Cartwright Lumber Company Case

was located in a suburb of a large city in the Pacific Northwest; its operations were limited to the retail distribution of lumber products in the local area. In 1994, Cartwright Lumber Company was established as a partnership by Mark Cartwright and his brother-in-law Henry Stark. However, in 2001, Cartwright brought out Henry’s interest for

Profitability ratios are used to measure the overall efficiency of thebusiness, as well as management effectiveness. Examples of profitability ratios include the gross margin ratio and the net margin ratios.

Total asset turnover : This ratio measures the efficiency of a company’s use of its assets

The profitability ration in a financial analysis is the ability of the organization to generate a profit. This ratio looks at areas such as net income, revenue, gross profit, earnings before taxes and interest and operating profit to name a few. Profitability shows the bottom line numbers for a company and is the goal that most organizations strive for. Ratios examined were gross profit margin and net profit margins

The ratio expresses the relationship of gross profit on sales to net sales in terms of percentage (Van Horne, Wachowicz & Bhaduri, 2005). Goss profit is the result of the relationship between prices, sales volume and costs. Gross profit margin of Starbucks Corporation is 23% whereas the ratio for McDonald’s is 35%. McDonald’s ratio is high as compared to Starbucks which is a sign of good management. It implies that the cost of production of the firm is relatively low. The McDonald’s has reasonable gross margin which ensures adequate coverage for operating expenses of the firm and sufficient return to the owners of the business, which is reflected in the net profit margin.

Although the company seems to be profitable, it has faced shortage of cash. It happened due to increase in Accounts Receivable as well as Inventories. On the other hand, Accounts Payable does not increase that rapidly and difficulties regarding cash collection become evident. Furthermore, the cash collection cycle becomes larger (59 days in year 2003, while more than 70 in year 2006).

In addition to affecting profits by adjusting useful life and depreciation; key ratios will also be affected. The net profit margin can be influenced both ways to fit the purpose of business strategy. It could be increased to make it seem more profitable, or it can be influenced in a negative way to write off as much expenses as possible – if the year held disappointing results – in order to show next year more positively in comparison.

In terms of industry profitability, it appears that profit margins have a tendency to fall. This is because competition is high and customers tend to buy low-priced high-value items. The average gross margin and net profit margin is 37.1% and 14.3%, respectively (MSN Money, 2010).

While working for Brodribb Sawmilling Co, Stevens and Gray were employed by Sawmilling Co Pty Ltd as a trucker and snigger. During 1985, while Gray was moving a Log onto Stevens truck,

Asset management ratios are used to measure how effectively the company is managing its assets. Tire City Inc inventory turnover declined from 6.47 in 1994 to 6.22 in 1995. The reason is the increasing inventory from 1994 to 1995 as a percentage of increased sales. Therefore, days of Inv outstanding increased from 56.39 days in 1994 to 58.72 days in 1995. Also, receivable turnover declined from 6.58 in 1994 to 6.44 in 1995 and accordingly days of receivable outstanding increased from 55.50 days to 56.71 days. Tire City’s payable turnover has increased from 8.98 in 1994 to 9.45 in 1995 and accordingly days of payable outstanding decreased from 40.65 days in 1994 to 38.61 days in 1995. The Company cash conversions cycle has increased in 1995 to 76.82 days from 71.24 in 1994.

Based on Next Annual Report and Account January (2011), the chief executive's review present the A New Normal of company overview, due to the changing consumer environment, Next PLC need to have New avenues of growth, and brand new way to control cost, also, it will be important that retailer have to generate the healthy cash flow with cautious management. Furthermore, enable to know how company efficiently use asset to generate revenue and whether there was improvement between 2010 and 2011, the activity ratios have to calculate out. The ROCE in 2010 and 2011 were 38.91%,41.79%, this number showed how profit generated by capital employed, and the growth figure of ROCE lead to level up efficiency asset used.((NEXT PLC, 2011 page43, 45) The figure for inventory turnover, receivable turnover, and payable turnover in 2010 and 2011 were 46.81 days, 54.98 days; 66.07days, 68.23 days; 83.36days,81.3days; respectively. (ibid) It is clearly show that the inventory and receivable turnover in 2010 was taken lesser day than 2011, in which means inventories took less day to sold out to costumer and the cash credit receive more faster than the 2011, besides, the payable turnover had longer period than 2011, it was also a good example to illustrate that there was more cash flow holding by company, and the overall image of these figure present that the resource had been

The Gross profit margin stays relatively constant at around 36 %. However, there is a slight rise from 2000 to 2004.

The Cartwright Lumber Company had been found in 1994 as a partnership by Mark Cartwright and his brother-in-law Henry Stark. Later in 2001, Mr. Cartwright bought out Stark’s shares and incorporated the business. Now, Mr. Cartwright is a sole owner and president of the company. The business is located in the Pacific Northwest region and does the retail distribution of lumber products in the local area. Plywood, moldings, and sash and door are some of the typical products of the company.

Generally speaking, the shorter of the A/R turnover in days, the better efficiency of current capital. But the data of this firm is higher than the industry average level, it indicates there is an inefficient use of current capital and a problem of management, especially in 2001.But it started dropping dramatically in 2002 which reflects an obviously improvement of management.

Accounts receivable turnover is the second method by which a company’s trade receivables’ liquidity can be evaluated (Gibson, 2011). Žager et al. (2012) noted turnover ratios should be as high as possible as this indicates a firm’s ability to convert its assets more often. 3M’s accounts receivable turnover for years 2007 and 2008 is shown in Exhibit 2. In 2007, 3M turned its accounts receivable over 7.12 times and 7.70 times in 2008. This calculates into a turnover of its accounts receivable every 51.28 days in 2007 and 47.38 days in 2008. The increase in accounts receivable turnover times per year (decrease in number of days to turnover accounts receivables) from 2007 to 2008 is a positive trend for 3M. It suggests, along with the prior calculation, the management of receivables is likely to be improving in efficiency.