Kankanfo Group Plc, is a well established company that is planning to expand through acquisition of some companies.

The Directors of the company have identified two potential target companies, Gombe Limited and Uzor Limited.

Extracts from the financial statements of the two companies are as follows:

Statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive income for the year ended December 31, 2021.

Gombe Limited Uzor Limited
N’000 N’000
Revenue 272,000 264,000
Cost of sales (168,000) (183,800)
Gross profit 104,000 80,200
Administrative expenses (72,000) (56,000)
Profit from operations 32,000 24,200
Finance costs (12,000) (16,000)
Net profit before tax 20,000 8,200
Income tax expense (6,000) (4,000)
Profit for the year 14,000 4,200
Other comprehensive income:
Items that will not be reclassified to P or L
Surplus on revaluation 24,000
Total comprehensive income 14,000 28,200

Statement of financial position as at December 31, 2021

Gombe Limited Uzor Limited
N’000 N’000
Non-current assets:
Property, plant and equipment 128,000 140,200
Current assets:
Inventories 24,000 28,000
Receivables 48,000 40,000
Current assets 72,000 68,000
Total assets 200,000 208,200
Equity and liabilities:
Equity
Ordinary share capital (N1 each) 64,000 48,000
Revaluation reserves 20,000
Retained earnings 30,000 20,200
94,000 88,200
Non-current liabilities:
Loan notes 64,000 72,000
Current Liabilities:
Trade payables 20,000 20,000
Income tax 6,000 4,000
Borrowings 16,000 24,000
42,000 48,000
Equity and liabilities 200,000 208,200

Statement of changes in equity for year ended December 31, 2021

Gombe Limited Uzor Limited
N‟000 N‟000
Bal. b/f January 1, 2021 88,000 64,000
Total comprehensive income 14,000 28,200
Dividend paid (8,000) (4,000)
Bal. December 31, 2021 94,000 88,200

Additional Information:

(i) Uzor Limited revalued its property, plant and equipment (PPE) for the first time on January 1, 2021. The property, plant and equipment of Gombe Ltd are very similar in age and type to that of Uzor Limited. Gombe Limited has a policy of maintaining all its property, plant and equipment at depreciated historical costs, using 20% rate on straight line basis. Both Gombe Limited and Uzor Limited charge depreciation on PPE to cost of sales. Uzor Limited has transferred the excess depreciation on the re-valued assets from revaluation reserve to retained earnings.

(ii) On December 31, 2021 Gombe Limited supplied goods at the normal selling price of N9,600,000 to another Company Mamagold Limited. Gombe Limited‟s normal selling price is at a mark up of 60% on costs. Mamagold Limited paid for the goods in cash on the same day. The terms of the selling agreement were that Gombe Limited repurchase these goods on June 30, 2022 for N10,000,000. Gombe Limited accounted for this transaction as sales for the year ended December 31, 2021.

(iii) It is the practice of Kakanfo Group Plc to appraise potential investment opportunities by making use of the following ratios:

Gearing;

Turnover to capital employed;

Gross profit margin; and

Return on capital employed.

Your Senior Accountant computed the four key ratios for the two target companies from the financial statement extracts provided and the result are as follows:

Gombe Limited Uzor Limited
N‟000 N‟000
Gearing 46% 52.1%
Turnover to capital employed 1.6 1.4
Gross profit margin 38.2% 30.4%
Return on capital employed 18.4% 13.1%

(iv) After the computation in (iii) above, the Senior Accountant concluded that performance of Gombe Limited is better than that of Uzor Limited. Therefore, Kankanfo Group Plc should carry out due diligence on Gombe Limited with a view to making a bid to acquire it.

However, as the Chief Accountant of Kankanfo Group Plc., you are not sure whether the conclusion of your Senior Accountant is correct in view of information in notes (i) and (ii) above.

Required:

a. Carry out the necessary adjustments that would be appropriate on the financial statements of Gombe Limited and Uzor Limited to facilitate comparison showing your answers in tabular form, with columns for original figures, adjustments, new figures and justifying reasons for the adjustments.

(10 Marks)

b. Recalculate the four key ratios for Gombe Limited and Uzor Limited using the new figures obtained after the necessary adjustments. (4 Marks)

c. Evaluate your Senior Accountant‟s conclusion in the light of your answer in (a) and (b) above.

(6 Marks)

(a) Adjustments of financial statement of Gombe Ltd and Uzor Ltd

Gombe Ltd
Statement of P or L extracts Original figures ₦’000 Adjustments ₦’000 New figures ₦’000
Revenue 272,000 9,600 262,400
Cost of sales (168,000) (6,000) (162,000)
Gross profit 104,000 100,400
Admin expenses (72,000) (72,000)
Profit from operations 32,000 28,400
Extract of SFP
Inventories 24,000 6,000 30,000
Borrowing (Non-current) 64,000 64,000
Borrowings (Current) 16,000 9,600 25,600
Equity 94,000 3,600 90,400

Workings:

The sales and lease back should be treated as short-term borrowing, while the cost of the sales and gross profit margin should be adjusted for ease of comparison.

Sales ₦9,600,000 Cost of sales ₦9,600,000 x 100/160 = ₦6,000,000 Margin on Sales = (₦9,600,000 – ₦6,000,000)) = ₦3,600,000

Uzor Ltd
Original figure ₦’000 Adjustments ₦’000 New figure ₦’000
Property plant & equipment 140,200 (20,000) 120,200
Revaluation reserve 20,000 (20,000)
Equity 88,200 (20,000) 68,200
Cost of sales 183,800 (4,000) 179,800
Gross profit 80,200 4,000 84,200
Profit from operations 24,200 4,000 28,200

Working notes for justification:

Excess depreciation on revaluation will be ₦20,000,000 at 20% = ₦4,000,000.

To be comparable the property, plant and equipment of Gombe Ltd and Uzor Ltd should be shown at either cost or at a revalued amount, with revaluation done on the same basis. It is not feasible to revalue Gombe Ltd‟s property, plant and equipment for purpose of comparison. However Uzor‟s Ltd property, plant and equipment can be shown at cost by reversing the revaluation on them and their depreciation effects.

(b) Computation of ratios based on revised financial statements

Ratios Formula Gombe Ltd Uzor Ltd
(i) Gearing Total borrowings / Capital employed = 64,000+25,600 / 90,400+89,600 = 89,600 / 180,000 x 100 / 1 = 49.8% 72,000 + 24,200 / 96,000 + 68,200 = 96,200 / 164,200 x 100 / 1 = 58.5%
(ii) Asset turnover 𝑇𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 / 𝐶𝑎𝑝𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑦𝑒𝑑 262,400 / 180,000 = 1.5 times 264,000 / 164,200 = 1.6 times
(iii) Gross profit margin Gross profit x 100 / Revenue 1 100,400 x 100 / 262,400 1 = 38.3% 84,200 x 100 / 264,000 x 1 = 31.9%
(iv) Return on capital employed Operating profit / Capital employed = 28,400 x 100 / 180,000 1 = 15.8% 28,200 x 100 / 164,200 1 = 17.2%

(c) Evaluation of the Senior Accountant’s conclusion

i. The reason is to make the financial statements of Gombe Ltd and Uzor Ltd comparable;

ii. Gombe Ltd has a higher gross profit margin, however, the return on capital employed is lower. The main reason for this is that Gombe Ltd administrative expenses are higher than that of Uzor Ltd;

iii. The revenue of both companies is now almost identical due to the elimination of the effect of the inter-company sales from the account of Gombe Ltd;

iv. The assets turnover ratio before and after adjustments do not show any significant difference;

v. Gombe Ltd has advantage in gearing ratio. The gearing ratio of both companies increased but more for Uzor Ltd. This could influence directors only, if they plan or intend to change the financial structure of the company;

vi. Overall it would appear that Uzor Ltd would be a better investment opportunity than Gombe Ltd. This exercise shows the importance of adjusting financial statements to achieve uniform accounting policies when making this kind of decision. It should be noted however, that the sales of Gombe Ltd was incorrectly accounted for, while Uzor revaluation is acceptable if done by registered estate valuer.