(a) CL Ltd is a wholesaler and retailer of office furniture. Extracts from the company’s financial statements are set out below:

STATEMENT OF PROFIT OR LOSS AND OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
FOR THE YEAR ENDED:

STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2015:

Description Stated Capital Capital Surplus Income Surplus Total
Balances b/f 8,500 2,500 15,800 26,800
Share issue 12,900 12,900
Comprehensive income 5,000 7,000 12,000
Dividends paid (4,000) (4,000)
Balances c/f 21,400 7,500 18,800 47,700

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION
AS AT 31 MARCH:

Note:
Non-current assets
During the year, the company redesigned its display areas in all of its outlets. The previous displays had cost GHS10 million and had been written down by GHS9 million. There was an unexpected cost of GHS500,000 for the removal and disposal of the old display areas. Also, during the year, the company revalued the carrying amount of its property upwards by GHS5 million, and the accumulated depreciation on these properties of GHS2 million was reset to zero.
All depreciation is charged to operating expenses.

Required:
Prepare a statement of cash flows for CL Ltd for the year ended 31 March 2015 in accordance with IAS 7 – Statement of Cash Flows. (15 marks)

(b) The directors of CL Ltd are concerned at the deterioration in its bank balance and are surprised that the amount of gross profit has not increased for the year ended 31 March 2015. At the beginning of the current accounting period (i.e. on 1 April 2014), the company changed to importing its purchases from a foreign supplier because the trade prices quoted by the new supplier were consistently 10% below those of its previous supplier. However, the new supplier offered a shorter period of credit than the previous supplier (all purchases are on credit). In order to encourage higher sales, CL Ltd increased its credit period to its customers, and some of the cost savings (on trade purchases) were passed on to customers by reducing selling prices on both cash and credit sales by 5% across all products.

Required:
(i) Calculate the gross profit margin that you would have expected CL Ltd to achieve for the year ended 31 March 2015 based on the selling and purchase price changes described by the directors. (2 marks)

(ii) Comment on the directors’ surprise at the unchanged gross profit and suggest what other factors may have affected gross profit for the year ended 31 March 2015.

(3 marks)
(Total: 20 marks)

(a) CL Ltd
STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2015

Description GHS ‘000
Cash flows from operating activities
Profit before tax 10,200
Depreciation (W2) 6,000
Loss on disposal of displays (W3) 1,500
Interest expense 600
Operating cash flow before working capital changes 18,300
Increase in warranty provision (1,000 – 300) 700
Increase in inventories (5,200 – 4,400) (800)
Increase in receivables (7,800 – 2,800) (5,000)
Decrease in trade payables (4,500 – 4,200) (300)
Cash generated from operations 12,900
Interest paid (600)
Income tax paid (W4) (5,500)
Net cash from operating activities 6,800
Cash flows from investing activities
Purchase of property, plant, and equipment (W1) (20,500)
Cost of disposal of property, plant, and equipment (500)
Net cash used in investing activities (21,000)
Cash flows from financing activities
Share issue 12,900
Loan note issue (4,000 – 3,000) 1,000
Dividends paid (4,000)
Net cash from financing activities 9,900
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents (4,300)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 700
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period (3,600)

Workings

1) NON-CURRENT ASSETS – COST

Description GHS ‘000 GHS ‘000
Balance b/f 80,000
Write-off old displays 10,000
Revaluation (5,000 – 2,000) 3,000
Purchases (balancing figure) 20,500 Balance c/f 93,500
Total 103,500 103,500

2) NON-CURRENT ASSETS – DEPRECIATION

Description GHS ‘000 GHS ‘000
Write-off on disposal 9,000
Balance b/f 48,000
Revaluation adjustment 2,000
Balance c/f 43,000
Charge in year (balancing figure) 6,000
Total 54,000 54,000

3) NON-CURRENT ASSETS – DISPOSAL

Description GHS ‘000 GHS ‘000
Cost of disposal 10,000
Accumulated depreciation 9,000
Cost of disposal 500
Loss on disposal 1,500
Total 10,500 10,500

4) INCOME TAX PAYABLE

Description GHS ‘000 GHS ‘000
Tax paid (balancing figure) 5,500
Balance b/f 5,300
Balance c/f 3,000
Charge for the year 3,200
Total 8,500 8,500

(b) (i) Gross Profit Margin Calculation
Taking the figures for the year ended 31 March 2014 and applying the 10% reduction in purchase costs and the 5% discount to customers, the directors would have expected the gross profit to be as follows:

Description GHS ‘000
Revenue (55,000 x 95%) 52,250
Cost of sales (33,000 x 90%) (29,700)
Gross profit 22,550
Gross profit margin (22,550 / 52,250 x 100) 43.2%

The actual gross profit percentage for the year ended 31 March 2015 is:

Description Calculation
Gross profit margin (22,000 / 65,800 x 100) = 33.4%

(ii) Comment on the Directors’ Surprise
The directors should not be surprised at the unchanged gross profit as cost of sales has increased by the same amount as revenue, wiping out any possible increase in gross profit. In fact, the actual gross profit margin has fallen from 40% in 2014 to 33.4% in 2015, so despite the 10% reduction in the cost of purchases, the company was trading less profitably.

Possible reasons for this could be:

  • Shipping costs involved in importing goods may have to be borne by the recipient.
  • Import duties or currency exchange losses, perhaps exacerbated by having to pay within a shorter period.
  • Inventory losses due to uninsured damage or obsolescence.
  • Selling a larger proportion of goods with a lower gross profit percentage, possibly due to sales or special offers.
  • The foreign supplier may have increased his prices at some point during the year.
  • There may have been changes in accounting policy, possibly shifting some expenses into cost of sales.