IB Business Management SL 3.5 Profitability and Liquidity Ratio Analysis Questions

LuxEclairage (LE)


LuxEclairage (LE) was founded by Maurice Dahman, an Electrical Engineer from Algeria. He has a degree in electrical engineering and is fluent in French. In 2007, after 12 years working for a large lighting business in Luxembourg, Maurice established LE. His business produces energy-efficient parts for various indoor and outdoor lighting.
L E has a unique selling point (USP): the lowest price in the market. Although most sales are in Europe, all production is in Algeria, where costs are much lower. As a result, growth in sales revenue has been rapid and significant, and L E has gained market share each year.
Selected financial information for L E (all figures in €m):

With the rapid growth in sales revenue since it was first established, L E has experienced some diseconomies of scale, especially in the administration of the business. Production occurs in 12 small factories located around the city of Algiers, rather than in one large factory. Coordination between factories and the administrative offices is, therefore, complicated, and the internet is sometimes unavailable. Whereas French is the language used by managers and customers of L E, the workers generally speak only basic French and prefer to speak Arabic. In addition, patterns of non-verbal communication differ widely between Europe and Algeria.

Visionary Toys (VT)


Visionary Toys (VT) produces highly innovative toys for children. V T began operation in January 2017 and its unique selling point/proposition (USP) is producing toy parts with a 3D printer. The financial director presented financial information for VT at the end of 2017. He was concerned about VT's liquidity.