2010 International Conference on Business and Economics Research vol.1 (2011) © (2011) IACSIT Press, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia A Du Pont Analysis of the 20 Most Profitable Companies in the World Mihaela Herciu Claudia Ogrean Faculty of Economic Sciences Faculty of Economic Sciences Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, LBUS Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, LBUS Sibiu, Romania Sibiu, Romania e-mail:
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[email protected] Lucian Belascu Faculty of Economic Sciences Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, LBUS Sibiu, Romania e-mail:
[email protected] Abstract— The present paper aims to demonstrate that in most has found that a change in asset turnover is positively related cases the most profitable companies are not the most attractive to future changes in earnings [4]. for investors – through Du Pont Analysis method. In order to Du Pont analysis takes into account three indicators to do this, we take into account the top 20 most profitable measure firm profitability: ROS, ROA, and ROE. companies in the world in 2009 (according to Fortune). By Return on Sales (Net Profit Margin Ratio) – ROS (1) – using Du Pont analysis we came to the results that the ranking measures how profitable a firm’s sales are after all expenses, is not preserved when indicators (ratios) such as ROA (return including taxes and interest, have been deducted [5]. on assets), ROE (return on equity) or ROS (return on sales) Return on assets – ROA (2) – offers a different take on are taken into consideration. management effectiveness and reveals how much profit a Keywords- profit, ROS, ROA, ROE, Du Pont analysis company earns for every dollar of its assets [6].