Financial analysts

A financial analyst looking at a company from a potential common stockholders point of view is hkely to classify preferred stock as debt. In contrast, bondholders and general creditors are likely to regard preferred stock as additional eqmty. Since preferred stock is a hybrid type of security, it may be issued by a company whose management is divided over the question of whether to use equity or debt to finance additional assets. However, preferred stock does have the disadvantage that the dividends are not allowed as a tax-deductible expense. 

Working-Capital Ratios Financial analysts make extensive use of ratios in assessing the economic health of a company. For evaluating the ability of a company to successfully maintain and develop its immediate business activities, analysts apply a current ratio and a quick (or acid-test) ratio, as given by... 

Two well-known ratios used by financial analysts are the profit-to-sales ratio (PSR) and the contribution-to-sales ratio (CSR). The profit-to-sales ratio is simply Eq. (9-127) for profit margin (PM) rewritten as the ratio... 

A basic knowledge of accounting and financial statements is necessary for a chemical professional to be able to analyze a firm s operation and to communicate with accountants, financial personnel, and managers. Financial reports of a company are important sources of information used by management, owners, creditors, investment bankers, and financial analysts. All publicly held companies are required to submit annual reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission. As with any field a certain basic nomenclature is used to be able to understand the financial operation of a company. It should be emphasized that companies may also have their own internal nomenclature, but some terms are universally accepted. In this section, the common terminology is used. 

There are many financial ratios of interest to financial analysts. A brief discussion of some of these ratios follows however, a more complete discussion may be found in Couper (2003). 

Financial Analysts, Banks www-alexbrown.db.com www.ml.com jpmorgan.com www.ssmb.com... 

Erb, Harvey and Viscanta Expected Returns and Volatility in 135 Countries. The Journal of Portfolio Management, Spring 1996. Cf also by the same authors Political Risk. Economic Risk, and Financial Risk. Financial Analysts Journal, November/December 1995, and Do World Markets Still Serve as a Hedge The Journal of Investing, Fall 1995. 

Drawing inspiration from this example for long years, the United States chemical industry, under the pressure of financial analysts and raiders, has in recent years undergone many upheavals. While they provided new opportunities for the fortunate few, they changed the environment and made people forget that to operate efficiently any industry must set its sights on the long term. 

Placing all life science activities under one roof appeared to be a logical decision, and it at first had the blessings of financial analysts. However, it proved unwise. Indeed, no sooner had Novartis, AstraZeneca, Pharmacia-Upjohn-Monsanto, and Aventis been created than their managements were made aware of some important facts ... 

Other newly bom companies were not so lucky, and their image remained blurred in the eyes of financial analysts because their product mix still included a significant proportion... 

It takes courage these days on the part of the management of the contrarians to go on thinking of the chemical activities in which they operate as made up of several parts to be kept under one roof. Indeed many investors have come to feel, as do financial analysts, that a split-up of the activities of large and diversified... 

On the other hand, many persons trained as chemists do not perform actual laboratory work but may work as patent lawyers, financial analysts, plant managers, salespeople, personnel managers, and so on. Also, it is quite common for a person trained as a chemist to have many different jobs during a career. 

As a logical extension of these extensive incumbent activities, it seems likely that most customer/supplier interactions will be e-enabled in some ways within a few years. Leading financial analysts like Goldman Sachs and Banc of America predict that 20-30 percent of all business-to-business (B2B) chemical sales in 2005 will be conducted online over the Internet. Many industry quotations from leading chemical companies point in the same direction GE Polymerland predicts that 40 percent of their sales will be effected online in 2000, DSM 50 percent in 2003, BASF forecasts 40 percent in 2002 and Dow 80 percent in a few years. Giv-... 

Financial Analyst Process Engineers Safety Engineers Scheduler Estimator... 

The calendar pack and monthly cost to the consumer not only position the product toward enhanced consumer acceptance but also toward better patient compliance, especially with expensive medications. In contrast, inhalation aerosol units, because of their pattern of chronic use, frequently contain sufficient doses to last several months. Suffice it to note, it behooves the marketing unit to work with financial analysts to determine the optimal product configuration and cost profile that maximizes consumer acceptance and convenience, unit turns, profits, and resources. 

Each year Dow Chemical brings the financial analysts who follow the company to Midland for a conference. In the past, this event has featured sessions on how Dow was better than other companies in the industry in every area including the environment. While it is not necessarily clear that analysts cared that this was the case, at least they heard the message. 

Most financial analysts generally accept that environmental regulations may matter a great deal at specific times in some industries, but that is fairly different from the notion that companies typically have some value at stake on social and environmental issues. 

The other attitude found frequently among financial analysts is the belief that voluntary programs have effectively reduced many of the risks associated with social and environmental issues in the chemical industry. There are obviously ways in which this is true of programs such as Responsible Care , but it is by no means true of all the risks and opportunities of all chemical companies at all times. 

There are early signs that mainstream financial analysts are beginning to develop their own understanding of how to approach social and environmental issues. A number of mainstream investment banks have published investment research for their institutional clients on the implications of climate change. UBS and Dresdner... 

In addition, any Field Sales instructions, Public Relations, Financial Analysts Statements and Press Releases should be reviewed for appropriateness and approved or modified. Such review will also involve both the Fegal and Regulatory Affair departments. Moreover, materials for medical liaison activities, communications to third party insurers and responses to other inquires should be reviewed prior to release. This is an important role, given the significance for the company and timeline pressures. 

How do companies go about the process of disseminating information about their products As discussed above, it is now commonplace for marketing to become involved early in the development phase of a compound. One of the earliest elements in a promotional campaign, and which should be established well before launch, is a PR programme. Once a product is under clinical development this is announced to the financial press and financial analysts. Companies have obligations to their shareholders and the financial markets to disclose information which may have an effect on the share price. Analysts briefings therefore have a dual... 

It is understandable that the drug-discovery process leading to a first introduction in humans requires extensive scientific research. In view of economic reality, shareholders and financial analysts look to pharmaceutical companies for large returns on their investments. Each pharmaceutical company 1... 

Use numerical data to quantify your discussions as much as possible. Additional sources of information are brokerage houses and financial analysts. The... 

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