Find the last 4 years' sales and profit or net income data for a major retail corporation.
As adjusted
Net Sales ($)
Net Sales Increase (%)
Net Income ($)
The following charts show Net sales and Net Income of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. As it can be seen from these graphs, 2011 has been marked with an increase in sales and income for the corporation. The overall trend indicates a continuous growth, however, the percentage of increase varies in different years. Thus, in 2007 the company has experienced the biggest revenue increase for the period -11.6%, while the performance in 2010 was modest, most likely due to the global economic turmoil.
2) Calculate profit as a percentage of sales.
As adjusted
Net Sales ($)
Net Income ($)
Profit /Sales (%)
The following diagram shows profit fluctuations within a range of 3.3 – 3.7% of sales. While 2009 has been marked with the lowest profit as a percentage of sales, the low performance in this period can be attributed to the overall economic slowdown. However, the current performance shows a positive trend, which indicates that the company can derive higher percentage of profit from its sales, even compared to the pre-crisis level of 2008-2007. This achievement can be attributed to the increasing of efficiency of the company.
3) Prepare a chart to display all the information in a meaningful way.
4) Prepare a paragraph of explanation/interpretation of the data as if this were a small part of a lengthy report to potential investors.
The performance of Walmart in the years 2007 indicates a continous increase of both Net Sales and Net Income. The temporary growth decline in 2009-2010 can be explained by the general economic instability and slow-down. However, the company is improving its ability to extract profit by enhancing efficiency, which is indicated by the improvement in profit as a percentage of sales.
References
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (2011). Walmart. 2011 Annual Report. Retrieved from
http://walmartstores.com/sites/annualreport/2011/financials/Walmart_2011_Annual_
Report.pdf
