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Cfa L1 Fsa CH6
Cfa L1 Fsa CH6
Cfa L1 Fsa CH6
CHAPTER 6
“CRAFTING YOUR
CFA TRIUMPH
WITH EFFECTIVE
SUMMARIES.”
CONCEPT NOTES
Financial Analysis Techniques
-Ratio analysis 1
-Common size analysis 3
-Graphical analysis 4
-Regression analysis 5
-Activity ratios 6
-Liquidity ratios 9
-Solvency ratios 12
-Profitability ratios 15
-DuPont analysis 18
-Other financial ratios 20
-Business segment & Geographic segment 21
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
Financial Analysis Techniques
What is ratio analysis?
Ratio analysis is a financial analysis technique used by analysts, investors, and
businesses for several purposes, and it provides valuable insights into a
company's financial health and performance.
(1) Purposes of Ratio Analysis:
Performance Evaluation: Analysts use ratio analysis to assess a
company's past and current performance. By examining trends in
profitability, efficiency, and solvency ratios, they can determine how well the
company has been managing its financial resources.
Comparative Analysis: Ratios help in comparing a company's financial
performance with that of its peers in the same industry or with industry
benchmarks. This enables analysts to identify relative strengths and
weaknesses.
Forecasting: Ratio analysis can assist in making financial projections and
forecasts. By studying historical trends, analysts can make educated guesses
about a company's future financial performance.
Creditworthiness Assessment: Lenders and creditors use ratio analysis
to evaluate a borrower's creditworthiness. It helps them assess whether a
company can repay its debts and interest.
Investment Decision Making: Investors use ratios to assess the financial
health of a company before making investment decisions. They look for
signs of profitability and stability.
Risk Assessment: Ratios provide insights into various financial risks a
company may face. For example, high debt ratios might indicate high
financial leverage and associated risks.
Operational Efficiency: Ratios related to asset turnover, inventory
management, and receivables collection help evaluate how efficiently a
company is utilizing its resources.
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(2) Limitations of Ratio Analysis:
Limited Focus: Ratio analysis relies on quantitative data from financial
statements. It does not provide a complete picture of a company's
operations, including qualitative factors or external influences.
Industry Differences: What constitutes a good or bad ratio can vary
significantly between industries. Ratios should be compared with industry
benchmarks to be meaningful.
Historical Data: Ratios are based on historical financial statements and
may not reflect current or future conditions accurately.
Manipulation: Companies can manipulate financial statements to
influence ratios, making them less reliable in cases of accounting
irregularities.
No Causation: Ratios reveal relationships between variables but not the
causes behind those relationships. A high ratio may be a sign of good
management, but it doesn't explain why it's high.
Complexity: Ratio analysis can become quite complex, especially when
considering multiple ratios simultaneously. Analysts must exercise caution
in interpretation.
External Factors: Economic, market, and industry factors can
significantly impact a company's ratios. These external factors are not
considered in ratio analysis.
It is important to note that the meaning of ratios can vary widely among the
analysts. For instance, some analysts use all debt when measuring leverage,
while other analysts only use interest-bearing debt. Consistency is essential.
Analysts must also understand that reasonable values of ratios can differ among
industries due to different characteristics of each industry.
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What is common-size analysis?
Common-size analysis, also known as vertical analysis, is a financial analysis
technique used to evaluate and compare the relative proportions of different line
items in a company's financial statements. It involves expressing each line item
as a percentage of a common base, typically total revenue or total assets. This
process standardizes the financial statements, making it easier to compare the
financial structure and performance of different companies or analyze a single
company's trends over time.
Common-Size Income Statement:
In a common-size income statement, each line item (such as revenue,
expenses, and net income) is expressed as a percentage of total revenue.
Common-Size Balance Sheet:
In a common-size balance sheet, each line item (assets, liabilities, and
equity) is expressed as a percentage of total assets.
Common-Size Cash Flow Statement:
Similar to the income statement and balance sheet, a common-size cash
flow statement expresses each category (operating, investing, and
financing cash flows) as a percentage of total revenues typically.
(1) Purposes of Common-size Analysis:
Financial Structure: Common-size analysis reveals the relative
composition of a company's assets, liabilities, and equity. Analysts can assess
the proportion of assets financed by debt (leverage) and equity, which is
crucial for understanding the company's financial stability.
Operational Efficiency: By examining the common-size income
statement, analysts can identify the relative sizes of various expense
categories. This helps in evaluating cost control and operational efficiency,
and it may highlight areas for improvement.
Profitability Margins: Common-size income statements show the
proportions of revenue allocated to different expenses, allowing analysts to
calculate various profitability margins (e.g., gross margin, operating margin,
net margin). These margins indicate how efficiently the company generates
profits.
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Trends and Comparisons: Common-size analysis is valuable for trend
analysis and making comparisons with other companies in the same
industry or with industry benchmarks. It helps identify changes in financial
structure and performance over time.
Risk Assessment: Assessing the proportions of short-term and long-term
debt in the common-size balance sheet can help analysts evaluate a
company's liquidity and solvency, which is essential for risk assessment.
Capital Allocation: In the common-size cash flow statement, analysts can
determine how a company allocates its cash flow among different activities,
such as operating, investing, and financing. This provides insights into the
company's financial strategy.
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Comparative Analysis: Visual aids facilitate easy comparison between
different time periods, companies, or industry benchmarks. For instance, a
side-by-side comparison of two companies' revenue growth using line charts
can quickly reveal which company is performing better.
Highlighting Key Metrics: Graphical analysis can emphasize specific
financial ratios or operational KPIs. Bar charts, pie charts, or radar charts
can be used to focus attention on critical metrics like profitability margins,
asset turnover, or market share.
Scenario Analysis: Graphical tools can be used to create scenario
analyses. By adjusting variables and observing how they impact financial
outcomes, stakeholders can make informed decisions about future strategies
or investments. Sensitivity analysis, for example, can be represented
graphically to show the potential impact of different scenarios.
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Risk Assessment: Regression analysis can be used to assess risk. By
modeling the relationship between variables, analysts can estimate the
potential impact of various risks on the company's financial performance,
helping with risk management and mitigation strategies.
Performance Benchmarking: Companies can use regression analysis to
benchmark their performance against industry peers. By comparing their
performance against a regression model that accounts for industry-specific
variables, they can identify areas where they excel or underperform.
Data-Driven Decision-Making: Regression analysis provides a data-
driven approach to decision-making. It enables companies to make
decisions based on empirical evidence rather than relying solely on intuition
or qualitative assessments.
Net Sales
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(2) Days of Sales Outstanding (DSO):
DSO calculates the average number of days it takes for a company to collect
its accounts receivable. A lower DSO value is generally better, as it means
quicker collection.
Avg. Inventory
Avg. Inventory
365
Cost of Goods Sold
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Total Purchases
Net Sales
Net Sales
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(9) Working Capital Turnover:
This ratio measures how effectively a company utilizes its working capital to
support its operations. Higher turnover indicates efficient working capital
management.
Net Sales
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(1) Current Ratio:
A higher current ratio indicates a greater ability to cover short-term
liabilities with short-term assets. However, an excessively high ratio may
suggest that a company is not efficiently utilizing its assets.
Current Assets
Current Liabilities
Quick Assets
Current Liabilities
Current Liabilities
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(4) Defensive Internal Ratio:
The defensive interval ratio, also known as the operating cycle ratio,
measures how long a company can cover its expenses with its existing liquid
assets without generating additional income. This ratio provides a sense of
how long a company can operate without generating additional revenue if its
income suddenly stops. A higher ratio indicates greater financial stability.
Quick Assets
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What are solvency ratios?
Solvency ratios are financial metrics used to assess a company's ability to meet
its long-term financial obligations and determine its overall financial stability.
These ratios are crucial for investors, creditors, and stakeholders to gauge a
company's financial health, risk exposure, and its capacity to manage debt.
Solvency ratios provide insights into the company's ability to repay its debts and
continue its operations without excessive financial strain.
(1) Debt-to-Equity Ratio:
This ratio measures the proportion of a company's total debt to its total
equity (shareholders' equity). It reflects the degree to which a company is
funded by debt compared to equity. A high debt-to-equity ratio may indicate
higher financial risk, while a low ratio suggests a more conservative capital
structure.
Total Debt
Shareholders’ Equity
Total Debt
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Total Debt
Total Assets
Total Assets
Shareholders’ Equity
EBIT
Interest Expense
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Total Debt
EBITDA
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What are profitability ratios?
Profitability ratios are financial metrics used to assess a company's ability to
generate profits relative to its revenues and capital invested. These ratios provide
insights into the efficiency and effectiveness of a company's operations and are
crucial for evaluating its financial performance.
(1) Net Profit Margin:
Net profit margin measures the percentage of revenue that remains as profit
after all expenses, including taxes and interest, are deducted. A higher net
profit margin indicates efficient cost management and profitability.
Net Profit
100
Total Revenue
Gross Profit
100
Total Revenue
Operating Profit/EBIT
100
Total Revenue
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(4) Pretax Margin:
The pretax margin measures the percentage of revenue that remains as
profit before taxes are considered. It shows a company's profitability before
tax implications.
Pretax Profit/EBT
100
Total Revenue
Net Profit
100
Avg. Total Assets
Operating Profit/EBIT
100
Avg. Total Assets
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Operating Profit/EBIT
100
Avg. Total Capital
Net Profit
100
Shareholders’ Equity
One example is the tech giant Apple Inc. Its consistently high
net profit margins and return on equity (ROE) have signaled its
ability to generate substantial profits and provide strong returns
to shareholders. These profitability ratios have underscored
Apple's financial strength and played a significant role in its
market capitalization growth and investor confidence.
17 | CFA L1 NOTES
What is DuPont analysis?
DuPont Analysis is a financial performance assessment method that breaks
down a company's return on equity (ROE) into its component parts, allowing for
a more detailed evaluation of the factors driving ROE. It was developed by the
DuPont Corporation in the early 20th century. DuPont Analysis is particularly
useful for understanding how a company's profitability, asset utilization, and
financial leverage affect its overall return on equity.
(1) Three-Step DuPont Analysis:
Net Profit Margin: This ratio measures the profitability of a company by
calculating how much profit it generates from each dollar of revenue. It is
expressed as:
Net Profit Margin = Net Income / Total Revenue
Asset Turnover: Asset turnover assesses how efficiently a company
utilizes its assets to generate revenue. It is expressed as:
Asset Turnover = Total Revenue / Average Total Assets
Financial Leverage: Financial leverage evaluates how much a company
relies on debt to finance its operations. It is expressed as:
Financial Leverage = Average Total Assets / Average Shareholders'
Equity
The three components (net profit margin, asset turnover, and financial
leverage) are then multiplied together to calculate ROE:
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Interest Burden: Interest burden focuses on the impact of interest
expenses on net income and ROE. It is expressed as:
Interest Burden = (Operating Profit / Total Revenue) x (1 - Tax Rate)
The five components (Operating Profit Margin, Asset Turnover, Interest
Burden, Financial Leverage, and Tax Burden) are then multiplied together
to calculate ROE:
By using DuPont Analysis, analysts can pinpoint which specific factors are
influencing a company's ROE. For example, a company with a low ROE may use
DuPont Analysis to identify whether the issue lies in low profitability, inefficient
asset utilization, or excessive reliance on debt. This breakdown helps
management and investors make informed decisions to improve financial
performance.
Additionally, by breaking down ROE into its component parts, DuPont Analysis
can also be useful for comparing companies within the same industry and
identifying areas for improvement.
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What are some other financial ratios?
Certain other ratios are important while considering valuation, dividend
perspective and industry characteristics.
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Dividend Payout Ratio:
Dividend payout ratio reveals the proportion of earnings paid out as
dividends to shareholders.
It helps assess the sustainability of dividend payments.
Sustainable Growth Rate:
The sustainable growth rate indicates the maximum growth rate a
company can achieve without raising additional external financing.
It considers the retention of earnings and return on equity.
Net Income per Employee:
Net income per employee assesses a company's profitability per
employee, indicating its efficiency in generating profit with its
workforce.
Growth in Same-Store Sales:
Growth in same-store sales evaluates the increase in sales at existing
stores or locations over a specified period.
It reflects a company's ability to drive revenue growth without opening
new outlets.
Net Interest Margin:
Net interest margin calculates the difference between a financial
institution's interest income and interest expenses as a percentage of its
total assets.
It indicates the profitability of a bank or lender's core lending and
borrowing activities.
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Business Segment:
Business segments represent different lines of business or distinct
operations within a company which accounts for more than 10% of the
company’s revenues, assets, or income .
Business segments allow for a more detailed analysis of the company's
performance, helping stakeholders assess which parts of the company
are contributing most to its success or facing challenges.
For example, a large conglomerate may have business segments for its
automotive, electronics, and energy divisions, each with separate
financial reporting.
Geographical Segment:
Geographical segments, as the name suggests, represent different
geographic regions in which a company operates. This could be at the
country, regional, or global level, depending on the company's
international presence.
Geographical segments help assess a company's exposure to different
markets, currency risks, and regional economic conditions.
For instance, a multinational corporation may have geographical
segments for North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and other key
regions, providing a breakdown of its revenue and profits by location.
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CFA L1 Notes
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