A firm has been experiencing low profitability in recent years. Perform an analysis of the firm's financial position using the DuPont equation. The firm has no lease payments but has a $2 million sinking fund payment on its debt. The most recent industry average ratios and the firm's financial statements are as follows:

a. Calculate those ratios that you think would be useful in this analysis.
b. Construct a DuPont equation and compare the company's ratios to the industry average ratios.
c. Do the balance sheet accounts or the income statement figures seem to be primarily responsible for the low profits?
d. Which specific accounts seem to be most out of line relative to other firms in the industry?
e. If the firm had a pronounced seasonal sales pattern or if it grew rapidly during the year, how might that affect the validity of your ratio analysis? How might you correct for such potentialproblems?