Financial Analysis : The General Electric Company

Financial ratio analysis is a valuable tool that allows one to assess the success, potential failure or future prospects of the company (Bazley 2012). The ratios are helpful in spotting useful trends that can indicate the warning signs of

Secondary information is collected for this case. This case study limited only one techniques of financial analysis that is Ratio Analysis and also taken a single company. Thus the conclusion of the analysis carried out in a professional manner will be able to correctly describe the evaluation of the company and to substantiate the user’s decisions.

The success of a business depends on its ability to remain profitable over the long term, while being able to pay all its financial obligations and earning above average returns for its shareholders. This is made possible if the business is able to maximize on available opportunities and very efficiently and effectively use the resources it has to create maximum value for all involved stakeholders. One way the performance of a company can be measured on critical areas such as profitability, its ability to stay solvent, the amount of debt exposure and the effectiveness in resource utilization, is performing financial analysis where a set of ratios provides a snapshot of company performance and future

Current ratio shows how well the company can pay off its short-term liability obligations. Short-term liabilities are debt due within the next year. Companies that have larger amounts of current assets are better able to pay off their current liabilities. The higher the ratio, the better able the company is to pay current obligations. A low ratio indicates the company is weighted down with current debt and the cash flow will suffer. The equation for current ratio

A review of a company’s profitability lets investors or managers know how efficiently a company is operating. There are three key ratios to review. The profit margin, return on equity and return on assets. The profit margin is the net income divided by sales. The higher the profit margins the better. The return on equity is net income divided by total equity (Cornett, Adair & Nofsinger, 2009).. This can help to determine the amount of financial leverage the company is using. The return on assets is the net income divided by total assets. This can also help determine the financial leverage the company is using in regards to its assets (Cornett, Adair & Nofsinger,

Ratio analysis is a tool brought by individuals used to evaluate analysis of information in the financial statements of a business. The ratio analysis forms an essential part of the financial analysis which is a vital part in the business planning. There are 3 different ways of assessing businesses performance and these are: solvency, profitability and performance. Ratio analysis assists managers to work out the production of the company by figuring the profitability ratios. Also, the management can evaluate their revenues to check if their productivity. Thus, probability ratios are helpful to the company in evaluating its performance based on current earning. By measuring the solvency ratio, the companies are able to keep an

There is a essential use and limitations of financial ratio analysis, One must keep in mind the following issues when using financial ratios: One of the most important reasons for using financial ratio analysis is comparability and for this, a reference point is required. Usually, financial ratios are compared to historical ratios of the business itself, competitor’s financial ratios or the overall ratios of the industry in question. Performance may be adjudged as against organizational goals or forecasts. A number of ratios must be analyzed together to get a true and reliable picture of the financial performance of the business. Relying on each ratio

Ratio analysis shows the correlation within certain figures of financial statements, like current assets and current liability, and is used for three types of company needs- within, intra- and inter-company. Association can be shown in proportion, rate, or percentage and can evaluate company’s liquidity, profitability, and solvency. Liquidity ratios show company’s ability to pay obligations and fulfill needs for cash; profitability ratios show wellbeing and success for the certain time period; and solvency ratios show company’s endurance over the years.

The paper illustrates that financial ratio analysis is an important tool for firm’s to evaluate their financial health in order to identify areas of weakness so as to institute corrective measures.

Financial ratios are great indicators to find a firm’s performance and financial situation. Most of the ratios are able to be calculated through the use of financial statements provided by the firm itself. They show the relationship between two or more financial variables that can be used to analyze trends and to compare the firm’s financials with other companies to further come up with market values or discount rates, etc.

The ratios that would be most important to a business include: the current ratio, debt ratio and the return on assets. The current ratio is comparing the company's ability to pay its short term obligations. In general, the higher the number, the lower the risks that a firm will face from these challenges. This is important to a business, by helping executives to ensure that they have enough liquidity to pay creditors, employees and address other challenges. ("Financial Ratios," 2011)

For the purpose of evaluation, there are some financial ratios which are calculated and the analysis of the results shows the performance of the company over the years. Financial analysis is the evaluation and interpretation of the financial data. This analysis is important for investment and financial decision making. This financial can be internal to the company for check and balance and for the measurement of the employees performances. This financial ratio calculation

Also; Citigroup, Inc. another competitor for the GE Company made a total of $64.95 billion in 2011, and when we compare it with GE and SI its earnings where even less in the same year, making General Electric a leader in the industry. With this valuable information GE management can analyze its competitor’s financial statements results and from there they can evaluate their faults and create new ways to increase their annuals earnings and secure their place as one of leading companies in their industry. Another way GE can go forward in the industry is by adapting its services and products to other countries that need them.

The calculation of ratios is the calculation technique for analyzing a company’s financial performance that divides or standardize one accounting measure by another economically relevant measure. Financial ratios can be used as a tool to demonstrate financial statement users for making valid comparisons of firm operating performance, over time for the same firm and between comparable companies. External investors are mostly interested in gaining insights about a firm’s profitability, asset management, liquidity, and solvency.

Ratio analysis is generally used by the company to provide some information on how the company has performed during that year, so that the parties involved including shareholders, lenders, investors, government and other users could make some analysis before making any further decision towards that particular company. As mentioned by Gibson (1982a cited in British Accounting Review, 2002 pg. 290) where he believes that the use of ratio analysis is such an effective tool to evaluate the company’s finance, and to predict its future financial state. Ratios are simply divided in several categories; these are the profitability, liquidity, efficiency and gearing.