Introduction
The comparative horizontal analysis will be used to analyze the Accounts of General Electric’s Company. This technique requires at least two consecutive periods of information. The objective is to find and identify changes that have taken place over an accounting period (Plewa & Friedlob, 1995). The difference in dollar value reported between the two statements for each line item, subtotal, or a total of the statement is calculated and identified as positive or negative dollar value change. The change, positive or negative, is divided by the prior period’s dollar amount to determine the percentage change (Jagels, 2006). An absolute change shows the dollar change from one period to the next. A relative change is an absolute change expressed as a percentage (Robinson & al, 2012).
From the year 2011 to 2012, the total revenue of General Electric’s Company increased by 0.05%. This slight increase may have been caused by an increase in other revenues and incomes. Total costs and expenses of General Electric’s Company increased relatively by 2.30% by an absolute amount of $ 2922 from the year 2011 to the year 2012. Analysis of costs shows that the cost of goods and services sold increased while other costs and expenses decreased during the period as shown in the appendix below.
Cash and cash equivalents decreased by 8.50% from the year 2011 to the year 2012. Investment securities, current receivables and inventories increased by 2.40%, 5.00%, and 11.50% respectively from the year 2011 to 2012. Total liabilities decreased by 7.20% from the year 2011 to the year 2012.
Net Profit Analysis
Net profit decreased from $14151 in the year 2011 to $13641 in the year 2012, representing a percentage decrease of 3.60% from the year 2011 to the year 2012. This change in profit can be expressed by the use of net profit margin as follows (Baker & Powell, 2005):
Net profit margin decreased from 9.60% to 9.26% from the year 2011 to 2012; this explains the decrease in the total net profit of the company.
The company trend is not favorable because of the negative fluctuations in total revenues and other incomes and net profit during the period of analysis. From the year 2010 to the year 2011 the revenues and other incomes decreased by 1.52%, followed by another decrease of 0.05% from the year 2011 to the year 2012. Net profit also fluctuated adversely over the years. These changes may have been caused by the continuous increase in costs and expenses between the year 2011 and year 2012. The major increase in cost of goods sold may be due to an increase in the cost of raw materials among other costs related to the production of goods. A decrease in revenues and other incomes may also have caused a major change.
Conclusion
The trend of General Electric Company’s performance is unfavorable based on the current analysis characterized by a slight increase in revenues and other incomes, an increase in total costs and expenses and a decrease in total assets.
The future trend of General Electric’s Company may be favorable if the revenues and other incomes continue to increase with a larger percentage; costs and other expenses should also decrease as opposed to the current trend (ElMaraghy, 2012). Dividend per share and earnings per share have been increasing since the year 2010 to the year 2012, indicating that, despite the fluctuations in net profit; General Electric Company is still favorable for investment. This has been characterized by an increase in shareholders’ equity from 2011 to 2012.
References
Baker, H. K., & Powell, G. E. (2005). Understanding Financial Management : a Practical Guide. Oxford : Blackwell Pub.
ElMaraghy, H. A. (2012). Enabling manufacturing competitiveness and economic sustainability. Heidelberg ; New York: Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.
Jagels, M. G. (2006). Hospitality Management Accounting. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.
Plewa, F. J., & Friedlob, G. T. (1995). Understanding cash flow. New York: Wiley.
Robinson, T. R., & al, e. (2012). International financial statement analysis. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley & Sons.
Appendix – Analysis of General Electric’s Accounting
Statement of Earnings
Analysis of General Electric’s Accounting
Statement of Financial Position.