Break even analysis

What Does Break-Even Analysis Mean? An analysis to determine the point at which revenue received equals the costs associated with receiving the revenue. Break-even analysis calculates what is known as a margin of safety, the amount that revenues exceed the break-even point. This is the amount that revenues can fall while still staying above the break-even point. Explain: Break-Even Analysis Break-even analysis is a supply-side analysis; that is, it only analyzes the costs of the sales. It does not analyze how demand may be affected at different price levels. For example, if it costs $50 to produce a widget, and there are fixed costs of $1,000, the breakeven point for selling the widgets would be: If selling for $100: 20 Widgets (Calculated as 1000/(100-50)=20) If selling for $200: 7 Widgets (Calculated as 1000/(200-50)=6.7) In this example, if someone sells the product for a higher price, the break-even point will come faster. What the analysis does not show is that it may be easier to sell 20 widgets at $100 each than 7 widgets at $200 each. A demand-side analysis would give the seller that information.

1) What are the roles of finance & marketing manager of a company. According to you in which areas both finance & marketing should have proper coordination? 2) Write short on:(Any two) a. Market segmentation
Market segmentation is a concept in economics and marketing. A market segment is a sub-set of a market made up of people or organizations with one or more characteristics that cause them to demand similar product and/or services based on qualities of those products such as price or function. A true market segment meets all of the following criteria: it is distinct from other segments (different segments have different needs), it is homogeneous within the segment (exhibits common needs); it responds similarly to a market stimulus, and it can be reached by a market intervention. The term is also used when consumers with identical product and/or service needs are divided up into groups so they can be charged different amounts for the services. The people in a given segment are supposed to be similar in terms of criteria by which they are segmented and different from other segments in terms of these criteria. These can be broadly viewed as 'positive' and 'negative' applications of the same idea, splitting up the market into smaller groups. Examples:

Gender Price Interests Location Religion Income Size of Household

While there may be theoretically 'ideal' market segments, in reality every organization engaged in a market will develop different ways of imagining market segments, and create Product differentiation strategies to exploit these segments. The market segmentation and corresponding product differentiation strategy can give a firm a temporary commercial advantage.

Bases for segmenting consumer markets

There are two types of segmentation variables: (1) Needs (2) Profilers The basic criteria for segmenting a market are customer needs. To find the needs of customers in a market, it is necessary to undertake market research. Profilers are the descriptive, measurable customer characteristics (such as location, age, nationality, gender, income) that can be used to inform a segmentation exercise. The most common profilers used in customer segmentation include the following: Profiler Examples Geographic Region of the country Urban or rural Demographic Age, sex, family size Income, occupation, education Religion, race, nationality Psychographic Social class Lifestyle type Personality type Behavioural Product usage - e.g. light, medium ,heavy users Brand loyalty: none, medium, high Type of user (e.g. with meals, special occasions)

b. Product pricing decisions

One of the four major elements of the marketing mix is price. Pricing is an important strategic issue because it is related to product positioning. Furthermore, pricing affects other marketing mix elements such as product features, channel decisions, and promotion. While there is no single recipe to determine pricing, the following is a general sequence of steps that might be followed for developing the pricing of a new product: 1. Develop marketing strategy - perform marketing analysis, segmentation, targeting, and positioning. 2. Make marketing mix decisions - define the product, distribution, and promotional tactics.

3. Estimate the demand curve - understand how quantity demanded varies with price. 4. Calculate cost - include fixed and variable costs associated with the product. 5. Understand environmental factors - evaluate likely competitor actions, understand legal constraints, etc. 6. Set pricing objectives - for example, profit maximization, revenue maximization, or price stabilization (status quo). 7. Determine pricing - using information collected in the above steps, select a pricing method, develop the pricing structure, and define discounts. These steps are interrelated and are not necessarily performed in the above order. Nonetheless, the above list serves to present a starting framework.
Pricing Objectives

The firm's pricing objectives must be identified in order to determine the optimal pricing. Common objectives include the following:

Current profit maximization - seeks to maximize current profit, taking into account revenue and costs. Current profit maximization may not be the best objective if it results in lower long-term profits. Current revenue maximization - seeks to maximize current revenue with no regard to profit margins. The underlying objective often is to maximize long-term profits by increasing market share and lowering costs. Maximize quantity - seeks to maximize the number of units sold or the number of customers served in order to decrease long-term costs as predicted by the experience curve. Maximize profit margin - attempts to maximize the unit profit margin, recognizing that quantities will be low. Quality leadership - use price to signal high quality in an attempt to position the product as the quality leader. Partial cost recovery - an organization that has other revenue sources may seek only partial cost recovery. Survival - in situations such as market decline and overcapacity, the goal may be to select a price that will cover costs and permit the firm to remain in the market. In this case, survival may take a priority over profits, so this objective is considered temporary. Status quo - the firm may seek price stabilization in order to avoid price wars and maintain a moderate but stable level of profit.

For new products, the pricing objective often is either to maximize profit margin or to maximize quantity (market share). To meet these objectives, skim pricing and penetration pricing strategies often are employed. Joel Dean discussed these pricing policies in his classic HBR article entitled, Pricing Policies for New Products. Skim pricing attempts to "skim the cream" off the top of the market by setting a high price and selling to those customers who are less price sensitive. Skimming is a strategy used to pursue the objective of profit margin maximization.

Skimming is most appropriate when:

Demand is expected to be relatively inelastic; that is, the customers are not highly price sensitive. Large cost savings are not expected at high volumes, or it is difficult to predict the cost savings that would be achieved at high volume. The company does not have the resources to finance the large capital expenditures necessary for high volume production with initially low profit margins.

Penetration pricing pursues the objective of quantity maximization by means of a low price. It is most appropriate when:

Demand is expected to be highly elastic; that is, customers are price sensitive and the quantity demanded will increase significantly as price declines. Large decreases in cost are expected as cumulative volume increases. The product is of the nature of something that can gain mass appeal fairly quickly. There is a threat of impending competition.

Pricing Methods

To set the specific price level that achieves their pricing objectives, managers may make use of several pricing methods. These methods include:

Cost-plus pricing - set the price at the production cost plus a certain profit margin. Target return pricing - set the price to achieve a target return-on-investment. Value-based pricing - base the price on the effective value to the customer relative to alternative products. Psychological pricing - base the price on factors such as signals of product quality, popular price points, and what the consumer perceives to be fair.

Price Discounts

The normally quoted price to end users is known as the list price. This price usually is discounted for distribution channel members and some end users. There are several types of discounts, as outlined below.

Quantity discount - offered to customers who purchase in large quantities. Cumulative quantity discount - a discount that increases as the cumulative quantity increases. Cumulative discounts may be offered to resellers who purchase large quantities over time but who do not wish to place large individual orders. Seasonal discount - based on the time that the purchase is made and designed to reduce seasonal variation in sales. For example, the travel industry offers much lower off-season rates. Such discounts do not have to be based on time of the year; they also can be based on day of the week or time of the day, such as pricing offered by long distance and wireless service providers. Cash discount - extended to customers who pay their bill before a specified date.

Trade discount - a functional discount offered to channel members for performing their roles. For example, a trade discount may be offered to a small retailer who may not purchase in quantity but nonetheless performs the important retail function. Promotional discount - a short-term discounted price offered to stimulate sales.

c. Working capital finance

Working capital finance makes it possible for your business to obtain capital if you have been denied for a bank loan, or if you have little cash flow. Traditional funding through a standard bank can be difficult to obtain, but they also don't satisfy the needs of expanding companies. Without capital a business will have to slow down there growth, which can hurt a business. Working capital finance makes it possible for your business to have access to the cash it needs, when it needs it. Working capital finance allows you to turn your income streams into instant capital. You can turn your accounts receivables into cash by selling them to a lender who specializes in accounts receivable factoring. Another method for obtaining working capital is to lease equipment or to obtain credit from a company like Office Depot or Lowes that sells items that your business needs. Obtaining lines of credit from a company are easier than going after a bank loan. If at all possible obtain a line of credit from a company that will report your business credit scores to the major business credit bureaus. This will help build your business credit scores, so it is easier to qualify for large bank loans. Another popular method of working capital finance is utilizing asset-based financing. That means that you would use assets from your business to secure loans. You could pledge any commercial real estate your business owns, business vehicles, equipment, etc. Lending institutions approve assetbased loans quicker because the risk isn't as high. Small companies often can obtain more cash with an asset-based loan. The Commercial Finance Association provides valuable information on assetbased lenders.

d. Economic order quantity

What Does Economic Order Quantity - EOQ Mean?

An inventory-related equation that determines the optimum order quantity that a company should hold in its inventory given a set cost of production, demand rate and other variables. This is done to minimize variable inventory costs. The full equation is as follows

where :

S = Setup costs D = Demand rate P = Production cost I = Interest rate (considered an opportunity cost, so the risk-free rate can be used) Explain: Economic Order Quantity - EOQ The EOQ formula can be modified to determine production levels or order interval lengths, and is used by large corporations around the world, especially those with large supply chains and high variable costs per unit of production. Despite the equation's relative simplicity by today's standards, it is still a core algorithm in the software packages that are sold to the largest companies in the world.

3) marketing performance evaluation what it is & what significance it holds from marketing as well as finance point of view? 4) Explain cost-revenue-investment framework in marketing concept? 5) What are the profitability ratios? How do They help in decision making?
Profitability Ratios A class of financial metrics that are used to assess a business's ability to generate earnings as compared to its expenses and other relevant costs incurred during a specific period of time. For most of these ratios, having a higher value relative to a competitor's ratio or the same ratio from a previous period is indicative that the company is doing well. Explain Profitability Ratios Some examples of profitability ratios are profit margin, return on assets and return on equity. It is important to note that a little bit of background knowledge is necessary in order to make relevant comparisons when analyzing these ratios. For instances, some industries experience seasonality in their operations. The retail industry, for example, typically experiences higher revenues and earnings for the Christmas season. Therefore, it would not be too useful to compare a retailer's fourth-quarter profit margin with its first-quarter profit margin. On the other hand, comparing a retailer's fourth-quarter profit margin with the profit margin from the same period a year before would be far more informative. Margin Ratios: What Does Gross Profit Margin Mean? A financial metric used to assess a firm's financial health by revealing the proportion of money left over from revenues after accounting for the cost of goods sold. Gross profit margin serves as the source for paying additional expenses and future savings. Also known as "gross margin". Calculated as:

Where: COGS = Cost of Goods Sold For example, suppose that ABC Corp. earned $20 million in revenue from producing widgets and incurred $10 million in COGS-related expense. ABC's gross profit margin would be 50%. This means that for every dollar that ABC earns on widgets, it really has only $0.50 at the end of the day. This metric can be used to compare a company with its competitors. More efficient companies will usually see higher profit margins.

What Does Operating Margin Mean? A ratio used to measure a company's pricing strategy and operating efficiency. Calculated as:

Operating margin is a measurement of what proportion of a company's revenue is left over after paying for variable costs of production such as wages, raw materials, etc. A healthy operating margin is required for a company to be able to pay for its fixed costs, such as interest on debt. Also known as "operating profit margin" or "net profit margin". Operating margin gives analysts an idea of how much a company makes (before interest and taxes) on each dollar of sales. When looking at operating margin to determine the quality of a company, it is best to look at the change in operating margin over time and to compare the company's yearly or quarterly figures to those of its competitors. If a company's margin is increasing, it is earning more per dollar of sales. The higher the margin, the better. For example, if a company has an operating margin of 12%, this means that it makes $0.12 (before interest and taxes) for every dollar of sales. Often, nonrecurring cash flows, such as cash paid out in a lawsuit settlement, are excluded from the operating margin calculation because they don't represent a company's true operating performance. What Does Net Profit Margin Mean? A ratio of profitability calculated as net income divided by revenues, or net profits divided by sales. It measures how much out of every dollar of sales a company actually keeps in earnings. Profit margin is very useful when comparing companies in similar industries. A higher profit margin indicates a more profitable company that has better control over its costs compared to its competitors. Profit margin

is displayed as a percentage; a 20% profit margin, for example, means the company has a net income of $0.20 for each dollar of sales. Also known as Net Profit Margin. Looking at the earnings of a company often doesn't tell the entire story. Increased earnings are good, but an increase does not mean that the profit margin of a company is improving. For instance, if a company has costs that have increased at a greater rate than sales, it leads to a lower profit margin. This is an indication that costs need to be under better control. Imagine a company has a net income of $10 million from sales of $100 million, giving it a profit margin of 10% ($10 million/$100 million). If in the next year net income rises to $15 million on sales of $200 million, the company's profit margin would fall to 7.5%. So while the company increased its net income, it has done so with diminishing profit margins.

Return Ratios: What Does Return On Assets - ROA Mean? An indicator of how profitable a company is relative to its total assets. ROA gives an idea as to how efficient management is at using its assets to generate earnings. Calculated by dividing a company's annual earnings by its total assets, ROA is displayed as a percentage. Sometimes this is referred to as "return on investment". The formula for return on assets is:

Note: Some investors add interest expense back into net income when performing this calculation because they'd like to use operating returns before cost of borrowing. ROA tells you what earnings were generated from invested capital (assets). ROA for public companies can vary substantially and will be highly dependent on the industry. This is why when using ROA as a comparative measure, it is best to compare it against a company's previous ROA numbers or the ROA of a similar company. The assets of the company are comprised of both debt and equity. Both of these types of financing are used to fund the operations of the company. The ROA figure gives investors an idea of how effectively the company is converting the money it has to invest into net income. The higher the ROA number, the better, because the company is earning more money on less investment. For example, if one company has a net income of $1 million and total assets of $5 million, its ROA is 20%; however, if another company earns the same amount but has total assets of $10 million, it has an ROA of 10%. Based on this example, the first company is better at converting its investment into profit. When you really think about it, management's most important job is to make wise choices in allocating its resources. Anybody can make a profit by throwing a ton of money at a problem, but very few managers excel at making large profits with little investment. What Does Return On Equity - ROE Mean? The amount of net income returned as a percentage of shareholders equity. Return on equity measures a

corporation's profitability by revealing how much profit a company generates with the money shareholders have invested. ROE is expressed as a percentage and calculated as: Return on Equity = Net Income/Shareholder's Equity Net income is for the full fiscal year (before dividends paid to common stock holders but after dividends to preferred stock.) Shareholder's equity does not include preferred shares. Also known as "return on net worth" (RONW).
The ROE is useful for comparing the profitability of a company to that of other firms in the same industry. There are several variations on the formula that investors may use: 1. Investors wishing to see the return on common equity may modify the formula above by subtracting preferred dividends from net income and subtracting preferred equity from shareholders' equity, giving the following: return on common equity (ROCE) = net income - preferred dividends / common equity. 2. Return on equity may also be calculated by dividing net income by average shareholders' equity. Average shareholders' equity is calculated by adding the shareholders' equity at the beginning of a period to the shareholders' equity at period's end and dividing the result by two.

3. Investors may also calculate the change in ROE for a period by first using the shareholders' equity figure from the beginning of a period as a denominator to determine the beginning ROE. Then, the end-of-period shareholders' equity can be used as the denominator to determine the ending ROE. Calculating both beginning and ending ROEs allows an investor to determine the change in profitability over the period.

6) A) Discuss in detail the term ROE(return in equity) giving suitable example?

Same as above

B) What are the acid test ratio? What is the importance of these ratios?
What Does Acid-Test Ratio Mean? A stringent indicator that determines whether a firm has enough short-term assets to cover its immediate liabilities without selling inventory. The acid-test ratio is far more strenuous than the working capital ratio, primarily because the working capital ratio allows for the inclusion of inventory assets. Calculated by:

Companies with ratios of less than 1 cannot pay their current liabilities and should be looked at with extreme caution. Furthermore, if the acid-test ratio is much lower than the working capital ratio, it means current assets are highly dependent on inventory. Retail stores are examples of this type of business. The term comes from the way gold miners would test whether their findings were real gold nuggets. Unlike other metals, gold does not corrode in acid; if the nugget didn't dissolve when submerged in acid, it was said to have passed the acid test. If a company's financial statements pass the figurative acid test, this indicates its financial integrity. What Does Cash Ratio Mean? The ratio of a company's total cash and cash equivalents to its current liabilities. The cash ratio is most commonly used as a measure of company liquidity. It can therefore determine if, and how quickly, the company can repay its short-term debt. A strong cash ratio is useful to creditors when deciding how much debt, if any, they would be willing to extend to the asking party. The cash ratio is generally a more conservative look at a company's ability to cover its liabilities than many other liquidity ratios. This is due to the fact that inventory and accounts receivable are left out of the equation. Since these two accounts are a large part of many companies, this ratio should not be used in determining company value, but simply as one factor in determining liquidity.

7) A) Discuss in detail the term ROI(return on investment) giving suitable example?

What Does Return On Investment - ROI Mean? A performance measure used to evaluate the efficiency of an investment or to compare the efficiency of a number of different investments. To calculate ROI, the benefit (return) of an investment is divided by the cost of the investment; the result is expressed as a percentage or a ratio. The return on investment formula:

In the above formula "gains from investment", refers to the proceeds obtained from selling the investment of interest. Return on investment is a very popular metric because of its versatility and simplicity. That is, if an investment does not have a positive ROI, or if there are other opportunities with a higher ROI, then the investment should be not be undertaken. Keep in mind that the calculation for return on investment and, therefore the definition, can be modified to suit the situation -it all depends on what you include as returns and costs. The definition of the term in the broadest sense just attempts to measure the profitability of an investment and, as such, there is no one "right" calculation. For example, a marketer may compare two different products by dividing the gross profit that each product has generated by its respective marketing expenses. A financial analyst, however, may compare the same two products using an entirely different ROI calculation, perhaps by dividing the net income of an investment by the total value of all resources that have been employed to make and sell the product.

This flexibility has a downside, as ROI calculations can be easily manipulated to suit the user's purposes, and the result can be expressed in many different ways. When using this metric, make sure you understand what inputs are being used.

B) What are the leverage ratio? What is the importance of leverage ratios?
1.

Any ratio used to calculate the financial leverage of a company to get an idea of the company's methods of financing or to measure its ability to meet financial obligations. There are several different ratios, but the main factors looked at include debt, equity, assets and interest expenses.

2. A ratio used to measure a company's mix of operating costs, giving an idea of how changes in output will affect operating income. Fixed and variable costs are the two types of operating costs; depending on the company and the industry, the mix will differ.

Explain:
2.

Leverage Ratio

1. The most well known financial leverage ratio is the debt-to-equity ratio. For example, if a company has $10M in debt and $20M in equity, it has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.5 ($10M/$20M). 2. Companies with high fixed costs, after reaching the breakeven point, see a greater increase in operating revenue when output is increased compared to companies with high variable costs. The reason for this is that the costs have already been incurred, so every sale after the breakeven transfers to the operating income. On the other hand, a high variable cost company sees little increase in operating income with additional output, because costs continue to be imputed into the outputs. The degree of operating leverage is the ratio used to calculate this mix and its effects on operating income.

Formula to calculate financial leverage ratio:

Financial Leverage Ratio = total debt / shareholders equity.

Financial leverage ratio definition and explanation:

The financial leverage ratio is also referred to as the debt to equity ratio. The financial leverage ratio indicates the extent to which the business relies on debt financing. Upper acceptable limit of the financial leverage ratio is usually 2:1, with no more than one-third of debt in long term. A high financial leverage ratio indicates possible difficulty in paying interest and principal while obtaining more funding.

The financial leverage ratio is included in the financial statement ratio analysis spreadsheets highlighted in the left column, which provide formulas, definitions, calculation, charts and explanations of each ratio.

Formula to calculate operating leverage:

Operating Leverage = percent change in EBIT / percent change in sales.

Operating leverage definition and explanation:

The operating leverage reflects the extent to which a change in sales affects earnings. A high operating leverage ratio, with a highly elastic product demand, will cause sharp earnings fluctuations.

The operating leverage ratio is included in the financial statement ratio analysis spreadsheets highlighted in the left column, which provide formulas, definitions, calculation, charts and explanations of each ratio.