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Thus, we see the emergence of ratios as a diagnosis tool rather (Johnson, 2008). These tools must then be used in concert with more in-depth analysis techniques and the collect and interpretation of other information. Ratio analysis alone will yield little and the prevailing thought today supports finding better ways to integrate ratio analysis within the context of overall understanding of a firm's situation (Dess, et al., 2004).
Historically, the development of ratio analysis as a technique has been ad hoc. As a result, one of the steps taken in recent years, albeit more by academics than professionals, has been to attempt to develop a consistent system for conducting ratio analysis. Nissim & Penman (2001) developed a framework for such a system. Ratios are used in the context of a hierarchy, based on the ability of a given ratio to predict financial failure and their correlation with equity valuation.
There has also been a substantial amount of work with regards to detailing the usefulness of ratios in different industries. Regulators of the financial services business, which utilizes a non-standard set of financial ratios, have worked to understand the best means for using ratio analysis techniques in their industry (Bauer et al., 1997).
Conclusion
Financial ratio analysis is generally considered to be a worthwhile tool for investors and creditors to determine the financial health of a company, or two compare different companies with one another. It is easy to use and can provide valuable insight. Its benefits have been widely studied and there is a substantial body of work demonstrating the usefulness of different ratios in different situations. What are less often examined are the limitations of financial ratio analysis. There is danger in viewing this tool as being almighty -- it has many limitations that must be overcome. The ratios are a distillation of reams of data, and as such are subject are not always an accurate reflection.
The study of financial ratios in recent years has slowly drifted towards the issue of limitations, and how to derive stronger models by which to use ratios. The flexibility of ratio analysis, however, is one of its strong suits. Each user is free to develop models and interpretations that meet his or her specific needs. As a result, the practical application of financial ratio analysis remains every bit as ad hoc as it has historically been. General use information is widely available, but lacks critical analysis of the technique's limitations, which may encourage misuse. This...
(2009). Limitations of Ratio Analysis. NetTOM. Retrieved June 24, 2009 from http://cbdd.wsu.edu/kewlcontent/cdoutput/TOM505/page26.htm
Horrigan, James O. (1965). Some Empirical Bases of Financial Ratio Analysis. The Accounting Review. Vol. 40, No. 3, pp.558-568.
Loth, Richard. (no date). Financial Ratio Tutorial. Investopedia. Retrieved June 24, 2009 from http://www.investopedia.com/university/ratios/
Johnson, David. (2008). Ratio Analysis: Highlighting the Story Within the Numbers. TMA. Retrieved June 24, 2009 from http://www.turnaround.org/Publications/Articles.aspx?objectID=8979
Nissim, Doron & Penman, Stephen H. (2001). Ratio Analysis and Equity Valuation: From Research to Practice. Review of Accounting Studies. 2001, No. 6 pp. 109-154. Retrieved June 24, 2009 from http://www.columbia.edu/~dn75/Ratio_analysis_and_equity_valuation_From_research_to_practice.pdf
Bauer, Paul W.; Berger, Allen N.; Ferrier, Gary D. & Humphrey, David B. (1997). Consistency Conditions for Regulatory Analysis of Financial Institutions: A Comparison of Frontier Efficiency Methods. Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. Retrieved June 24, 2009 from http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/feds/1997/199750/199750pap.pdf
Paulson & Huber. (2000). The Technology M&A Guidebook. Retrieved June 24, 2009 from http://books.google.com/books?id=PQSLJS445R4C&pg=PA68&lpg=PA68&dq=financial+ratio+analysis+benefits&source=bl&ots=EgpsuDlnAt&sig=BgfZOPek0BztjBVCc4o6uIV9pnE&hl=en&ei=KDBCSvbYIs3K_gaWzsCdDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7
O'Connor, Melvin C. (1973). On the Usefulness of Financial Ratios to Investors in Common Stock. The Accounting Review. Vol. 48, No. 2, pp.339-352.
Salmi, Timo & Martikainen, Teppo. (1994). A Review of the Theoretical and Empirical Basis of Financial Ratio Analysis. Finnish Journal of Business Economics. 4/94, pp. 426-448.
Dess, Gregory; Lumpkin, G.T. & Taylor, Marilyn L. (2004). Strategic Management. Retrieved June 24, 2009 from http://books.google.com/books?id=804wVMgC6l8C&pg=PA95&lpg=PA95&dq=financial+ratio+analysis+benefits&source=bl&ots=ePWqbMCHua&sig=klNnm4Uis4epZEHxSpUaTHnymY4&hl=en&ei=mjJCSpSDJsSg_AblurHHCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10
Works Cited:
No author. (2009). Limitations of Ratio Analysis. NetTOM. Retrieved June 24, 2009 from http://cbdd.wsu.edu/kewlcontent/cdoutput/TOM505/page26.htm
Horrigan, James O. (1965). Some Empirical Bases of Financial Ratio Analysis. The Accounting Review. Vol. 40, No. 3, pp.558-568.
Loth, Richard. (no date). Financial Ratio Tutorial. Investopedia. Retrieved June 24, 2009 from http://www.investopedia.com/university/ratios/
Johnson, David. (2008). Ratio Analysis: Highlighting the Story Within the Numbers. TMA. Retrieved June 24, 2009 from http://www.turnaround.org/Publications/Articles.aspx?objectID=8979
Nissim, Doron & Penman, Stephen H. (2001). Ratio Analysis and Equity Valuation: From Research to Practice. Review of Accounting Studies. 2001, No. 6 pp. 109-154. Retrieved June 24, 2009 from http://www.columbia.edu/~dn75/Ratio_analysis_and_equity_valuation_From_research_to_practice.pdf
Bauer, Paul W.; Berger, Allen N.; Ferrier, Gary D. & Humphrey, David B. (1997). Consistency Conditions for Regulatory Analysis of Financial Institutions: A Comparison of Frontier Efficiency Methods. Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. Retrieved June 24, 2009 from http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/feds/1997/199750/199750pap.pdf
Paulson & Huber. (2000). The Technology M&A Guidebook. Retrieved June 24, 2009 from http://books.google.com/books?id=PQSLJS445R4C&pg=PA68&lpg=PA68&dq=financial+ratio+analysis+benefits&source=bl&ots=EgpsuDlnAt&sig=BgfZOPek0BztjBVCc4o6uIV9pnE&hl=en&ei=KDBCSvbYIs3K_gaWzsCdDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7
Dess, Gregory; Lumpkin, G.T. & Taylor, Marilyn L. (2004). Strategic Management. Retrieved June 24, 2009 from http://books.google.com/books?id=804wVMgC6l8C&pg=PA95&lpg=PA95&dq=financial+ratio+analysis+benefits&source=bl&ots=ePWqbMCHua&sig=klNnm4Uis4epZEHxSpUaTHnymY4&hl=en&ei=mjJCSpSDJsSg_AblurHHCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10
Ratio Analysis in Healthcare Organizations Professional affiliation Healthcare providers often face the task of managing their facilities under very tight budgets. Whether the provider is a big healthcare organization or a newly founded one, it all comes down to financial analysis. Financial analysis entails the use of ratios and this process of using ratios to rate your company's performance is what is known as financial ratio analysis. There are several ratios computed in
Accounting -- Financial Statement Analysis Comparison of gaming industry leader Ladbrokes PLC to William Hill PLC and then comparison of both those companies to the rest of the gaming industry reveals the burgeoning market of online/digital gaming. Comparison of the companies' histories, markets and ratios, shows a still-impressive industry titan Ladbrokes PLC being increasingly outgained by another market giant, William Hill PLC, and varying degrees of success among industry also-rans. It
financial ratio analysis, a tool that shows how figures between the balance sheet and the income sheet are related. Ratios are used to appraise a company's past financial performance and its potential for the future. A company's financial statements are of interest to creditors, investors, financial analysts and internal accountants. Using ratios helps them to analyze the overall financial health of a business. By computing financial ratios, one is
ABC Supermarket PLC Case Analysis Ratio Analysis The results of ABC Supermarket's financial performance are very different from the comments shared by the Chairman in the 2009 Annual report. Based on the evaluation below, the company's cash, profitability, and liquidity positions all weakened between 2006 and 2009. They also had an issue with managing inventory. However, the stock price increased successively over this period of time. This may have been a factor of
A specific industry-wide number has not been calculated. An industry ratio of debt-to-equity is 0.55, compared with 0.98 in the industry, which is favorable for HP. The ratio of long-term debt to total capitalization confirms what the raw data on the balance sheet says about HP's long-run escalation in debt. This ratio is currently 27.3%, compared with 25.6% in 2009, 16.5% in 2008, 11.5% in 2007 and 6.1% in
Arrow Company and Plume Inc. Ratio Analysis Arrow Company and Plume Inc. Financial Ratio Computations Ratio Computation Arrow Company Computation Plume Inc. Rate of Return on Equity (ROE) $610,000/$2,189,200 $887,000/$2,682,000 Return on Assets $610,000/$3,855,700 $887,000/$4,477,500 Gross Margin $1,720,000/$4,175,000 $2,117,000/$4,705,000 Inventory Turnover $2,550,000/$435,000 $2,800,000/$595,000 The Collection Period $380,000/($4,175,000/365) $585,500/($4,705,000/365) Fixed Asset Turnover $4,175,000/1,695,000 $4,705,000/$2,512,000 Debt to Assets Ratio $1,601,500/$3,855,700 $1,790,500/$4,477,500 Debt to Equity Ratio $1,601,500/$2,189,200 $1,790,500/$2,682,000 Current Ratio $2,105,700/$845,500 $1,940,500/$1,375,000 Acid Test ($2,105,700 - $435,000)/$845,500 ($1,940,500 - $595,000)/$1,375,000 Analysis: Interpretation From the ratios computed in Table 1 above, it may be possible to tell which company is in better financial health than the other. To begin with, we can