High Level Of Interest Payment example essay topic

421 words
'Tesco's has already turned around many of the T&S convenience stores they bought a year ago... 80 of the 450 outlets have been revamped as Tesco express stores... average sales are up by 80 percent' The Gaur dian 26/121/03 GearingTeso's 0.25: 1 Sainsbury's 0.16: 1 M&s 0.28: 1 o Gearing is a measure of risk when investing in a company Proportion of capital made up of fixed interest borrowing o The effect of the investments in HIT and T&S over the last 5 years can be seen with the gearing for Tesco's increasing in the relevant year but also falling afterwards. o Their latest acquisition has increased the gearing level above that of Sainsbuy's, making it on the face of it more lucrative for in vest ors to invest in Sainsbury's. o Considering the performance of the transformed T&S stores, it however becomes clear that the high level of interest payment on the associated gearing should fall in the short run making Tesco's a good buy for investors Interest CoverTesco's 8.49 Sainsbury's 12.12 M&s 17.73 o Interest payments show creditors how secure their payments are by showing how many times profit is greater than interest charges. o Once again the impact of Tesco's acquisitions can be seen with its low current interest cover. o Increases in net profit have been outstripped be the debt level, and the subsequent higher interest charges. o M&s must be regarded as a a very secure debtor from a creditors point of view, however as Tesco's makes use of loan capital more so than other companies their interest cover figures have been under estimated and should not be seen as a very high risk. Current RatioTesco's 0.45: 1 Sainsbury's 0.87: 1 M&s 1.96: 1 o Tesco's bad performance is due to the fact that it has fewer current assets. o This is highlighted by their low stock turnover o M&S impressive figures is merely due to their high level of debtors whilst Sainsbury's have included their customers accounts from its own bank Acid TestTesco's 0.24: 1 Sainsbury's 0.71: 1 M&s 1.74: 1 o Clearly Tesco's seems to have the weakest ratio out of the 3 firms, with the removal of stock from the equation worsening their ratio. o M&S is very high due to its high debt level so Creditors and investors should not be too worried, as stock that has been removed from the equation due to its non liquid qualities in most retail sectors, is fairly liquid in the food retail sector.