Financial statements of XYZ Company

Discuss at least 1-2 ratios that you believe are important to ascertain the financial position of the company. Do you believe this company has the means to pay its debt?

Financial ratio analysis makes it possible to examine the financial health of a company. The financial statements of a company provide limited understanding and knowledge into its performance. So as to attain a much stronger and richer insight of what takes place, there has to be a relevant basis of evaluation and appraisal. Various financial ratios are key to ascertaining the financial position of XYZ Company. One of these ratios are profitability ratios, which indicate the ability of a firm to convert its sales into profits. The return on assets of the company is 12.0%, return in equity 21.82% and gross margin 32.21%. This indicates that the company is profitable and therefore in a financially stable position. For instance, for every dollar of sales, the company is able to generate a return of 32.21 cents. Another set of ratios that outline the financial position of a company is liquidity ratios. These financial ratios are ratios that indicate a company's ability to pay for its short-term liabilities. The quick ratio of the company is 1.51 and the current ratio is 2.20. This implies that the current assets of the company are able to cater to the current liabilities of the company in the short-term period within a fiscal year. These ratios indicate that XYZ Company is in a stable financial position based on the financial ratios of the past fiscal year (Atrill and Mclaney, 2013).

A key ratio that indicates the financial position of the company is the debt coverage ratio. This financial ratio ascertains the capability of a company to generate adequate income in its business operations to cover the expenses of its debt. The debt coverage ratio of the company as indicated is 0.61 and has been below 1 in the current year. This indicates that the firm is not able to generate enough cash to pay its debts (Atrill and Mclaney, 2013).

What do you think are the key risks facing LNG producers in Qatar?

The key risks facing LNG producers in Qatar encompass the growing level of competition. The new LNG supplies recently found in Australia and also new supplies in the United States are increasing in capacity. This implies that Qatar may soon cease being the biggest LNG exporter in the globe. Aside from the risk of Qatar losing their dominance in the world, they face another risk in the fact that other importers in the world are having more options and obtaining lower prices, for instance European countries (Perumal, 2016).

Please describe the political and/or country risks (if any) that an LNG producer in Qatar might face

Regardless of being the largest exporter of LNG, Qatar does face some political and country risk. Changes is largely good but to a certain degree volatile political and economic environment can have an impact on the LNG producers. A key country risk encompasses dependence on the hydrocarbon sector doubts in relation to changes to the price of natural gas, for the most part as a result of the influence of the boom in unconventional gas (Global Edge, 2016). This instigates susceptibility to changes in levels of global activity and global commodity prices. Another political or country risk is the instability within the region encompassing countries such as Iraq and Syria together with the qualms in Iran. This level of uncertainty increases the risk of neighboring nations getting into war at any given time, which can impact the prices and also the distribution of the products for the LNG producers in Qatar. What is more, the nation's oil and gas facilities are prospective targets for terrorists and various extremist groups (Euler Hermes, 2016).

You are the manager of a retail sneaker store and you notice that sales are down since the last quarter. How would you solve this problem?

Being the manager of the retail store, there are actions that I would undertake to solve the problem of low sales. Another action I will undertake will be to examine the retail store's pricing strategy. This will encompass making certain that cost of goods is taken into account when buying and pricing products so that the retail shop is able to make a profit. I will make certain that the price of the sneakers are competitive but profitable at the same time (Hudson, 2016). A second move will be enhancing customer service. Having a connection with the customer and having outstanding customer service is imperative to increasing sales. Therefore, I will make certain that as a store we listen to the consumers and fully comprehend their needs and wants. In general, the store will ensure that the consumers obtain a great shopping experience and not just products (Hudson, 2016). The third action to be undertaken will be bringing in fresh products into the store and increasing the level of advertisement being done. It is deemed prudent to increase marketing endeavors in the course of low and slow sales for the reason that there is greater competition and minimal consumer cash for spending. In addition, restocking the shelves bring in a fresh feel and an aspect of variation within the stock inventory. This will increase the number of consumers entering the store and therefore increase the purchases made (Hudson, 2016).

References

Atrill, P. &Mclaney, E., 2013. Accounting and finance for non-specialists. 8th Ed. Harlow, UK: Pearson Publishing.

Euler Hermes. (2016). QATAR. Retrieved from: http://www.eulerhermes.com/economic-research/country-reports/Pages/Qatar.aspx

Global Edge. (2016). Qatar: Risk Assessment. Retrieved from: http://globaledge.msu.edu/countries/qatar/risk

Hudson, M. (2016). Tips to Increase Sales. The Balance. Retrieved from: https://www.thebalance.com/tips-to-increase-retail-sales-2890274

Perumal, S. V. (2016). Qatar taking 'aggressive' stance in Europe to mitigate LNG risks. Gulf Times. Retrieved from: http://www.gulf-times.com/story/517064/Qatar-taking-aggressive-stance-in-Europe-to-mitiga