Tag Profit (accounting)

Operating leverage

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Operating leverage is the relationship between sales and revenue (Price*Quantity of units sold) and operating profit (which is also called EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes)). It is a measure of how the potential use of fixed costs can enlarge the effect that change in sales volume has on operating profit (EBIT).

We can represent the calculation of operating leverage as follows:

Sales (P * Q)

Less: Fixed operating costs (FC)

Less: Variable operating costs (VC*Q)

= EBIT

Or

EBIT = (P*Q)-FC-(VC*Q)

This simplifies into:

EBIT = Q * (P-VC) – FC

When do firms have operating leverage?

If a firm has fixed costs, it has operating leverage. Because fixed cost (FC) is unchanged, an increase in sales revenue (P*Q) results in a proportionally bigger increase in EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes, which is also called operating profit). However, decrease in sales revenue (P*Q) will result in a proportionally bigger decrease in EBIT.

Increase in operating leverage increases business risk, which is a chance that the business will not be able to cover its operating costs.

How to calculate the degree of operating leverage (DOL) of the firm?

To calculate degree of operating leverage, which is just a way to measure operating leverage of the firm, we can use the following formula:

DOL =% change in EBIT/% change in sales

Therefore, if the degree of operating leverage is greater than 1, than operating leverage exists (which is the case as long as the company has fixed operating costs).

Businesses can increase their operating leverage by substituting variable costs for fixed costs, where possible. For example, salaries to sales personnel could be fixed instead of variable of units sold. Of course, many other variables need to be taken into account to make such a decision, such as consideration of how such changes would affect motivation levels of sales personnel.

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Leverage

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In finance, leverage (which is also called gearing or levering) refers to the use of debt rather than equity as a source of capital to finance investments and reinvestments. The more debt the business uses the more leverage it has.

As leverage increases, the risks also increase and so does the return on investment. However, as leverage decreases, the risks also decrease as well as the return on investment. Management have almost total control over the risk introduced by increased leverage.

There are three types of leverage:

  • Operating leverage – refers to the relationship between sales revenue and operating profit (which is also called EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes))
  • Financial leverage – refers to the relationship between operating profit and EPS (earnings per share)
  • Combined or total leverage – refers to the relationship between sales revenue and EPS

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Operating Profit Margin Ratio

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Operating profit margin ratio (OPMR) is a profitability ratio. It measures how much of each sales dollar remains after all costs, after interest, tax and preferred stock dividends are deducted. In other words it measures how efficiently a business manages its operations or how efficiently the firm manages its income statement (keeping a healthy balance between sales and costs).

Operating profit margin ratio (OPMR) = Operating Profit/Sales

Example

For example, if ABC Company has operating profit of $500,000 and sales of $3,000,000 then Operating profit margin ratio (OPMR) is calculated as follows:

= 500,000/3,000,000

= 0.167 or 16.7%

Test yourself

Dillon Corporation has operating profits of $600,000 and sales of $3,500,000.

Required: Find the Operating profit margin ratio (OPMR)

Solution:

The calculation of Operating profit margin ratio (OPMR) of Dillon Corporation will be as follows: OPMR = 600,000/3,500,000 OPMR = 0.17 or 17%

The higher the Operating profit margin ratio (OPMR) the better it is for the business.

 

Calculating net profit after tax

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In summary, to calculate net profit after tax, we need to subtract cost of goods sold, operating expenses, interest and tax from the sales revenue.

To make this calculation, we need to understand the format of the income statement.

Income Statement Format

Sales revenue

LESS: Cost of goods sold

= Gross profit

LESS: Operating expenses

= EBIT (earnings before interest and tax/operating profit)

LESS: Interest

= Net profit before tax

LESS: Taxes

= Net profit after tax

LESS: Preferred stock dividends

= Earnings available for common stockholders

Therefore, to calculate net profit after tax, all we need to do is to subtract cost of goods sold, operating expenses, taxes and interest from sales revenue.

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Calculating net profit before tax

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In summary, to calculate net profit before tax, we need to subtract cost of goods sold, operating expenses and interest from sales revenue. We need to understand the format of the income statement.

Income Statement Format

Sales revenue

LESS: Cost of goods sold

= Gross profit

LESS: Operating expenses

= EBIT (earnings before interest and tax/operating profit)

LESS: Interest

= Net profit before tax

LESS: Taxes

= Net profit after tax

LESS: Preferred stock dividends

= Earnings available for common stockholders

Therefore, to calculate net profit before tax, all we need to do is to subtract cost of goods sold, operating expenses and interest from sales revenue.

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How to calculate EBIT (Operating Profit)?

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In summary, to calculate EBIT, we need to subtract the costs of goods sold and operating expenses from sales revenue.

To determine EBIT (operating profit), we firstly need to understand the format of the income statement.

Income Statement Format

Sales revenue

LESS: Cost of goods sold

= Gross profit

LESS: Operating expenses

= EBIT (earnings before interest and tax/operating profit)

LESS: Interest

= Net profit before tax

LESS: Taxes

= Net profit after tax

LESS: Preferred stock dividends

= Earnings available for common stockholders

Therefore, to determine EBIT, all we need to do is to subtract the cost of goods sold and operating expenses from sales revenue.

Other uses for EBIT

1 – Calculate the Operating Profit Margin Ratio = Operating profit (EBIT) / Sales The operating profit margin measures how much of each sales dollar remains after all costs except for interest, tax and preferred dividends are deducted. In other words it measures how efficient the business manages its operations or how efficiently the firm manages its income statement (keeping a healthy balance between sales and costs).

2 – Calculate the Times Interest Earned Ratio = EBIT/Interest

The times interest earned ratio (Interest Coverage Ratio) measures the ability of the enterprise to meet its financial obligations (interest payments on debt that come due).

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