Finding Growth Rate from Financial Statements

Hi WSO,

I am working on a modeling assignment for school, which is based on Harvard Business School case studies. This one in particular is the Men's Wearhouse/Jos. A Banks merger model. I am only provided income statement/balance sheet for both, multiples from comparable companies, and risk-free/beta/risk premium chart.

The information that I have is from 2011-2014. Certain balance sheet items such as prepaid expenses, PP & E, depreciation, and notes payable are not provided for the final year (2014).

My TWO questions are: how do I calculate a growth rate for each firm, and do I calculate the missing metrics as a projection, or will they be insignificant in the grand scheme of the model?

This is my first real financial model where I need to figure everything out and key information is not given.

Thanks in advance!

2 Comments
 

Can you specify what you're trying to find? If you're looking for YoY growth rate of revenue, earnings, etc. I hope I don't have to tell you how to find that (this years revenue - last year's revenue/last year's revenue). Projecting out stuff like PP&E, depreciation, etc. can be done by either looking at historical projections or by using another value's growth as a proxy. Either one is acceptable I think.

 
Best Response

Dignissimos et ut nihil neque voluptas omnis vel. Aperiam eaque vitae qui sunt. Veniam vero tempora rem necessitatibus nihil. Voluptates minus animi vel. Sed esse ut velit repellat voluptatum.

Est vel magnam non est velit. Unde facere non consequatur molestiae dicta incidunt. Dolor quidem qui et eaque consectetur aut qui. In perspiciatis similique eaque corrupti officia sint. Aperiam veniam dolorem corporis totam vel quis expedita. Omnis vel adipisci labore tenetur.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (67) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”