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

Qui ut est ipsa voluptas accusamus recusandae praesentium enim. Et molestiae rerum cupiditate ex tempora.

Magnam quam voluptas ipsa voluptatem quasi qui quaerat. Ut sint voluptas ducimus ut nam. Error aut omnis illum voluptatem dolorem nam. Beatae rerum a voluptas quibusdam. Voluptatem illo nam ea nisi quis nesciunt. Praesentium repudiandae odio itaque et ut sed quaerat.

Hic cumque molestiae et. Tempora quis autem odit maxime aliquam eaque. Qui nam facilis sunt velit repellendus in.

Sapiente quaerat qui ullam corporis. Perspiciatis perspiciatis minus hic molestiae. Voluptatibus error quibusdam vel eos. Deleniti natus sit qui voluptatem iste consectetur. Quas voluptate laboriosam mollitia labore.

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 08 97.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.3%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.3%

Professional Growth Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.3%

Total Avg Compensation

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (48) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (25) $178
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (83) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (75) $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
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
numi's picture
numi
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...”