterious thoughts.
Blockbuster was “the largest movie rental chain” in the Movies industry around the world (Biesada a). According to Rourke, Rothburd and Stansell (2006), Blockbuster mainly focused on “providing in-home rental, retail movie, and game entertainment”. It created 9,100 video stores and provided services to almost three million of customers in America and 24 other countries (p. 74). In 2010, the company filed for bankruptcy since it failed to adapt new technology in their strategies, and “was sold to satellite TV service provider DISH Network in 2011” (Biesada b).
As shown in the ratios chart, working capital has increased by $13M. Maturities of short-term investments and cash flow from operations are projected to be sufficient to sustain the company’s overall financing needs, including capital expenditures. The following corporate strategic plan identifies a project that needs financial backing.
Due to the significant cost associated with DVD creation, replication, shipping and install Clifford Thames will charge a $10 flat fee surcharge for all DVD customers. This surcharge is irrespective of the number of DVDs (i.e. dealers taking 1 DVD will be charged $10 and dealers taking 9 DVDs will also be charged $10). The $10 surcharge will be a separate transmittal and will be entirely payable to Clifford Thames to partially offset the costs and this is not part of the revenue share.
After compiling the customer’s details, the next step is the need to keep track of the videos that the store stocks. Each video has a title and a distributor which are stored in the store’s database (Chen, 1976). Since the store has several copies of the same movie and many movies are from the same distributor, it is not
Rajat Singh, a managing director at Hudson Bancorp, needs to find a way to rejuvenate the paper check corporation. One main part that needs to be calculated is the appropriate mixture of debt and equity for the firm. The company needs to determine the correct mixture so that they can both minimize the cost of capital and increase the shareholders value. I will analyze the current and future situation of the company, trying to find the correct credit rating to use that will increase income. With the new credit rating, I will be able to recommend a certain amount of debt for the company to take on and be profitable.
The movie I chose to watch is Courageous. The precipitating event in this movie is the car accident that takes the life of Emily Mitchell. Her father, Adam Mitchell, and the rest of her family are traumatized by the sudden death of their 9 year old daughter/sister. In thinking about information that would be gained in the first contact with Adam Mitchell, one thing that stands out about his previous state of mind/functioning is that he was somewhat uninvolved with his children, taking them for granted. This fact can also be a trigger for how he processes this event, causing a crisis for him as he realized his