Financial analysis of BMW and Kraft Foods Essay

Financial analysis of BMW and Kraft Foods - Essay Example The researcher states that the profitability ratios of both the companies depict that Kraft Foods has higher profitability in terms of high operating margin, net profit margin and return on equity. Besides, both the firms had maintained their current ratio above 1. With respect to interest coverage ratio, BMW had higher rank than Kraft Foods which indicates that it has strong financial strength in the industry. The current economic crisis of 2008 had impacted on the financial performance of BMW Group. Due to bad financial condition, the spending of customers had reduced considerably which impacted on the expenditure on vehicles. As a result, the automobile industry had faced drop in sales volume. BMW Group was also unable to evade the impact of financial crisis and therefore the group income had reduced by 5% in the year 2008 to 53,197 million Euros. As the international economy was recovering from the clutches of economic crisis by the end of the year 2010, BMW Group was able to rec over its financial position in the automobile market. The global automobile industry has also become stabilised to certain degree. In 2010, BMW Group had experienced severe increase in sales revenue by 19.3% than 2009 to 60,477 million Euros. Kraft Foods is a financially stable company with revenues of 40.4 billion USD in the year 2009. In the year 2009, the total value of net assets of the company was 25.9 billion USD. Despite bad economic conditions, the revenue of Kraft Foods was slightly affected. In 2007, the net revenue was 35,858 million USD which had increased to 41,932 million USD in 2008 (Kraft Foods Inc, 2010). Ratio Analysis Valuation Ratio Price-Earnings (P/E) Ratio Price-Earnings or P/E Ratio is the ratio of organisation’s share price with earning per share. From the analysis of BMW, it can be observed that the earnings per share of BMW Group had decreased considerably in the time of 2008 to 2009 to 0.49 Euro and 0.31 Euro and increased in 2010 to 4.91 Euro. His torically, the P/E ratio of BMW Group was strong and was always more than the industry average which is around 15-25. In the year 2007, the P/E ratio was below average i.e. 8.5 which had increased to 11.98 in 2010 (BMW Group, 2008; 2010). The price earnings ratio of Kraft Foods was

Politics of Japans Constitutional Reform Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Politics of Japans Constitutional Reform - Essay Example Meanwhile the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), the leading opposition party, is also developing a constitutional revision proposal. While one considers that the postwar constitution has never been amended, the historical significance of these developments is inevitable. This progress among the country's leading parties comes from the fact of nearly a decade of public opinion surveys which shows that majority of the citizens of Japan are in favor in changing their constitution. Taking into consideration these recent developments, Watanabe Osamu, a Hitotsubashi University professor who closely follows constitutional politics, declares: "Constitutional revision has now been placed on the political calendar for the first time in the postwar era."1 Although the contemporary revision debate includes controversial issues such as the role of the emperor, the reorganization of local government, the separation of powers, and the basic rights of citizens, one passage in particular continues to cast a shadow over the entire enterprise: Article Nine, the famous "peace clause" renouncing the possession and use of force for settling international disputes which for the longest time had been the primary target of revisionist fervor. Article Nine was at the center of the first serious revision debate in the 1950s and controversies arising from its treatment helped to stir up the contemporary revision movement in the 1990s. There are numerous reasons why many constitutional reformists have long sought to change Article Nine. For some, it serves as an obstruction to the recognition of the nation's sovereignty. This idea comes from the fact that the postwar constitution was drafted under the U.S. occupation, and Article Nine, whatever its accurate origins are, was one of the three nonnegotiable demands by General Douglas Macarthur imposed on the Japanese after the wars. Thus, it is not a surprise that reformists frequently qualify Article Nine as an adjective of "U.S.-imposed." While for others on the other hand, the peace clause is a hindrance to national muscularity. As stated in the article, elucidations of the article's sweeping language have placed limitations on Japan's military and its capability to use force in foreign affairs. Every now and then these constraints have complicated Japan's relationship with its lone coalition partner, the United States, as well as efforts to increase Japanese influ ence in the United Nations. Lastly, there are some who favor revision because they see Article Nine as a barrier to the honesty of the nation as a whole. Following major reinterpretations in the early 1950s, Article Nine has been continuously parsed in ways both large and small as the domestic and international political landscapes have shifted. Consequently, it may be argued, Japanese security policy no longer mirrors a stern interpretation of the peace clause, and the constitution should thus be brought into line with reality. These arguments are not new. In fact, reformists have advanced various versions since the 1950s which raises two important questions. First, why has Article Nine survived so long without amendment Second, why has the Article Nine issue returned to the political agenda with such force in recent years Interpretation of Article Nine Article Nine is a political manifesto that serves as a declaration of general principle confining state action. In this sense, it is similar to