English Constitution Essay Example for Free

English Constitution Essay The role of the courts and government in judicial review is to ensure that Public authorities act lawfully; all such authorities are subject to the rule of law and are not permitted to act ‘ultra vires’ (beyond their powers). The power that government has comes from powers granted to that authority by statute or delegated legislation. The Human Rights Act 1988 (HRA) created an additional ground s6(1) making it unlawful for public bodies to act in Ð ° way that is incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights. (ECHR)Since the seventeenth century, in the Case of Monopolies 1602 77 ER 1260 the courts have claimed the authority to inquire into the extent and limits of the Crown’s common law prerogative powers. Since 1700, the role of the courts in reviewing administrative and judicial decisions has been explained on the basis of the rule of law whereby any Act or decision was invalid because it was in breach of or unauthorised by the law, or was beyond the scope of the power given to the decision maker by the law (Sunstein, 2001). Limitations of Judicial Review Judicial review is limited to the examination of executive decision and decision made by government authorities; it is Ð ° constitutional function of the High Court to ensure that public bodies and government do not act unlawfully. It acts not in order to give effect to any private rights of the individual who made the application but in order to fulfil the role. It is the examination of Ð ° legal decision by Ð ° public body and it is not an appeal whereby Ð ° decision maybe substituted but Ð ° review of that decision only. Judicial review is only concerned with the lawfulness and not with the merits of Ð ° decision. Attorney General v Fulham Corporation, ex relatione Yapp [1921] whereby the High Court granted Ð ° declaration that the council had acted unlawfully and Cooper v Wandsworth Board of Works (1863) 14 CB NS 180 that the council had acted unfairly and had failed to exercise their statutory power lawfully. The Primary Purpose of Judicial Review The primary purpose of judicial review was summarised by Lord Lindley MR in Roberts v Gwyrfai District Council [1899] 2 CH 608, 614: â€Å" I know of no duty of the Court which is more important to observe, and no power of the Court which is more important to enforce, than its power of keeping public bodies within their rights. The instant public and government bodies go beyond their constitutional rights they act so to damage and domination of private persons, and those individuals are allowed to be protected from harm arising from such operations of public bodies† (Sunstein, 2001 p47) In the case of Council of Civil Service Unions v Minister for the Civil Service [1985] AC 374 (GCHQ Case), Lord Diplock observed that: â€Å"The theme of every judicial review is Ð ° judgment made by some person or government body whom I shall name the ‘decision mÐ °ker’ or else Ð ° refusÐ °l by him to mÐ °ke Ð ° decision† In latest years judicial review has extended to private bodies which can be said to exercise Ð ° public function, R v City Panel of Takeover and Mergers, ex parte Datafin Ltd [1987] 2 QB 815Lord Diplock stated in the GCHQ case, that three actions that give grounds for Judicial review are illegality, irrationality and procedural impropriety (Merrill, 2001). Illegality, for example Ð ° government body misinterpreting legislation Anismimic Ltd V Foreign Compensation [1969] 2 AC 147, or acting ultra vires (acting beyond its prescribed power) AG v Fulham Corporation case, or making Ð ° judicial error of fact R v Secretary of State for Home Department, ex parte Khawaja [1984] AC 74, or unlawfully delegating power or fettering discretion Port of London Authority, ex parte Kynoch Ltd [1919] 1 KB 176 or where power is exercised by someone who does not meet the qualifications laid down in the granting of power, the act must be considered illegal, Entick v Carrington (1765) 19 ST Tr 1030 and Allingham v The Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries [1948] 1 All ER 780. In Vine v The National Dock Labour Board [1957] AC 488 Lord Somervell of Harrow said that in deciding whether there is such Ð ° power, two factors have to be considered â€Å"the nature of power and the character of the person†Irrationality, the decision of Ð ° public body is irrational if it is ‘so unreasonable that no reasonable body could have come to the decision† Associated Provincial Picture Houses Ltd v Wednesbury Corp [1948] 1 KB 223 or ‘so outrageous in its defiance of logic or accepted moral standards that no sensible person who applied his mind to the question could have arrived at the decision’ Lord Diplock GCHQ case, Unreasonableness includes acting for improper motives, failing to take account of relevant considerations, failing to respect the requirements of natural justice and fettering discretion by adopting Ð ° rigid policy. With irrationality the courts have moved on from reviewing the procedures by which Ð ° decision has been made and testing its legality to substituting the courts own view on the merits of the decisionThe standard of reasonableness imposed by the courts is high. If the standard were too low it would mean that judicial discretion was being substituted for administrative discretion (Merrill, 2001). However, the protection of human rights has allowed the courts to use jurisdiction to employ Ð ° stricter test than in other Wednesbury cases, R v Lord Saville of Newdigate ex parte Brind (no 2) [1991] 1 All ER 720 (Merrill, 2001).

Seafood and Depression Essay -- essays research papers

Seafood and Depression There have been studies that conclude that there is some relationship between food intake and mental health. The stress you endure, and how you deal with it differs in many ways. There is evidence that the more seafood college students eat the lower level of depression they experience. Researchers have two different inventories for depression. The Beck Depression Inventory is a leading depression inventory, and the new inventory is the Wilsonson's Depression Scale (Wilsonson, Gofendorfer, & Brazleton, 2002). The results of both tests were identical. The Wilsonson Depression Scale proved to be more simple to administer and faster to complete and score (Wilsonson et al., 2002). This study, as well as others (Arbor, Dolfin, & Pecanhead, 2003; Black, Marsh, Roberts, Kickerback, Duey, Freeberslager, Williamsonson, & Friday, 2004; Smith & Hold, 2004; Thompson, 2004; Wilsonson, Gofendorfer, & Brazleton, 2002) have shown that when seafood intake is high your depression level is lower. One study examined the relationship between eating different foods to include seafood and depression (Arbor, Dolfin, & Pecanhead, 2003). In this particular study, the groups took the Wilsonson's Depression Scale before and after the participants divided into three groups and put on one of three very strict diets. Results of the study showed a significant difference in the levels of depression after being on the diet. A different study, (Black, Marsh, Roberts, Kickerback, Duey, Freeberslager, Williamsonson, & Friday, 2004) examined elderly people and gave them tests on personality, depression, and kept a journal of food intake for over three weeks. The Black (2004) study broke into two groups. One group said that they ate seafood at least six times a week and the other group only three or fewer a week. The Smith and Hold (2004) study was made up of 1000 elderly people living in the South. All the participants took personality tests and depression scales and kept food journals for six weeks. After the six-week study, the researchers cross-referenced the journals, personality tests, and depression scales. The Thompson study (2004) is a little different from the others. In this particular study, a group of teenage couples in the Central United States was given Beck's Depression Inventory in 1985, 1992, and again in 2004. After the test... ...ps, B., & Brenham, S. (2002). How does that make you feel: Monkies react to psychotherapeutic questioning [Electronic version]. Journal of Mental Health, 7(6), 147-157. Smith, B., Blowhard, J., Hardinson, B.P., Sherman, B., Ebert, R., Knight, P., et al. (2004). Feeling blue: The impact of color wheels on adult children of monkeys. Journal of Mental Health, 2(4), 115-153. Smith, B. P., & Hold, A. (2003). I like fish, do you? New York: USA Psychological   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Associates, Inc. Smith, B. P., & Hold, A. (2004). Psychophysiological effects of eating seafood. American Journal of Psychiatry, 3, 240-257. Smith, Bill P., & Hold, A. (2005). Who likes fish? Characteristics of people who love and hate seafood [Electronic version]. Journal of American Psychology, 3(2), 34-37. Thompson, C. (2004). Consumption of seafood associated with lower levels of depression: Longitudinal study involving fishmongers and fishwives [Electronic version]. Journal of American Psychology, 5, 123-134. Wilsonson, B., Gofendorfer, C.B., & Brazelton, W.F., III. (2002). Development and implementation of the Wilsonson’s Depression Scale. Psychology Bulletin, 122, 117- 137.

The Components of a Decision Support System

(i)Data Management Component. The data management component performs the function of storing and maintaining the information that you want your Decision Support System to use. The data management component, therefore, consists of both the Decision Support System information and the Decision Support System database management system. The information you use in your Decision Support System comes from one or more of three sources: Organizational information: One may want to use virtually any information available in the organization for your Decision Support System. What you use, of course, depends on what you need and whether it is available.You can design your Decision Support System to access this information directly from your company’s database and data warehouse. However, specific information is often copied to the Decision Support System database to save time in searching through the organization’s database and data warehouses. External information: Some decisions r equire input from external sources of information. Various branches of federal government, Dow Jones, Compustat data, and the internet, to mention just a few, can provide additional information for the use with a Decision Support System.Personal information:You can incorporate your own insights and experience your personal information into your Decision Support System. You can design your Decision Support System so that you enter this personal information only as needed, or you can keep the information in a personal database that is accessible by the Decision Support System. (ii)Model Management Component. The model management component consists of both the Decision Support System models and the Decision Support System model management system. A model is a representation of some event, fact, or situation.As it is not always practical, or wise, to experiment with reality, people build models and use them for experimentation. Models can take various forms. Businesses use models to rep resent variables and their relationships. For example, you would use a statistical model called analysis of variance to determine whether newspaper, TV, and billboard advertizing are equally effective in increasing sales. Decision Support Systems help in various decision-making situations by utilizing models that allow you to analyze information in many different ways.The models you use in a Decision Support System depend on the decision you are making and, consequently, the kind of analysis you require. For example, you would use what-if analysis to see what effect the change of one or more variables will have on other variables, or optimization to find the most profitable solution given operating restrictions and limited resources. Spreadsheet software such as excel can be used as a Decision Support System for what-if analysis. The model management system stores and maintains the Decision Support System’s models.Its function of managing models is similar to that of a databa se management system. The model management component can not select the best model for you to use for a particular problem that requires your expertise but it can help you create and manipulate models quickly and easily. (iii)User Interface Management Component. The user interface management component allows you to communicate with the Decision Support System. It consists of the user interface management system. This is the component that allows you to combine your know-how with the storage and processing capabilities of the computer.The user interface is the part of the system you see through it when enter information, commands, and models. This is the only component of the system with which you have direct contract. If you have a Decision Support System with a poorly designed user interface, if it is too rigid or too cumbersome to use, you simply won’t use it no matter what its capabilities. The best user interface uses your terminology and methods and is flexible, consiste nt, simple, and adaptable. For an example of the components of a Decision Support System, let’s onsider the Decision Support System that Land’s End has tens of millions of names in its customer database. It sells a wide range of women’s, men’s, and children’s clothing, as well various household wares. To match the right customer with the catalog, land’s end has identified 20 different specialty target markets. Customers in these target markets receive catalogs of merchandise that they are likely to buy, saving Lands’ End the expense of sending catalogs of all products to all 20 million customers.To predict customer demand, lands’ end needs to continuously monitor buying trends. And to meet that demand, lands’ end must accurately forecast sales levels. To accomplish theses goals, it uses a Decision Support System which performs three tasks: Data management: The Decision Support System stores customer and product informati on. In addition to this organizational information, Lands’ End also needs external information, such as demographic information and industry and style trend information.Model management: The Decision Support System has to have models to analyze the information. The models create new information that decision makers need to plan product lines and inventory levels. For example, Lands’ End uses a statistical model called regression analysis to determine trends in customer buying patterns and forecasting models to predict sales levels. User interface management: A user interface enables Lands’ End decision makers to access information and to specify the models they want to use to create the information they need.

Global Tobacco Market Essay Online For Free - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 13 Words: 3771 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? Imperial Tobacco Company Plc is the worlds fourth largest tobacco company in the world with a market share of over 5%. The UK market share for 2010 was 45%. The group primarily operates in Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asian regions. It has a presence in over 160 countries worldwide, operates 51 manufacturing sites and has around 38,000 employees. Past, Present and Future. Executive Summary In 2014, the global tobacco market forecast is to have a value of $490.2 billion, an increase of 14.2%. Cigarette is the largest segment of the global tobacco market, accounting for 91.8% of the markets total Value1. Analyst Don Hedley suggests that volume trends are a fairer way to calculate prevalence. Looking at a CAGR from 2009-2040, based on historical trends, Japans tobacco market would be 80% smaller in 2040, and the USA, Brazil and the UK would be 30% smaller 2. Given this scenario and the fact that IMT PLC has begun on the growth track in 2010 and it still has time to make the most of the global market. The major global competitors for IMT PLC are Philip Morris International, China National Tobacco Co. and Japan tobacco Inc 1. Other than mentioned previously, in the UK major competitors are Altria group Inc, British American Tobacco Plc and Reynolds American Inc 1. Throughout the review Imperial Tobacco PLC would be written as IMT PLC. It can be categorized within Consumer goods in the tobacco industry. Imperial reports its business under two operating segments: tobacco and logistics. Despite intense competition, crisis times and unfavourable attitudes towards tobacco consumption, IMT PLCs performance has been positively growing in the past years. Currently IMT PLC is faced with restructuring and strategies to cope with legal regulations since 2007. It is arguably obvious that governments across the globe derive highest amount of tax benefit from manufacturing and sale of tobacco and tobacco equivalents; however for a tobacco company maneuvering its way around these regulations and sustaining itself optimally is getting difficult. The companys transforming year was 2008. The company acquired Altadis and Logista with an estimated operational efficiency of around ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¬300 million. Today IMT PLCs performance is on the rise with competitors on most parameters. The overall performance of the company was positively affected by th e growing business in Spain, repayment of their short term liabilities by refinancing and increased sales volume for three brands. The need to change the dividend policy and provide higher (return on investments) ROI was a strategic decision that IMT PLC lived up to this year and plans to for the next few years. The credit rating still with all these changes and huge leverage conditions has still been positively high. The company performance has had a positive impact on the overall Shareholder value analysis by increasing its operating profits and huge achievements were Debt clearance, Acquisitions, emerging markets and planned price rise for 2011. A detailed SWOT Analysis is attached in the Appendices 1. The conclusion section gives a fair evaluation in brief about future shareholder options. All figures have been extracted only from these sources: Company Annual reports Income statement, Balance Sheet, Cash flow statement and mainly Notes to the financial statements, Reuters.com and Forbes.com C:UsersUserDesktopCapture.JPG Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Global Tobacco Market Essay Online For Free" essay for you Create order Analysis Ratios: C:UsersUserDesktopCapture.JPG Despite the totoal tobacco market shrinkage, profit margins have increased owing to increase in sales of Davidoff, West and Gauloises Blondes which reflected sales growth of 8.7% from Spain. The negative growth in white stick equivalents and cigarettes was compensated by the growth in Fine cut tobacco. C:UsersUserDesktopCapture.JPG The actual capital employed in the business has been and will be reducing. The business sold, depreciated and amortised several assets. Also the current liabilities (borrowings) had significantly reduced from 2560 million last year to 329 million this year 6. The decrease in non-current assets in 2010 is because of the adjustment of reduced goodwill from Reemtsma acquisition 4 worth 41 million and increase in inventories and foreign gains worth 210 million under current assets. With so much asset reduction ROCE improved since last 2 years. C:UsersUserDesktopCapture.JPG ROSC Industry average 2010 8 ROSC Sector Average 20108 12.16 (as of 14th April 2011) 5.82 (as of 14th April 2011) The Equity amounts for 2009 was lower since the organisations operations were not able to repay all the liabilities. Hence the organisation paid up equity from retained earnings. The ROSC in 2010 tripled as the net profit grew more than half from 2009. The huge leap on shareholder payment was the main priority after in 2009 hence the company chased profitability to achieve this. Also since the group saved on finance costs the resulting PBIT was high increasing the ROSC. ROA Industry average 2010 8 ROA Sector Average 20108 0.95 (as of 14th April 2011) 1.62 (as of 14th April 2011) The total return on Assets was owing to increased operating profits in 2010 and disposal of many assets from the Altadis synergies. As stated earlier, figure in 2010 would be higher than industry and sector averages, owing to reducing assets and increased operating profit. Also many restructuring costs borne today from the European acquisitions will yield result 3-5 years from now; hence this ratio will be expected to improve. C:UsersUserDesktopCapture.JPG The debt position has had a 16% improvement since last year, however IMT PLC plans to keep up on higher net incomes to balance equity proportions. Debt to Equity also shows that for the C:UsersUserDesktopCapture.JPG past three years the risk component of the business has decreased by looking at Equity over long and short term borrowings and overdrafts; the company is uses very high leverage but does have financial risk mitigation initiatives like a group treasury committee to warn them of any debt triggers. Debt position overall needs to reduce for the risk factor associated. This would mean inviting shareholder contributions which in turn means aiming for profitability in the next coming years aggressively. Interest Cover Industry average 2010 8 Interest Cover Sector Average 20108 0.58 (as of 14th April 2011) 0.59 (as of 14th April 2011) The company has been gradually increasing its capacity to meet interest obligations from its operational earnings; especially in 2010 as the operating income was fairly high. The companys strategies of sales growth, cost and efficiency and cash utilisation must be maintained at least through the next 2-3 years to maintain the same levels of operating profit as 2010 for risk aversions and credit rating improvement on subsidiaries from other countries. The company has huge revolving refinance facility at floating interest rates for non current borrowings. Any significant increase in the borrowed interest rates may eat into operating earnings. Moreover the company has undertakings worth 3976 million which is unsecure and can be paid back on demand. C:UsersUserDesktopCapture.JPG In 2008 the profit for the year was low and the taxation rate was high as were the finance costs. The trade receivables were lower than trad e payables. All this had to be managed from operating cash flow. In 2010 the profit was significantly high; however movement of cash in to working capital and provisions and increase in trade payables affected cash flow. In 2009 even though the profits were low, income from investments were very high and the movement in provision was very low. The group also has  £231 million of total cash and cash equivalents held in countries in which prior approval is required to transfer the funds abroad. The overall cash position is secure. C:UsersUserDesktopCapture.JPG C:UsersUserDesktopCapture.JPG Industry average 2010 8 Sector Average 20108 Current Ratio 0.44 (as of 14th April 2011) 0.87 (as of 14th April 2011) Quick Ratio 0.25 (as of 14th April 2011) 0.63 (as of 14th April 2011) There has been an increase in the ratio between current assets and current liabilities. This is a good indicator of the company being able to pay off liabilities from the cash it generates off of its current assets. However as per the quick ratio, the company is relatively low on this ratio. It needs to able to funds for its short term liabilities in a much bigger proportion owing to its size and nature of business- Consumer which is usually fast moving. If stocks are removed then the company has relatively very few assets that can help sustain its liabilities. If in the future if bans minimise current assets and therefore current liabilities, production would be affected and so would sales. The total assets also include several acquisition assets, the sale of which would be accounted for in the next financial statement. Thi s figure is also expected to improve. C:UsersUserDesktopCapture.JPG Current Ratio Quick Ratio C:UsersUserDesktopCapture.JPG Shareholder liquidity has remained consistent over the years. Despite unfavourable operating profit conditions in last few years the company has managed to keep the shareholders interest secure in the company. Satiating Shareholder liquidity is the right decision as it is extremely important for future survival since all the mergers, acquisitions made by the company would take at least 3-5 years in effect to show results. C:UsersUserDesktopCapture.JPG The average number of days that the company takes to repay its debtors has been reducing since 2008. This is because the organisation has been making increasing payments debtors year on year and the deferred income amount has been increasing consistently. C:UsersUserDesktopCapture.JPG Trading and sales have picked up and apt amount of investments have been made in maintaining optimum level of inventories or stock. The average number of days that stock sits in warehouses before it is sold ha s reduced 2008. More finished goods were made available for sale suiting demand rise. The stock turn over period could increase further more if the group can make use of all its assets and enter emerging markets. The noticeable consistency between Stock turnover and creditors turnover suggests that creditors are being paid even before or almost immediately after cash generation. The payment amount has been fairly consistent last year and in 2010. The company has maintained healthy supplier relations and is improving on the same. C:UsersUserDesktopCapture.JPG Optimum Assets have been put to produce the current ROCE and working capital has been reducedby 1.7% from last year. The company has been able to clear a high debt owing to which the cash cycle has improved. C:UsersUserDesktopCapture.JPG In 2008 and 2009 the dividend payouts were significantly lower as even equity was being paid from retained earnings and there was practically not much left for dividend payouts. I n 2010 however the strategic focus was on shareholder satisfaction and arguably the dividend payout was given on time to possibly retain share prices in the future and also to maintain credibility from an investors perspective. There has been almost a 50% percentage change in Dividend payment from last year to 2010. With respect to competitors, global and domestic the investor confidence in the future growth of IMT PLC today is relatively much lower than competitors and industry average. It definitely though does not indicate any insecurity for investors. The company is in the midst of settling down and emerging from acquisitions made since 2008 and it has been growing in every way marginally every year. These share price figures were extracted from Reuters, and Forbes (2011) as on 12th April 2011. The dividend yield has been calculated based on the year end date 30th September for the past three years. The yield is high in 2010 owing to high dividend payouts since investor co nfidence is required to boost market capital and shareholder support. Without any profit retentions or movement to provisions, if the company pays off everything that it earned to shareholders as dividends each shareholder as of 2010 still expect to gain 8.13 of dividend yield. This obviously is high in 2010 owing to high dividend payouts that affected the current expected share value from investors. C:UsersUserDesktopCapture.JPG C:UsersUserDesktopCapture.JPG Growth Sustainability: The production volumes for the company have been increasing since 2008. The total volumes of sales last year was 697 million units. Observing past trends the variables costs for IMT PLC needs to increase margins. Achieving growth in the future with regards to cost savings means avoiding opportunity costs, impairment costs. On profitability Liquidity -maintaining an optimum balance on debt levels, dividend payouts, equity and retained earnings. Assuming an overall growth rate of 8% for 2011 ( 2010 -6%) on total revenue the company must make approx  £ 30,426 million revenue next year as against 28173 in 2010. 8% growth with the plan to increase product prices ensures nout just profitability but a secure cash and debt repaying position. More so operating profits need to grow from value generated (hard factors) not just by savings (soft factors). Considering that the selling price per tobacco unit (especially cigarettes) is  £ 7.5, there is not enough room for passing the variable cost to the price. Hence the company should arguably opt for volume sales and tap as much emerging market as possible in these next few years. Corporate governance initiatives: Business in the Communitys 2009 Corporate Responsibility Index awarded IMT PLC a Gold rating with an improved score of 93.8%. The organisation structure is relatively highly centralised owing to the nature of business. The business has a methodology of appointing a neutral team known as the Group Treasury Committee t hat takes care of all the financial risks in the best interest of employees and shareholders. Many other risks such as Litigations, Competition, Market dependency, illicit trade and regulations etc have structured mitigation plans in place. The group also involved in community spending worth  £ 3.7 million in 2010. Global market share: IMT PLCs production strategy includes both volumes (54%) and differentiation (46%). It caters both to customers who demand value and customers who are brand conscious. Major opportunities for the organisation are to firstly increase profitability and brand in and from emerging countries with a view to increase overall market share. Today IMT PLC a just above 5% on global market share, it has ample growth opportunities. IMT PLC may appear global in terms of their how many countries they operate in; however a truly global organisation is also measured in terms of assets placed, employees hired and revenues generated internationally. Philip Morris, China National Tobacco and Japan Tobacco Inc lead the global market share with 17.4%, 13.8% and 13.3% respectively. IMT PLC has touched today with Japan Tobacco. The reasons on why countries such as Colombia, Egypt, Philippines, Austria, Poland India etc have been declared less profitable is unclear however if the company studies these markets and adopts a strategy to suit their needs collectively the market share would increase significantly. IMT PLC needs to expand its planning horizons to make global expansion as a factor in the future which adds value. Emerging Tier I and II markets are major survival aids for the long term. Value Generation: Only based on the financial analysis it was observed that difference between the companys variable costs and revenue is in a good position but can be improved further by reducing a huge amount on yearly impairments that the company writes off. Also there are huge opportunities for IMT PLC to strengthen its existing Logistics business as a robust measure of sustainability in the long future in the midst of uncertain regulations and high risks. Logistics business has not shown any improvements in the past three years. The group needs to focus on utilising logistics as a major business improvement opportunity in times of reducing tobacco markets. According to the Z score calculation by E I Altman the Z score value for IMT PLC is 2.4 which categorises it as a healthy organisation. In the near future IMT PLC has decided to hike prices of products and improve margins to support their operating cash flows and operating profits. It has also strategically sought to invest heavily in sales force to sustain as a defence from any government or legal policy. It is a growing organisation and must increase the workforce to grow efficiently. Conclusions: The debt position is being monitored but the company is in a secure position overall and performance can improve immensely based on asset utilisation, market share, value gener ation and volume and margin increase. Although some competitors are better performing and at par, the group performance has been above industry and sector averages also strategic objectives are well defined and being aggressively chased for 2011. The value returns are aimed to start this year on since settlement from mergers are almost done. It is now that shareholder support is required the most and the group ensures optimum returns. Bibiliography Datamonitor (2008-2010), Imperial Tobacco PLC Company and Industry Profiles. Available at: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=truedb=buhauthdb=dmhcoAN=71ED6984-EA5C-4945-9E4E-F35280EAFA2Bsite=bsi-live https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=truedb=buhAN=52479880site=bsi-live Euromonitor (2011) The Future of the Tobacco Industry, Euromonitor [Online]. Available at: https://blog.euromonitor.com/2011/02/the-future-of-the-tobacco-industry.html Imperial Tobacco PLC (2008) Imperial Tobacco PLC- Annual Reports and Accounts 2008 Reports- Financials Consolidated Balance sheet. Available at: https://www.imperial-tobacco.com/files/financial/reports/ar2008/index.asp?pageid=50 Imperial Tobacco PLC (2008) Imperial Tobacco PLC- Annual Reports and Accounts 2008 Reports- Financials Consolidated Income statement. Available at: https://www.imperial-tobacco.com/files/financial/reports/ar2008/index.asp?pageid=49 Imperial Tobacco PLC (2008) Imperial Tobacco PLC- Annual Reports and Accounts 2008 Reports- Financials Consolidated Cashflow statement. Available at: https://www.imperial-tobacco.com/files/financial/reports/ar2008/index.asp?pageid=52 Imperial Tobacco PLC (2008) Imperial Tobacco PLC- Media- News 2008-2010. Available at: https://www.imperial-tobacco.com/index.asp?page=78 Imperial Tobacco PLC (2009) Imperial Tobacco PLC- Annual Reports and Accounts 2008 Reports- Financials Consolidated Balance sheet. Availabl e at: https://www.imperial-tobacco.com/files/financial/reports/ar2009/index.asp?pageid=58 Imperial Tobacco PLC (2009) Imperial Tobacco PLC- Annual Reports and Accounts 2008 Reports- Financials Consolidated Income statement. Available at: https://www.imperial-tobacco.com/files/financial/reports/ar2009/index.asp?pageid=57 Imperial Tobacco PLC (2009) Imperial Tobacco PLC- Annual Reports and Accounts 2008 Reports- Financials Consolidated Cashflow statement. Available at: https://www.imperial-tobacco.com/files/financial/reports/ar2009/index.asp?pageid=60 Imperial Tobacco PLC (2011) Imperial Tobacco PLC- Annual Reports and Accounts 2008 Reports- Financials Consolidated Income statement. Available at: https://www.imperial-tobacco.com/files/financial/reports/ar2010/index.asp?pageid=64 Imperial Tobacco PLC (2011) Imperial Tobacco PLC- Annual Reports and Accounts 2008 Reports- Financials Consolidated Cashflow statement. Available at: https://www.imperial-tobacco.com/fi les/financial/reports/ar2010/index.asp?pageid=67 Imperial Tobacco PLC (2011) Imperial Tobacco PLC Media- News 2008- Imperial Tobacco Group PLC completes delisting from the New York Stock Exchange and files forms 15 and 15F with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Available at: https://www.imperial-tobacco.com/index.asp?page=78newsid=634type=18year=2008 Imperial Tobacco PLC (2011) Imperial Tobacco PLC- Annual Reports and Accounts 2010 Reports- Financials Notes to the financial statements- Note 20-29. Available at: https://www.imperial-tobacco.com/files/financial/reports/ar2010/index.asp?pageid=73#note29 (Accessed:2nd April 2011) Imperial Tobacco PLC (2011) Imperial Tobacco PLC- Annual Reports and Accounts 2010 Reports- Business overview- Highlights- Operational Highlights. 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Available at: https://www.investopedia.com/university/ratios/ Appendices I IMT PLC SWOT ANALYSIS Datamonitor (2008-2010) 2010 2009 2008 Appendices II Profitability Ratios Profit Margin Profit Margin = PBIT/Revenue 2010 2009 2008 PBIT 2118 945 621 Revenue 28173 26517 20528 Prft Mrgin 5.40 2.55 2.15 Return on Capital Employed ROCE = PBIT/ Capital Employed 2010 2009 2008 PBIT 2118 945 621 Total Assets 30615 32009 29825 Current Liabilities 9142 11140 9543 Capital Employed (Total Assets- current Liabilities) 21473 20869 19742 ROCE ratio 9.86 4.53 3.15 Return on Gross Assets ROA = PBIT/ Total Assets 2010 2009 2008 PBIT 2118 945 621 Total Assets 30615 32009 29825 ROA ratio 6.9 2.1 4.8 Appendices III Capital Structure and financial ratios Debt to Equity Ratio Debt to Equity = (Short Term Loans + Overdrafts + Long Term Liabilities)/Shareholder Capital 2010 2009 2008 Short Term Loans + Overdrafts + Long Term Liabilities 14173 16834 16064 Actual Shareholder Capital (excluding non controlling Interests) 7029 6538 6307 D-E ratio 209.32 257.32 254.70 Interest Cover Ratio Interest Cover = PBIT/ Interest charges 2010 2009 2008 PBIT 2118 945 621 Interest Charges 609 562 608 Interest Cover Ratio 3.48 times 1.2 times 2.33 times Cash flow Ratio Cash flow ratio = Cash flow from operating activities/Total debts 2010 2009 2008 Cash flow from operating activities 2859 3569 1700 Total Debts 23526 25414 22929 Cash flow Ratio 12.15 14.04 7.41 Appendices IV Liquidity and solvency ratios Current Ratio Current Ratio= Current Assets/Current Liabilities 2010 2009 2008 Current Assets 7086 7222 6581 Current Liabilities 9142 11140 9543 Current Ratio 0.78 0.65 0.69 Quick Ratio Quick Ratio= (Current Assets -Stock)/Current Liabilities 2010 2009 2008 Current Assets 7086 7222 6581 Stocks 3019 2925 2858 (Current Assets Stocks) 4067 4297 3723 Current Liabilities 9142 11140 9543 Quick Ratio 0.44 0.39 0.39 Shareholders Liquidity Shareholders Liquidity = Shareholders funds/Long term liability 2010 2009 2008 Shareholders funds 14384 14274 13386 Long term Liability 7029 6595 6356 Shareholders liquidity ratio 0.49 0.46 0.47 Appendices V Working Capital Management Ratios Average Debtor Days Average debtor days = (Trade Debtors/Annual Sales)*365 2010 2009 2008 Trade Debtors 2755 2681 2650 Annual Sales 28173 26517 20528 Debtor days 35.7 36.9 47.1 Stock Turnover Period Stock Turnover period = (Stocks/Cost of Sale)*365 2010 2009 2008 Stock 3019 2925 2858 Cost of Sale 22718 21201 16665 Stock Turn over 48.5 50.4 62.6 Creditors Turnover Creditors Turnover = (Trade Creditors/Cost of sale)*365 2010 2009 2008 Trade Creditors 1248 1247 1096 Cost of Sale 22718 21201 16665 Creditors days 48.5 50.4 62.6 Cash Cycle Cash Cycle = (Stock Turnover+Debtor Days)- Creditor Days 2010 2009 2008 Creditors days 48.5 50.4 62.6 Stock Turn over 48.5 50.4 62.6 Debtor days 35.7 36.9 47.1 Cash Cycle 64.1 65.8 85.7 Appendices VI Investor Ratios Dividend Cover Dividend Cover= Earnings Per Share/Dividend per share 2010 2009 2008 Earnings per share 148.5 65.5 50.6 Dividend per share 84.3 73 63.1 Dividend cover 1.76 0.90 0.80 Price Earnings Ratio- (Share prices, Industry average and sector average-Extracted from Reuters and Forbes.com) Dividend Yield Dividend Cover= Earnings Per Share/Dividend per share 2010 2009 2008 Current Share Price (as of 30th Sept each year) 1808 1797 2241 Annual Dividend 84.3 73 63.1 Dividend Yield 4.7 4.1 2.8 Earnings Yield Earnings Yield= Dividend Yield*Dividend cover 2010 2009 2008 Dividend Yield 4.7 4.1 2.8 Dividend Cover 1.76 0.90 0.80 Earnings Yield 8.3 3.7 2.2