Financial Analysis Oracle Sells Software for Database-Management Term Paper

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Financial Analysis

Oracle sells software for database-management and network products, application-development productivity tools, and end-user applications. Its principal product, the Oracle relational database-management system, runs on supercomputers, mainframes, minicomputers, microcomputers, and personal computers. The firm also offers consulting and systems-integration services. Foreign sales make up about 50% of revenue.

Oracle sees the wisdom in managing business data. Oracle also offers business applications for data warehousing, customer relationship management, and supply chain management. The company made an unsolicited bid to acquire PeopleSoft for about $5.1 billion in June 2003. By early 2004 the offer had increased to $9.4 billion, but was later reduced to $7.7 billion to reflect market conditions. The Department of Justice filed antitrust lawsuits in seven states to block the deal, and started hearings on June 7. Peoplesoft's lawsuit against Oracle is scheduled to go to court November 1 in Alameda, California.

Long-Term Debt Ratio (Long-Term Liabilities/Total Assets)

The long-term debt ratio is a metric used to measure a company's financial risk by determining how much of the company's assets have been financed by debt and is calculated by dividing long-term debt by a company's total assets.

May 04

May 03

May 02

Long-Term Debt

Other Noncurrent Liabilities

Long-Term Liabilities

Total Assets

Long-Term Debt ratio

It would seem that Oracle's Long-Term Debt Ratio is improving, as in May '04 only 3.423% of the total assets was financed by debt, compared to 4.805% in May '02. The financial risk is steadily decreasing, which indicates a good risk management of the company. However, for a complete analysis, one must take into consideration the value of the interest ratio paid to creditors, the amount of dividends paid to shareholders and when the long-term loans are due. One may find that financing the assets based on Long-Term Debt is "cheaper" than doing in based on Shareholders' Equity.

Current Ratio (Current Assets/Current Liabilities)

The Current Ratio compares current assets (cash, inventory, accounts receivable) to current liabilities (obligations due within one year) and is calculated as Current Assets/Current Liabilities

As a variant, one may calculate the Quick or Acid Test ratio which is a current ratio that distinguishes current assets that can be converted quickly into cash (cash, marketable securities) from those that cannot (inventory, accounts receivable). Its values is (Cash + Marketable Securities)/Current Liabilities.

May 04

May 03

May 02

Current Assets

Cash

Net Receivables

Inventories

Other Current Assets

Total Current Assets

Current Liabilities

Accounts Payable

Short-Term Debt

Other Current Liabilities

Total Current Liabilities

Current Ratio

Oracle's Current Ratio is increasing, which indicates that the value of the current assets tends to grow, compared to current liabilities, which increase at a slower pace. That means that Oracle' short-term financial situation is improving. However, the company's management could consider more profitable uses for the current assets, especially for the large amount of cash, which seems to have a slight ascending trend..

Fixed Assets Turnover (Sales/Average Fixed Assets),

Fixed asset turnover is the ratio of sales (on the income statement) to the value of the fixed assets (on your balance sheet). It indicates how well the business is using its fixed assets to generate sales.

Generally speaking, the higher the ratio, the better because a high ratio indicates that the business has less money tied up in fixed assets for each dollar of sales revenue. A declining ratio may indicate that the company has over-invested in plant, equipment, or other fixed assets.

May 04

May 03

May 02

Revenue (Sales)

Net Fixed Assets

Other Noncurrent Assets

Total Fixed Assets

Average Fixed Assets

Fixed Assets Turnover

1632 6,223

9475/1954,5 4,851

9573/2277 4,203

The Fixed Assets Turnover is significantly higher in May '04 than the one recorded in May '02. Oracle is using its fixed assets in an excellent manner, and while Revenue is growing, the Average Fixed Assets are decreasing, which means that the company gains more from less fixed assets, which is remarkable, because Fixed Assets tend to grow each time a company has positive results.

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Oracle' CFO seems to have chosen a differnent strategy than most financial officers do when confronted with increasing Revenue.

Total Asset Turnover (sales/average total assets)

The total asset turnover is the ratio of total sales (on the income statement) to total assets (on the balance sheet) and indicates how well a business is using all its assets (rather than just inventories or fixed assets) to generate revenue.

A high asset turnover ratio means a higher return on assets, which can compensate for a low profit margin. In computing the ratio, one might compute total assets by averaging the total assets at the beginning and end of the accounting period.

May 04

May 03

May 02

Revenue (Sales)

Total Current Assets

Net Fixed Assets

Other Noncurrent Assets

Total Fixed Assets

Total Assets

Average Total Assets

Total Asset Turnover

11913,5 0,85

9475/10032 0,94

9673/9050,5 1,07

The Total Asset Turnover is decreasing, which is not a good sign, considering that the company is not using its total assets as it should, or at least as it did in 2002. Although Fixed Assets Turnover has increased, it would seem that Current Assets are not used properly and do not generate high enough Revenue. The management team at Oracle should have in mind a different strategy for the allocation of the assets, especially of the current assets.

Return On Equity (net income - preferred stock dividend/average stockholders equity).

Return On Equity (ROE) is a measure of how well a company used reinvested earnings to generate additional earnings, equal to a fiscal year's after-tax income (after preferred stock dividends but before common stock dividends) divided by book value, expressed as a percentage. It is used as a general indication of the company's efficiency; in other words, how much profit it is able to generate given the resources provided by its stockholders. Investors usually look for companies with returns on equity that are high and growing. Return On Equity (ROE) is an accounting valuation method similar to Return on Investment (ROI). Because the numerator (Net Income) is an unreliable corporate performance measurement, the outcome of the formula for ROE must also be unreliable to determine success or corporate value. However the formula keeps showing up in many annual reports still.

According to an excellent site on management and financial ratios, the degree to which Return On Equity (ROE) overstates the economic value depends on at least 5 factors:

1. length of project life (the longer, the bigger the overstatement)

2. capitalization policy (the smaller the fraction of total investment capitalized in the books, the greater will be the overstatement)

3. The rate at which depreciation is taken on the books (depreciation rates faster than straight-line basis will result in a higher ROE)

4. The lag between investment outlays and the recoupment of these outlays from cash inflows (the greater the time lag, the greater the degree of overstatement)

5. The growth rate of new investment (faster growing companies will have lower Return On Equity)"

On top of this, ROE is sensitive to leverage: assuming that proceeds from debt financing can be invested at a return greater than the borrowing rate, ROE will increase with greater amounts of leverage.

May 04

May 03

May 02

Total Net Income

Shareholders' Equity

Preferred Stock Equity

Common Stock Equity

Total Equity

Average Stockholders Equity

Total Asset Turnover

2681/7157,5 37%

2307/6218,5 37%

2224/5279,5 42%

Oracle's ROE is steadily going down. This means that the company hasn't done such a good job reinvesting its earnings, and that the earnings based on resources provided by its stockholders are slowly decreasing. The financial manager might want to reconsider the way stockholders' equity is invested, because, otherwise, it shall be more difficult to attract investments. However, one should consider the reasons (mentioned above) for.....

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