Chapter 16, Problem 4CP

The Commercial Division of Tidewater Inc. provided the following information on its cash flow from operations:

The manager of the Commercial Division provided the accompanying memo with this report:

From: Senior Vice President, Commercial Division

I am pleased to report that we had earnings of $945,000 over the last period. This resulted in a return on invested capital of 8%, which is near our targets for this division. I have been aggressive in building the revenue volume in the division. As a result, I am happy to report that we have increased the number of new credit card customers as a result of an aggressive marketing campaign. In addition, we have found some excellent merchandise opportunities. Some of our suppliers have made some of their apparel merchandise available at a deep discount. We have purchased as much of these goods as possible in order to improve profitability. I’m also happy to report that our vendor payment problems have improved. We are nearly caught up on our overdue payables balances.

Comment on the senior vice president’s memo in light of the cash flow information.