Financial Statement Puzzle - help needed
I'm calculating the Asset turnover ratio for an car retail company but I'm having some difficulty with a couple of things.
1. The profitability of the firm (as measured by NP% and ROCE) is increasing over the period but asset turnover is declining. this seems like a contradiction to me? is anyone able to explain a scenario why this might legitimately occur?
2. The company restructured in 2001 getting rid of huge amounts of debt, dramatically changing net assets and making it difficult to identify the underlying trend.
3. They list a liability 'retirement benefit obligations' and it varies wildly from year to year. What, if any, adjustment should i make for this?
Any help would be appreciated.