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Executive Summary
The aim of this report is to provide a detailed analysis of Country Road Company regarding its financial and non-financial aspects. These aspects include profitability, liquidity, operational efficiency, and competitive strategy among others. When researching on the background of the company, it was established that the company was conceived in 1974 and a part of it was bought by Woolworth after some time. Woolworth owns about 88 percent of the entire company stock. According to the net profit margin, it was also evident that the company is currently profitable. In essence, the report determined that the core competitive strategy of the company is the production of quality commodities. In addition, the production of diversified designs for women, men, and children is an additional strategy that has led to the success of the company. The fundamental recommendation emerging from the analysis is related to the pricing strategy and quality. Although the company target the wealthy, it should also consider manufacturing products for different income levels in order to increase the market share and profitability.
Introduction and Purpose of Analysis
This analysis seeks to focus of various financial and non-financial aspects of the Country Road as shown in this list.
- Discuss the background of the fashion industry in Australia whereby Country Road has dominated substantially.
- Provide the company’s background in terms of its history and progress over the years.
- Analyze and comment on the profitability, cashflow, and liquidity of the company.
- Provide details about its liquidity and how the aspect has affected various stakeholders, including the shareholders and investors.
- Show the various ratios of operational efficiency as calculated from the financial reports.
- Indicate any other non-financial aspects of the company, including the competitive strategy and strategic alliances.
- Provide a well synthesized summary that connects the various issues of the analysis.
Company and Industry Background
Company
Country Road Company was essentially conceived in 1974 starting as a small business meant for women shirting. After the implementation of strong, visionary, and tactical strategies, the business developed gradually into a competitive brand for lifestyle products. The company has become popular owing to the provision of trendy, fashionable, and quality accessories for different customers, including the females, males, adults and children among other segments of consumers. There are various historical, crucial, and forward-moving eventualities that facilitated the rapid rise of Country Road Company. Sixteen years ago, a South African company known as Woolworth decided to buy a part of the company’s shares in order to have control over it’s a section of it. This was a critical undertaking because the company obtained support from a well-established institution with similar interest and profound experience. Understandably, Woolworth had a deep experience bearing in mind that it had been started 43 years before Country Road. As a result, the input of Woolworth was instrumental during the development of Country Road.
Recently, about two years ago, the company decided to expand its ownership through acquisition of Witchery Group. In this case, Country Road acquired critical business venture of this company that incorporated Mimco brands (Taylor 2011). In essence, this acquisition venture was intended to transform the company into a world-class and the biggest stylish retail business in Australia. This venture was informed by the fact that an acquisition is an appropriate strategy which is used to expand the market share of the company. The human resource for the company has deep intellect, creativity, and desire to move it to a bright destiny. Importantly, Stephen Bennett conceived the company and created a strong leadership foundation. The same spirit has been reflected by subsequent employees. An example of such a leader is the current designer of the company who is known as Sophie Holt. She has been a central figure of Country Road since the acquisition of Witchery Company in 2012. She has seen the company developing stylish and innovational-based products that help to popularize the company as a major brand in Australia.
Industry
The fashion and lifestyle industry has become favourite in the modernity of Australia. Although the industry has come of age, it is indisputably true that the industry was not very popular in 1970s. During this period, the Australian nationals used to embrace the fashions that were developed internationally. As such, they did not have their own styles of clothing that could be regarded as authentic and self-develop. However, the country started developing the fashion identity in the early 1990s (Tanthanongsakkun 2008). In fact, it is established that during the 1970s, the industry was centralized in regions such as Flinders Lane and Surry Hills. After the development in 2000, it was decentralized to other parts of the country whereby the local production was abandoned as the people shifted to factory manufacturing (Phau 2010).
The entire shift has led to the emergence and development of fashion companies, including Country Road, Thoman Bryson Inc, and Noni Limited among other prominent rivals. In light of this development of the fashion industry, there about 85 percent of medium and small companies. Importantly, there have been negative opinions foreseeing the fall of this industry in the near future. Despite such sentiments by financial analysts as well as the media, small companies are emerging and succeeding rapidly across Australia (Tay 2009).
Nonetheless, the small fashion-oriented businesses are bedeviled by some financial constraints in the country. For example, it has been noted that the industry incurs very high rental charges, inherent changes in the international supply chain, and the mutation of the buying patterns globally. Importantly, the underlying challenge in this industry is related to the fact that most businessmen rely on strategies that were used over a decade ago. Understandably, there are many changes that have occurred in the
Analysis of Financial Report Data
Net Profit Margin Ratios
These respective ratios are obtained as a result of dividing the net profits by the sales (Ji 2011). From the above ratios, it can be concluded that Country Road makes substantially satisfactory profits from all the expenditures. A high value of the money earned, in terms of dollars, is translated into profits. The ratios also indicate that the company incurs low risks increasing the sales which, in turn, lead to high profits. In addition to this, it is an indication that a reduction in sales might not necessarily lead to erasing of profits and subsequent losses. This conditioned is caused by the fact that most of the earnings are potentially changed into profits.
EBIT Margin
The EBIT margin ratio is another parameter of assessing a company’s profitability status. It shows the returns of the company obtained from the investment ventures that have been implemented (Mcqueen 2012). Since the parameter removes all the distortions that might be caused by the disparities in taxation, it is preferred to other measures because of the standardizing factor. In addition, it provides results that are normative so that the impacts of capital structures do not affect the interpretations. In this case, it is evident that Country Road incurs high returns of the investments that have been made since 2009. Essentially, it is also important to note that the returns are relatively constant since it does not show crucial big disparities except in 2013 where the returns were higher.
EBITDA Margin
This is a ration which is used to determine whether the operations of the company are profitable or not. It is calculated by dividing the company’s earnings before making any deductions by the entire revenue of the year (Nelson 2010). Due to the exclusion of aspects such as depreciation, the parameter is regarded as a tool that provides the investors with a better view about the company. In this case, it is evident that the percentage is percentage is essentially high. This implies that the company’s expenditures consume the bottom line of investments negligibly. As a result, the company is more profitable to the stakeholders.
Return on Equity (ROE)
This is a parameter that is very crucial to the shareholders because it seeks to determine the profit generated by the company using their invested money. In essence, it is obtained when the net income is divided by the shareholders equity. From the above values, it is evident that the company is profitable and the financial performance will continue to improve with time. This implies that the shareholders expect to receive satisfactory dividends since the company is doing well in the fashion industry as compared to other rivals. As such, it can be concluded resolutely that the Country Road has used the shareholders’ investment, such as Woolworth, in a satisfactory manner.
Return on Assets (ROA)
This ratio is obtained when the profitability of the company is compared to the assets. Having obtained the values in the table presented above, it cannot be disputed that the company can utilize the assets to make high profits as well as generate revenue. Furthermore, the company is capable of leveraging all the assets in such a manner that helps to contain the debts and produce the highest returns. This parameter is used by investors when making decision on whether to invest of not. In some instances, some of the investors add the interest to the incomes in order to take into consideration the cost of borrowing.
Inventory Turnover
This is a ration obtained when the sales are divided by the inventory. In some instances, the investors may use the cost of goods sold by the company rather than the sales. The company ratios that were obtained indicated that the company has experienced strong sales when the sales are compared with the average inventories.
Asset turnover
The asset turnover ratio indicates that the company has a low asset base as compared to the rate at which they make sales. This implies that the company is making good sales while the assets needed are fairly low. In this regard, however, the most important thing when working with the asset turnover is not comparing the company with other rivals but observing the trend. Evidently, the ratio obtained in 2013 is essentially lower that the previous years. This implies decreased sales in comparison with the assets purchased.
Assessment of Other Relevant Information
Country Road Competitors
Country Road has shares the market with crucial competitors who pose a great to the company’s profitability. These companies provide the same products and services within the geographical location. In essence, the company’s major rivals in business include Specialty Fashion Group Ltd, Thomas Bryson International Ltd, and Noni Limited (Allen 2013). Specialty Fashion Group operates on a strategy known as the Value end market. Most company’s store are found on the Eastern side of the seaboard where they sell tailored and retail fashion products to customer of different sizes and age groups. Although the company is an important competitor, it has not diversified its products’ provision as compared to Country Road.
Essentially, Specialty Company sells women fashion only, while the latter provides wear for all genders and ages. This gives the Country Road Company a competitive advantage over Specialty Limited. In addition to this, Specialty Fashion has only penetrated the Australian and New Zealand markets. On the other hand, it is evident that Country Road has expanded in both Asia and South Africa. In fact, they had established their stores in USA, but the poor sales led to the closure of the premises. As such, it is evident that Country Road is more expansive than this competitor. Despite the condition of extensive investments envisaged by Country Road, the profitability of the two companies is nearly equal.
Thomas Bryson International Ltd produces and sells apparel, fabrics, and domestic textile in Australia as well as international markets. For this company, however, it was noted that it had opened stores in China, European Countries, and Africa among other places. After close evaluation, it was evident that Country Road and this company manufacture two similar products, including apparel and garments, which form the basis of their competition.
From the diagram below, it is evident that Bryson distributes various products as shown
Strategic AlliancesThe third competitor is known as Noni Limited, which provides fashionable, up-to-date, and quality apparel. It is a retailer who distributes its products throughout Australia. Following robust and rapid growth within the company, it is one of the most profitable retailers in the country. Its business strategy resembles that one of Country Road substantially. It concentrates on selling quality products at a very high price. As such, they prioritize the standards of the products and target high-income customers in the market segment. In addition, it utilizes the Myers stores which are also targeted by Country Cross Company for retailing. Importantly, the company has not diversified its production because it only manufactures women fashion contrary to the latter. Further, it distributes the products within the borders of Australia, and disregards the overseas markets.
In addition to its competitiveness as a company, it has indulged in tactical alliances that occasion it survival and dominance. First, Woolworth secured a section of the company’s shares. Currently, Woolworth is the major shareholder to the company because it has a total of 88 percent share in Country Road. Since Woolworth was a well-established company, it helped the young counterpart to develop rapidly and dominate the market. In addition, Country Road, entered into an alliance with Myers stores. This was a tactical, strategic, and competitive alliance because it helped the company to challenge David Jones Fashion which was a competitor. In this case, Country Road started distributing and selling the products through Myers stores rather than the David Jones Limited because the former was using the company’s products to make profits despite being a rival. Another important integration venture was the acquisition of Witchery Group in 2012 (Honey 2012). In fact, the present designer of Country Road was the originally employed by Witchery Group, but she was absorbed by the new company after acquisition.
Country Road Competitive Strategy
Design
The company differentiates the fashion in a manner that provided a wide range of products for the customer to choose. Inherently, it struggles to manufacture products that are consistent with the current trends and styles. Evidently, the company has embraced a diversified approach that has led to profound profitability and sufficient sales. In fact, the CEO acknowledged that the company seeks to build on their core ideology of providing excellent design. Due to their designing prowess, the company launched a new Tenery for those people whose age is above forty. This product was developed for both men and women to target a wide market than the current one. Clearly, the company sought to reach the old-aged customers because they have been supporting the company over the years. Before the Tenery was produced, the company had conducted a research which indicated that 45 percent of the company’s customers come from the ages above forty years (Islam 2013).
Quality
One of the most crucial strategies of differentiation is the prioritization of quality. In this regard, the company seeks to prioritize the customers’ interests because they focus on quality products rather than cheap ones. The designers of Country Road pay attention to the details and commit the production to the use of fine cotton. Currently, Country Road has been capable of manufacturing products of the highest quality as compared to most of the competitors. In fact, this is the single-most factor that has ensured competitiveness of Country Road amidst the competition within the country and international markets.
Summary and Conclusion
This report indicates that Country Road is a profitable company which has enjoyed financial solvency over a the last five years. The company has been capable of using the shareholders money to generate income and also make profits. However, there has been a crucial decrese in the sales when compared to the assets. As a result, the company should embarke on various undertakings in caaordance to the recommendations in this list.
- The company should explore new markets in order to increase the market share and make more sales.
- Country Road must control its asset base to ensure that it is consistent with the sales. As such, the company should not acquire more assets if their sales are not increasing accordingly.
Due to the increased compaetition, Country Road should diversify its investiments to obtain a competitive edge.
References
Allen, D 2013, “The Determinants of the Capital Structure of Listed Australian Companies: The Financial Manager’s Perspective”, Australian Journal of Management , vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 103-128.
Honey, F 2012, “The Standards Australia Sizing System: Quantifying the Mismatch”, Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 320-331.
Islam, M 2013, “Workplace Human Rights Reporting: A Study of Australian Garment and Retail Companies”, Australian Accounting Review , vol. 23, no. 2, pp. 102-116.
Ji, S 2011, “Accounting for Contaminated Sites: How Transparent are Australian Companies”, Australian Accounting Review , vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 131-153.
Mcqueen, H 2012, “Volume 7: Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands”, Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body & Culture, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 51-56.
Nelson, J 2010, “The reliability of mandatory cash expenditure forecasts provided by Australian Companies”, Accounting Research Journal, vol. 21, no. 3, pp. 263-287.
Phau, I 2010, “Brand image inconsistencies of luxury fashion brands: A buyer-seller exchange situation model of Hugo Boss Australia”, Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 202-218.
Tanthanongsakkun, S 2008, “Explaining Credit Ratings of Australian Companies–An Application of the Merton Model”, Australian Journal of Management , vol. 33, no. 2, pp. 261-275.
Tay, J 2009, “Undressing Kellerman, Uncovering Broadhurst: The Modern Woman and Un-Australia”, Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body & Culture, vol. 13, no. 4, pp. 481-498.
Taylor, G 2011, “Determinants of Financial Ratio Disclosure Patterns of Australian Listed Extractive Companies”, Australian Accounting Review , vol. 21, no. 3, pp. 302-314.
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