The role of accounting has enhanced with the changes in the financial structure and competitiveness in business environment. Most of the business follow a reporting framework which is approved by one or more accounting bodies such as IASB or ASSB. An ideal reporting framework consist of all relevant information with appropriate disclosures for the same (Gitman, Juchau and Flanagan 2015). The assessment proceeds with significant items reported in annual reports of the companies considered and comment on the changes which have taken place in the same (Henderson et al. 2015). A brief background of the companies considered is given below
Boral Ltd is engaged in the productions of materials which are used in construction projects. The company has its headquarters and foundation in Australia however, the business has expanded and penetrated the markets of Asia and USA (Boral. 2018). The company is known to supply important building materials which are concrete placings, asphalt, cement to the customers of the business. The company operates at a large scale and employ around 16000 employees who are working at different operational sites off the business.
Rio Tinto Ltd is one of the largest metal and mining business which has its operations in Australia and is also listed in ASX. The company was founded in 1873 and has its headquarters situated in London and therefore the company is also known to be an Anglo-Australian business. The operations of the company are far and wide spread but the major areas of operations for the business is in Australia and Canada (Riotinto.com. 2018). The company produces numerous metals such as aluminum, copper, bauxite, iron ore.
The report shows computations of tax rates for both companies and analyzes the changes which have take place in the same. The report also shows contrast between different items which are shown in the annual reports of both the companies.
The owner’s equity is shown in the balance sheet of the company and is considered to be an important part of the annual report of the business. The components of owner’s equity which is reflected in the annual report of both the companies are share capital balance, reserves and retained earnings of the business. The item retained earnings is made out of excessive profits which are made by the business over the shares and the same represent internal source of finance for the business. The reserve of the business is made up of accumulated profits which is made on year to year basis and the same funds can be used by business for specific purpose or even general purpose. The share capital reflects the capital which is raised by the management of the company with the help of issue of shares of the business.
Boral ltd ‘s annual report shows that the share capital of the business has increased during the year and the same is shown to be $ 2361.5 million. The share capital is raised following the capital requirements of the business for the year. The reserve balance of the company for the year has shown a decline in value which may be due to set off of previous losses or application of the reserve amount for a specific purpose which can be purchase of assets of the business. The retained earnings of the business shows improvement in balances which is due to accumulation of profits of the business.
In case of Rio Tinto Ltd, the share capital which is shown in the balance sheet is provided under the breakup of share capital of Rio Tinto Plc and Rio Tinto limited. The management of the Rio Tinto ltd has issued new shares which causes to increase the capital of the business. The reserve of the business is shown to have increased during the year and the retained earnings of the business has also increased during the period. The increase in retained earnings and reserves demonstrate that the business has financial strength and good financial performance for the year. The share capital of the business $ 4,140 million for the year 2017. This figure has increased from previous year analysis.
Capital Structure refers to the application of equity and debt capital in handling the management of the business and also the various operations which are undertaken by the company during the period. The management of Boral ltd uses an optimal capital structure which is made up of both share capital and capital accumulated from loans (Dalal 2013). The management of Boral ltd shows an appropriate capital structure which is made of equity and debt capital used for financing the activities of the business. The policy and goals of the business is to attain further expansion and attain sustainable growth in the business which requires the amount of capital which is raised by Boral Ltd for the year. The debt capital of the business is shown to be $ 2163.7 million in 2017 which has tremendously increased and the notes to account section confirms that the business has taken additional loans during the year.
The balance sheet which is prepared by the management of Rio Tinto ltd for the year 2017 shows that the management of the companies utilizes both equity and debt capital for the purpose of financing the different projects of a business (Jain, Singh and Yadav 2013). The debt balance of the business for the year 2017 has reduced which is due to the management has repaid a part of loan of the business during the year. The debt balance for the year 2017 is shown to be
$15,148 million which forms a major part of capital structure and the business rarely uses equity-based capital for the purpose of financing the activities of the business.
The analysis shows that Boral ltd believes in balanced debt equity capital mix as the business is trying to get the debt capital up to equity standards in order to achieve an optimal capital structure. The capital structure analysis of Rio Tinto ltd reveals that the debt capital is used mostly by the business and the management prefers application debt capital for financing the activities of the business.
The cash flow statement forms a part of the financial reports and the same shows cash position of the business. The cash flow statement only considers the cash items during the period and non-cash items of the business are not considered (Call, Chen and Tong 2013). The purpose of cash flow statement is to evaluate the net cash and cash equivalent balance of the company which is shown in the balance sheet of the business. The cash flow statement considers the three main activities of the business which forms part of annual report.
The cash flow statement of the Boral ltd shows cash receipts of the business is through receipts from sales which is included in the operating activities of the business. The business also has interest income which is part of the other income of the business. The cash from operating activities is shown to be positive but the same has reduced from the analysis which is shown for previous year. The cash from investing activities of the business shows that the business has purchased entities and business and also properties during the year which is the main reason as to why cash outflow is more than cash inflow in this section (Mohanram 2014). The cash from fining activities of the business comprise of net capital which is raised by the business and also the debt capital which is taken by the company for the year 2017. The net cash from financing activities of the business is shown to be positive which is due to the excessive cash which has entered the business during the period.
The cash from operations of Rio Tinto Ltd for the year 2017 is shown to have increased and the enhanced figure is shown to be $ 16670 million for the year 2017. The increase in cash flow from operating activities shows strength of the business in managing expenses of the business. The operating activities of the business comprises of the core business activities related to the business. The cash from operations of the business mainly comprises of operating activities of the business and the major cash flows which can be recognized from the cash flow statement is dividend from equity accounts and tax expenses which are incurred during the year. The investing activities of the business shows the purchases which is undertaken by the management of the business (Farshadfar and Monem 2013). The purchases are shown in the notes to account section of the annual report which comprise of property, plant and equipment and also intangible assets. This is the major reason for the excessive cash outflow. The cash from financing activities of the business show that the major cash outflows is from buyback of shares loan repayments and also dividend which is paid to the investors of the business. The financing activities of the business represent the loans and share buyback and loan repayment which is made by the business during the year.
The comparative analysis of the cash flow statement which is porepared by both the companies is effectively presented with the help of graphical presentation of the cash flow statement is shown in the figure below. The net cash flow of Boral ltd is shown in the annual reports of the business and the breakup for the same is shown in a table below for which a graph is presented. This net cash flow from operating activities is shown to be $ 413.30 million which is lower than the amount which is incurred by the business in investing and financing activities undertaken by the business during the period.
|
Particular |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
|
Net cash flows from operating activities |
$ 418.30 |
$ 477.50 |
$ 413.30 |
|
Net cash flows used in investing activities |
-$ 55.70 |
-$ 259.50 |
-$ 3,731.30 |
|
Net cash flows used in financing activities |
-$ 251.60 |
-$ 273.40 |
$ 3,107.00 |
The above graph shows the cash flow of Boral ltd for the 3 years period. The financing activities of business for the 2017 is shown to be positive due to the significant amount of capital which is raised by the business during the period. The investing activities of the business is shown to be negative for all the years.
The cash flow statement of Rio Tinto ltd shows that cash from operating activities of the business has increased significantly during the year in comparison to previous year analysis which is shown to be $ 13,884 million. The increase in sales is the main driving force behind the increased cash from operating activity of the business (Bilinski 2014). The cash from financing activities of the business reveals items such as repayments of loans by the management of the business during the period. The cash from investing activities of the business is shown to be negative which is mainly due to purchases of property, plant and equipment which is undertaken by the business during the period. A graphical presentation of the cash flow statement is shown in the figure below:
|
Particular |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
|
Net cash flows from operating activities |
9383 |
8465 |
13884 |
|
Net cash flows used in investing activities |
-4600 |
-2104 |
-2373 |
|
Net cash flows used in financing activities |
-7670 |
-7491 |
-9141 |
The above graph shows that cash from financing activities of the business which is shown to be in negative which is mainly due to the dividend s which is paid by the business during the year (Radhakrishnan and Wu 2014). The cash from investing activities of the business is shown to in negative as well which is mainly due to the significant investments which is undertaken by the business in assets acquisition. The cash generated from operating activities of the business is shown to have increased during the period which is due to the high sales which is achieved by the business.
The cash position of Rio Tinto ltd for the year 2017 is shown to be favorable which shows that business has operational strength. On the other hand, the operating activities of the Boral ltd shows that cash generated from operating activities has slightly decreased which needs to be considered by the management and appropriate strategies needs to be formulated. The cash from investing activities reveal that Boral ltd has acquired another business in 2017 which is mainly the reason for the more of cash outflows during the year. On the other hand, the management of Rio Tinto ltd has purchased significant amount of assets which is the reason for the negative cash from investing activities of the business. In an overall estimate, it is evident that cash position of Rio Tinto ltd is much better than the cash position of Boral ltd.
The comprehensive items are extraordinary items which are shown in the financial statements of the business and the annual report of Boral ltd and Rio Tinto ltd show that the financial statement include comprehensive items. The annual report of Boral ltd shows hedge contracts and fluctuation of exchange rates of the business. The annual reports of Rio Tinto ltd also shows the same element and the only addition is the revaluation of assets which is shown in the annual report of the business.
The extraordinary nature of comprehensive items are important as they determine whether the same is to be shown in the financial statements or separately in another segment (Papanikolaou and Wolff 2014). The items are also no-recurring in nature and not regular and therefore the same is not included in the financial statement of the business.
The comprehensive income of the Boral ltd is shown to be $ 174.3 million during 2017 and the same has decreased from previous year. The comprehensive items of the business show hedge contracts and changes in exchange rates of foreign exchange (Duran and Lozano-Vivas 2013). While the comprehensive income of Rio Tinto is shown to be $ 11,939 million which shows that the items of extraordinary nature is more because the company has undertaken more activities which are extraordinary in nature.
The annual reports shown comprehensive items of the business separately which is shown separately in the financial statement of the business. The items are not material enough and doe not fall in regular business activities and therefore must not be considered in decision making process of the business.
The tax expense which is incurred by the Boral ltd as per the profit and loss statement is shown to be $ 51,4 million for the year 2017 and the same has increased in comparison to previous year analysis. The tax expense of Rio Tinto ltd for the year 2017 is shown to be $ 3,965 million for the year 2017.
|
Computation of Effective Tax Rate |
||
|
|
$ |
$ |
|
Particulars |
Boral Ltd |
Rio Tinto Ltd |
|
Income Tax Expense |
51,400,000 |
3,965,000,000 |
|
Earnings Before Tax |
301,000,000 |
12,816,000,000 |
|
Effective Tax Rate |
17.08% |
30.94% |
The deferred tax assets and liabilities of the business are shown in the balance sheet of the business and represent tax provisions which are related to previous year analysis. The deferred tax liabilities of Rio Tinto ltd for the year 2017 is shown to have increased significantly while the deferred tax assets of the business are shown to be on a decline. This shows that the business has tax obligations relating to past years. In case of Boral Ltd, the company only has deferred tax assets which are shown in the financial statements of the business and the same is shown to have increased during the years.
|
Computation of Effective Tax Rate |
||
|
$ |
$ |
|
|
Particulars |
Boral Ltd |
Rio Tinto Ltd |
|
Income Tax Provison |
$ 51,400,000.00 |
$ 3,965,000,000.00 |
|
Add: Increase in DTL |
$ – |
$ 507,000,000.00 |
|
Less: Increase in DTA |
$ 8,000,000.00 |
-$ 333,000,000.00 |
|
Add: Taxes on Finance Costs |
$ 15,210,000.00 |
$ 497,400,000.00 |
|
Cash Tax amount |
$ 58,610,000.00 |
$ 5,302,400,000.00 |
|
EBIT |
$ 351,700,000.00 |
$ 14,474,000,000.00 |
|
Cash Tax Rate |
16.66% |
36.63% |
The computation of cash tax rate is quite different from book tax rate which is clearly shown in the above table. The cash tax rate does not consider non-cash items and the same is shown to be systematically removed from the figures, Similarly, changes in Deferred tax assets and liabilities are also considered in the computation. The basic difference lies in the treatment of items like Deferred tax assets and liabilities and finance costs of the business.
Conclusion
Thus, from the discussion which is shown above, it can be ascertained that the business of Rio Tinto is much larger in terms of operations and profit generating capacity than Boral Ltd which is the main reason that the profits and expenses of Rio Tinto are considerably high. The cash position of Rio Tinto ltd for the year 2017 is shown to be much better than Boral ltd which shows that the liquidity of Rio Tinto is better in comparison to Boral Ltd.
Reference
Bilinski, P., 2014. Do analysts disclose cash flow forecasts with earnings estimates when earnings quality is low?. Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, 41(3-4), pp.401-434.
Boral. 2018. Annual Reports. [online] Available at: https://www.boral.com/annual-reports [Accessed 26 Sep. 2018].
Call, A.C., Chen, S. and Tong, Y.H., 2013. Are analysts’ cash flow forecasts naïve extensions of their own earnings forecasts?. Contemporary Accounting Research, 30(2), pp.438-465.
Dalal, G., 2013. Capital Structure Decisions. Journal of Business Management Social Sciences Research (JBM&SSR) ISSN, (2319-5614).
Duran, M.A. and Lozano-Vivas, A., 2013. Off-balance-sheet activity under adverse selection: The European experience. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 85, pp.176-190.
Farshadfar, S. and Monem, R., 2013. Further evidence on the usefulness of direct method cash flow components for forecasting future cash flows. The international journal of accounting, 48(1), pp.111-133.
Gitman, L.J., Juchau, R. and Flanagan, J., 2015. Principles of managerial finance. Pearson Higher Education AU.
Henderson, S., Peirson, G., Herbohn, K. and Howieson, B., 2015. Issues in financial accounting. Pearson Higher Education AU.
Jain, P.K., Singh, S. and Yadav, S.S., 2013. Capital Structure Decisions. In Financial Management Practices (pp. 77-158). Springer, India.
Laux, R.C., 2013. The association between deferred tax assets and liabilities and future tax payments. The Accounting Review, 88(4), pp.1357-1383.
Mohanram, P.S., 2014. Analysts’ cash flow forecasts and the decline of the accruals anomaly. Contemporary Accounting Research, 31(4), pp.1143-1170.
Needles, B.E., Powers, M. and Crosson, S.V., 2013. Principles of accounting. Cengage Learning.
Papanikolaou, N.I. and Wolff, C.C., 2014. The role of on-and off-balance-sheet leverage of banks in the late 2000s crisis. Journal of Financial Stability, 14, pp.3-22.
Radhakrishnan, S. and Wu, S.L., 2014. Analysts’ cash flow forecasts and accrual mispricing. Contemporary Accounting Research, 31(4), pp.1191-1219.
Riotinto.com. 2018. Annual report. [online] Available at: https://www.riotinto.com/investors/annual-report-16577.aspx [Accessed 26 Sep. 2018].
Robb, A.M. and Robinson, D.T., 2014. The capital structure decisions of new firms. The Review of Financial Studies, 27(1), pp.153-179.
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