Essay Haefren-Baum Case

Their increase in cash conversion days shows their inefficiency that was caused by their increase in accounts receivable days from 53 to 77 and inventory days from 103 to 130. They are also suffering from a decrease in operating profits due to the decline in sales. I expect operations to remain steady at this level, as Wiegandt will continue to offer flexible credit to maintain their own sales volume. This is dangerous and can eventually lead to financial collapse if Haefren does not increase their sales.

Read the “Harnischfeger Corp” case study and answer the following questions. Submit your completed assignment no later than the last day of Week 2.

Haefren Baum is an independent home furnishings retailer associated with Wiegandt that sells high quality furniture. The company began as a partnership in 1965. Haefren Baum became a retailer for Wiegandt in 1968. Two years later, it became a corporate entity. Haefren Baum is located in Cologne, which is one of the most populated and rich cities in Germany. Haefren retails home furnishing from a location downtown Cologne, and three recently constructed stores in Rhineland.

Haverwood Furniture, a medium-to high-priced manufacturer of wood furniture for bedrooms, living, and dining rooms, has just acquired Lea-Meadows, Inc. Lea-Meadows is a manufacturer of upholstered living and family room furniture. A decision now needs to be made concerning the selling approach. Haverwood has 3 options:

As mentioned in the introduction of the mini case, Hobby Horse Company, Inc. (HH) experienced a tough year in 2011. HH opened up a number of new stores but experienced a poor Christmas season. Christmas season is the biggest sale period for retail stores. As a result, bad Christmas sales performance played a big part of HH’s loss for year 2011. As we computed the financial ratios for HH, we can see the effects from new stores openings and poor sales performance.

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).

This causes more trade debt, which means a higher the tax penalty. Furthermore, age of payables has increased from 98 to 154 days, nearly tripling over the last four years. This is damaging to the image and trustworthiness of the company, even causing issues from the bank trusting them with grant of loan. Having a large amount of inventory can conclude additional problem involving cost of capital, maintenance cost, aging inventory and the cost of space or storage. This therefore proves the poor management skills that are required to operate a booming and profitable business.

In 1984, Harnischfeger’s reported profits during each of the four quarters, ending the year with a pre-tax operating profit of $5.7 million and a net income after tax and extraordinary credits of $15 million. So I think that this action was motivated by business considerations, since the accounting practices were not the best. These actions made profits look positive.

Because, in first months we will produce more than what we will sell so the expense for storage and inventory will increase under the level monthly production.

Lawsons’ liquidity ratios may be alarming to the bank. The company’s ability to repay short-term debt has significantly deteriorated over their four year span to the point where the company is almost unable to operate. This is defiantly a fragment of the company that the bank will have to take a deeper analysis on.

Asset Management  Parts Inventory Turnover in Days is higher than the industry average as a large proportion of parts must still be sourced from Asia due to lack of North American suppliers. Transportation raises the cost, and additional stock must be carried to guard against interruptions in the longer supply chain. This should improve in the future as the more local suppliers are developed and JIT principles are applied. WP Inventory Turnover in days is lower than industry average due to the modern, highly automated assembly line. FG Inventory Turnover in days is much lower than industry average due to the flexible nature of the assembly lines that allows it to quickly switch between the products. Also inventory can be delivered quickly

The company currently faces serious financial challenges. It was struggling with declining sales and increasing costs. Since 2004, revenues had fallen by more than 40% while costs especially for employees health insurance, maintenance, and utilities climbed. Credits and loans had been borrowed to

As additional part of the covenants the bank placed importance on the net working capital. This could have positive impact to the firm’s future. As the firm is affected by liquidity problems, the covenants on net working capital will make Butler to

Cartwright is a retail distributor of lumber products. It built its competitive edge based on pricing and having a careful control over its operations. The company reported an operating income of $86,000 and $111,000 in 2003 and 2004, respectively. This is a 29% increase in operating income in one year, which shows the firm’s strong ability to generate cash. The firm’s account receivables and inventory are increasing from year to year which is a good sign of a growing business. Cartwright is not an asset intensive company. It does not have to have huge fixed assets; most of its assets are cash, accounts receivable and inventory which all depend on future sales. Sourcing of materials is managed very well, purchased at discounts most of the time and contribute to having lower prices.

Along with these, it is also evident that the company must fix its processes involving bad debt accounting and revenue recognition. They should also attend to their accounts receivable to come up with better terms that would make collections faster and more efficient.