Financial And Non-Financial Analysis Of Pandora A/S Essay.

Analysis of the economy:

• Discuss briefly(2-3 paragraphs) which macroeconomic factors (political, economic, social and/or technological factors – PEST analysis) may affect the industry that your company belongs to and your company performance.

Industry analysis:

• Identify the industry that you company belongs to and the company’s place in the industry (e.g. top performer, middle range, bottom; market share, etc.).
• Identify a competitor company that belongs to the same industry and occupies similar position in the industry. You will use this company further in your analysis.
• Conduct Porter’s five forces analysis, conclude with assessment of industry’s current profitability
• Discuss the industry’s growth potential. You must include this section and refer to it in your prospective analysis (further)

Company’s competitive and corporate strategy:

• Discuss company’s competitive strategy, key success factors (core competencies) and risk drivers. Identify the company’s growth potential.  
• Discuss the company corporate strategy: not all companies have a well-defined corporate strategy.

Practical:

• Download a copy of the company’s annual report for current year and last 3 years.
• Download a copy of the competitor’s annual report for current year and last 3 years.
• Convert financial statements for your company (Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Statement of Cash Flows) into Excel. It is not recommended to download the data from the available databases as databases use their own format for financial statements that is very abridged.

Accounting Analysis

• Using financial statements for your company and their competitor and your previous analysis (industry analysis and competitive/corporate strategy analysis) and identify 3 key accounts in their balance sheet/income statement. You must show a link to your previous discussion of the industry analysis and competitive/corporate strategy analysis.

• Evaluate the quality of the disclosure of your company (accounting analysis step 4). You can use comparison to the competitor.

• Identify 3 potential red flags for your company: use your company’s financial statements and notes. Red flags are potentialsource of earnings management for your company’s management

About Pandora A/S

The given study aims to conduct both financial and non-financial analysis of Pandora A/S which is a designer, manufacturer of the high-quality hand-finished and affordable contemporary jewellery. The company was founded in 1982 and headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark. The company is further seen to employ more than 26,500 people worldwide having more than 13,200 retail outlets in Thailand. The company is publicly listed on the Nasdaq Copenhagen stock exchange in Denmark. The total revenue in 2017 was estimated to be 22.8 billion.

The analysis of the competitive strategy has been done as per comparison with Georg Jensen which is also a maker of jewellery established in 1904.  The study has considered the financial analysis of both the companies and computed the critical analysis based on the financial position of Pandora A/S. The financial analysis is based on the calculation of the various ratios which has been identified as per critical analysis of the annual reports (Ehrnsperger 2017).

The understanding the economy for the chosen Danish Jewellery company is predominantly identified with the various types of the factors by analysing the PEST factors. There have been several types of the external factors which influence the operational performance of he company. In addition to this, some of the different types of the other factors are considered with the external factors which influence the performance and operations in the company. As per the data provided in the annual report it needs to be identified that the Pandora A/S will face several challenges pertaining to the macro environment performance other than the competitive forces. In addition to this, it needs to be discerned that the industry may be profitable with the strong growth projections made for a positive political scenario. Some of the main form of the macro environment factors needs to be discerned as per the inclusion of inflation, rate of savings, rate of interest, rate foreign exchange and the economic cycle which is beneficial in the determination of the aggregate demand and investment in the economy (Jun et al. 2017).

On the contrary, the micro environment factors are seen to be depicted in terms of the consideration of the various types of the factors such as economic indicators in the jewellery industry and consumer spending. Some of the other micro environment factors need to be identified as per the growth rate, inflation and industry’s economic indicators.

The industry analysis of Pandora A/S is identified with the market factors which influence the developmental initatives in the company. These factors are considered to influence the competitors and market which involve the appropriate and supplier. The industry in which Pandora A/S operates has been depicted with jewellery manufacturer and retailer. The total market share of the company is seen as DKK 110.03m (Chandra 2017).

Competitive Analysis of Pandora A/S and Georg Jensen

The analysis of the competitor company is identified with Georg Jensen which is dealing with the same products. The overall EBIT margin of the company increased from 17 DKK million in 2015 to 55 DKK million in 2016. The EBIT margin further increased to 74 DKK million in 2017. It needs to be further identified that Pandora A/S and Georg Jensen needs to be considered as the pioneers in the Danish jewellery business. However, in terms of market share it is discerned that Pandora A/S is clearly in a better position in compared to Georg Jensen (Fibre2fashion.com. 2018).

The consideration of Porter’s five forces framework is inferred to be conducive in terms of following points:

Threat of new entrants: As a jewellery manufacturer it is important for considering the new procedures and the business strategies followed by Pandora A/S which has been mainly considered with competitive pricing strategy. The threat of new entrant has been seen to be moderate in nature.

Bargaining power of the suppliers: The suppliers powerful in the consumer sector has been seen to be based on the posing a negotiating power and charge higher price. This will significantly impact on the bargaining position of the suppliers and profitability. Therefore, suppliers have a high bargaining power (Fischer, A. and Pascucci 2017).

Bargaining power of the Buyers: It can prove to be difficult for Pandora A/S to earn profit in the long-run. However, in the jewellery business in Copenhagen the consumers have a relatively low bargaining power.

Threat of the substitutes: The company offers wide range of precious stones and high-quality gold and silver jewellery and alternatives to such products is seen to be low in the market.

Competitor rivalry: The competitive rivalry in the operating industry for Pandora A/S is depicted with other players such as Ole Lynggaard Copenhagen, Georg Jensen Silver, Marlene Juhl Jørgensen Fine Jewellery, Zarah Voigt Boutique, Julie Sandlau Flagship Store, Ladyfingers, Marianne Dulong, Jane Kønig Store and House of Amber. Henceforth, the competitive rivalry in the industry is seen to be very high (Fleisher, C. S., & Bensoussan, B. E. 2015).

In the last few years, the Danish fashion industry went through several paradigms associated with luxury retailers and changes in the high-street trend. The brands such as Ganni, Saks Potts and Stine Goya are seen to be conquering the fashion business by combination of fashionable trends and jewellery. At present the company has been able to get a prime spot in the market which is seen to be associated to the various type of the services which are seen to be based on international consumers and trendsetting influencers. The main mission of the company has been seen to be associated to the various types of the functions which are depicted to be considered with created a dedicated market for Danish and Scandinavian at the time of Copenhagen Fashion Week (Giannakis and Papadopoulos 2016).

PEST Analysis of the Economy

In the 11^th edition, the jewellery room is seen to be supported with large number of emerging talents ranging from Maria Black, Orit Elhanati and Pernille Lauridse. Moreover, the potential of the jewellery pressroom is seen with the industry dedicated to the online space in which the brands are organised in one single roof. The Jewellery Room is depicted to be conducive with the various types of services which are associated with the changes brought to Danish fashion. Moreover, the Danish Jewellery is often boosted with the changes among the consumer behaviour which are seen with the increasing nature of daring designs and strong storytelling. The brands such as Ole Lynggard’s masterful designs, Georg Jensen’s has created a serval collaboration with the new artists which are depicted with the Nadia Shelbaya’s playful pearl and gold creations. In addition to this, some of the other designer jewellery stores such as Matchesfashion.com is also considered with assessment of the exact requirement of the clients (Grant 2016).

The competitive strengths of Pandora A/S are depicted in terms of designs and quality of jewellery as agility of the value chain and an improved focus on the sustainability. The company has maintained its brand as a leader of affordable player in the jewellery segment and often referred as the largest producer of jewellery as per the pieces crafted. The main USP of the company is identified in terms of quality and craftmanship. It is further depicted to innovate with the designs which enhances the overall value chain. Moreover, the experience offered by Pandora sets it apart from the other competitors. The company further involved in several types of the risk awareness programs which are depicted to be aimed at increasing the awareness of the risk management and appointment of the persons in each region where the operations exists. As the company is involved with significant number of markets there is ample scope of growth opportunity and earnings (Hill et al. 2014).

Georg Jensen has taken continued initiative to modernise the overall retail business and making improvement to the digital shopping capabilities. This is seen to be based on rationalising the network of physical shops. This has been further marked with an important step for competing in an omni-channel approach which will prove to be more powerful and competitively advantageous to the company.  The business management done by the company has been considered with the segregation of the risk as per commercial risk, logistics risk, production facilities, IT breakdown, employees, brand and image. The company manages the various types of the financial risk in terms of the monitoring the foreign exchange fluctuations. The management of the company expects a significant growth potential in the operating profit segment (ATARERE et al. 2016).

Industry Analysis

The strategic business strategies of Pandora A/S acts as the pillars for providing the right direction to the consumers. Some of the main aspects of the corporate strategy are discerned as per Innovate affordable jewellery, Agile manufacturing, Digitalised brand experience and success in the omni-channel retail.

The business strategy adopted by Georg Jensen is considered with clear focus and foundation on the performance improvements which will ensure continuous improvement for the company. The business risk of the company is set in such a way that they are related to the brand reputation, followed with a proactive communications strategy and which is consistent with the communication efforts and public relations. The contribution of UN Global Compact signatory is also seen to play a pivotal role in the formulation of the business strategy of the company (Prause 2014).

The assessment of the main accounts for Pandora A/S in the balance sheet are identified with current assets, current liabilities and stockholders’ equity. The current assets compose of the accounts such as inventories, Derivative financial instruments, Trade receivables, Income tax receivable, other receivable and cash. The total balance is depicted to increase from DKK 6356 m in 2016 to 6744 m in 2017. The accounts under the current liabilities are identified with Derivative financial instruments, Trade payables, Income tax payable, loans and borrowings. The total balance of the liabilities is identified to increase from DKK 8291 m in 2016 to DKK 10726 m in 2017. The accounts under equity is seen with Share capital, treasury shares, reserves, dividend proposed and retained earnings. The total equity of the company increased from DKK 6794 m in 2016 to DKK 6514 m in 2017 (Euwema et al. 2014).

Similarly, the current assets for Georg Jensen is considered with items such as trade receivables, receivables from the group enterprises, other receivables, deferred tax assets and prepayments. The items under the current liabilities account needs to be seen with credit institutions, trade payables, payables to the group enterprises, corporation tax and other payables. The total balance of the current liabilities increased from DKK 3331m in 2016 to DKK 3847m in 2017. The total equity consists of the accounts such as share capital, share premium account, Reserve for development costs and retained earnings. The total equity of Georg Jensen decreased from DKK 4576 in 2016 to DKK 4154 m in 2017 (Renz 2016).

The preparation of the annual report of Pandora A/S has been prepared as per International “Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)” which has adopted the guidelines as prescribed by EU and additional Danish disclosure requirements. The consolidation of the financial statement is further seen to be based on the various types of the disclosures as stated under Group’s and the Parent Company’s operations.

Porter's Five Forces Analysis

The preparation of the annual report of Georg Jensen is depicted to be in accordance with the “International Standards on Auditing (ISAs)” along with the additional requirements which are Applicable in Denmark. The company’s independent activities are seen to be considered as per the “Inter-national Ethics Standards Board for Accountants’ Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (IESBA Code)” (Barr and McClellan 2018).

The three potential red flag areas of the company are seen in terms of commodity, product development, Crafting and Supply Chain Major Market. The potential red flag associated to the commodity is considered with the increase in the cost of goods for the range of products offered by the company. In addition to this, the risk areas are also seen to be evident in terms of the changes in the raw material cost especially gold and silver. Secondly, the red flag area in the product development are considered as per the uncertainties pertaining to the new jewellery designs do not adhere to the customer expectations or gain the desired traction in the markets. Crafting and Supply Chain Major Market may get affected by large number of reasons which are seen to be based on the factors impacting on the stability of the supply chain. However, these are not seen to be limited to the loss of suppliers, disasters pertaining to the physical IT infrastructure at the crafting facilities and the distribution centres. There is a potential risk of interruption in the sourcing, manufacturing and/or delivery activities (Balazs et al. 2016).

The potential red flag areas for Georg Jensen are concerned with business aspects, financial and external risk concerns. The concerns related to the business risk are based on the commercial red flag areas which are evident among the consumption of the luxury goods. Some of the other concerns are also related to logistics risk and production facilities. The red flag areas of the financial concerns are seen to be based on increased exposure to the foreign exchange flections. These concerns are also depicted as per the changes variations in the commodity prices of gold, silver, steel, brass, precious stones. The third red flag area of external risk is considered with the different types of the issues such as the macroeconomic factors. At times it may not be possible for the company to predict the sales which allows for flexible planning and discern the appropriate impact of the cyclical economic trends (Karadag 2015).

d) Efficiency Ratio Analysis: -
	Pandora A/S			Georg Jensen
	2017	2016	2015	2017	2016	2015
Net Income	5768	6025	3688	-35.0	-107.0	-111.0
Total Equity	1595	1999.5	2241	4154	4576	4698
Book Value per share	675.5	924	872	630.00	540.00	650.00
Return on Equity	3.62	3.01	1.65	-0.01	-0.02	-0.02
Price to Earnings Ratio	3.42	3.25	3.12	27.4	29.3	29.6
Price to Book Value Ratio	675.5	924	872	630	540	650
	2015	2016	2017
Pandora A/S	1.65	3.01	3.62
Georg Jensen	-0.02	-0.02	-0.01

Competitive Strengths of Pandora A/S

The ROE of Pandora A/S is in a better position in compared to Georg Jensen. This is evident with the increase of 1.65 in 2015, 3.01 in 2016 and 3.62 in 2017. On the other hand, Georg Jensen has considerably struggled to maintain a good net income in terms of total asset and total equity.

Dupont Analysis
	Pandora A/S			Georg Jensen
Particulars	2017	2016	2015	2017	2016	2015
Net Income	5768	6025	3688	-35	-107	-111
Total Asset	2409.6	2566.8	2684.6	9556.437	9001.985	8587.064
Total Equity	1595	1999.5	2241	6239	4798	5385
ROE	3.62	3.01	1.65	-0.01	-0.02	-0.02

The investigation of the ROE is performed in an extended manner with the use of du point analysis which emphasizes on the scope of improvements which are seen to be associated with the strength and weak point of company. It is also seen to be a requirement of Georg Jensen to concentrate on increasing the income generated in terms of the total value of equity. In addition to this, Pandora A/S should look forward to retain the optimum utilization of its assets which is responsible for a stable ROE.

Operating Performance Ratio
	Pandora A/S			Georg Jensen
	2017	2016	2015	2017	2016	2015
Net Sales	22781	20281	16737	1089	1091	1144
Total Fixed Assets	2324	1767	1237	0	54.00	47.00
Total no. of employees	20904	17770	13971	1287	1352.00	1440.00
Days Inventory Outstanding	8	8	6	0	1.12	1.45
Days Sales Outstanding	62	56	46	3	3	3
Days Payable Outstanding	5	4	4	3	3	3
Operating Expense	9182	7819	6379	39	15.00	76.00
Fixed Asset Turnover Ratio	37.24	31.80	26.98	Nil	18.07	15.00
Sales/Revenue Per Employee	1.09	1.14	1.20	0.85	0.81	0.79
Operating Cycle	75	68	56	5.75	7.06	7.23
Operating Ratio	40%	39%	38%	4%	1%	7%

Some of the important ratios considered for the operating performance of the company are identified as per the fixed asset turnover ratio, operating ratio, revenue per employee ratio and operating cycle.

It needs to be discerned that the fixed assets turnover ratio for Pandora A/S has shown a positive trend. However, the despite of the increasing performance of Georg Jensen in terms of the Fixed Asset Turnover Ratio from 2015 to 2016, the company has not shown a favourable performance in 2017.

The sales per employee is also seen to be in a better position for Pandora A/S. Therefore, Pandora A/S has efficiently made use of the amiable human resources to generate more revenues for the business.

In addition to this, in terms of the operating ratio Pandora A/S has been able to generate more revenues for the company by incurring a minimum amount of the operating expenses. It needs to be further identified that the different type of the concerns associated to the performance of the Georg Jensen are related to the increasing operating expenses.

The operating cycle ratio of Pandora A/S is considered to be maintaining better Days Inventory Outstanding, Days Sales Outstanding and Days Payable Outstanding.

Investment Management
	Pandora A/S			Georg Jensen
Particulars	2017	2016	2015	2017	2016	2015
Net Sales	22781	20281	16737	1089	1091	1144
Inventories	2729	2729	2357	3997	3592	3417
COGS	5815	5058	4544	5815	5058	4544
Accounts Receivable	1954	1673	1360	1076	1536	1665
Inventory Turnover Ratio	8.35	7.43	7.10	0.27	0.30	0.33
Days' Sales in Inventory	171.30	196.93	189.33	250.89	259.21	274.47
Average Collection Period	0.001%	0.001%	0.002%	0.031%	0.022%	0.019%
Receivables Turnover (Times)	11.66	12.12	12.31	1.01	0.71	0.69

The main computation of some of the main ratio pertaining to the Investment Management are identified with the computation of the asset’s turnover ratio, inventory turnover ratio and days sales in inventory. In addition to this, there is a linear increase in the Inventory Turnover Ratio for Pandora A/S. This is depicted with total inventory turnover ratio of 8.35 2017, 7.43 in 2016 and 7.10 in 2015. However, Georg Jensen significantly poor in terms of inventory management. This is seen to be evident with 0.27 in 2017, 0.30 in 2016 and 0.33 in 2015.

Financial Leverage
	Pandora A/S			Georg Jensen
	2017	2016	2015	2017	2016	2015
Total Liabilities	1195.8	1557.2	1309.6	4909	4941	4966
Total Assets	2957	3576	3744	9201	9676	9764
Total Equity	1595	1999.5	2241	4154	4576	4698
Debt Ratio	0.40	0.44	0.35	0.53	0.51	0.51
Debt to Equity Ratio	0.75	0.78	0.58	1.18	1.08	1.06
Equity Ratio	0.54	0.56	0.60	0.45	0.47	0.48
Equity Multiplier Ratio	1.9	1.8	1.7	2.2	2.1	2.1

Corporate Strategy of Pandora A/S

The average collection period of Pandora A/S is seen to be comparatively much faster than Georg Jensen in collecting the payment from the debtors.

The position of Georg Jensen is better in terms of maintaining a lower COGS in terms of the inventories.

The time for the Receivables Turnover is clearly in a better position for Pandora A/S. This shows it requires less time for collection of payment.

The computation of the Financial Leverage is included with the ratios such as Debt Ratio, Debt to Equity Ratio, Equity Ratio and Equity Multiplier Ratio.

The D/E ratio performance of Pandora A/S is clearly seen to be in a beater position with a lower reliance on the long-term borrowings to finance the assets.

The equity ratio performance of Pandora A/S is also better than Georg Jensen. This shows a better utilization of the equity obtained from the shareholders by Pandora A/S.

It can be recognised that Debt-to-equity ratio for Pandora A/S. is better than Georg Jensen.

The conduction of the time series analysis of Pandora A/S and Georg Jensen is discerned with the changes in the ROE from 2015 to 2017. It can be seen that fall in the ROE in the recent years may be a result of the macroeconomic changes which had significantly affected the jewellery designers of Copenhagen.

As per the findings of several types of ratios, stock performance and WACC it needs to be understood that Pandora A/S is in a much favourable position in terms of financial performance compared to Georg Jensen. The overall findings further imply that the potential red flag concerns are seen in terms of commodity, product development, Crafting and Supply Chain Major Market. The potential red flag associated to the commodity is considered with the increase in the cost of goods for the range of products offered by the company. In addition to this, the risk areas are also seen to be evident in terms of the changes in the raw material cost especially gold and silver. However, the increasing aspects such as equity ratio performance of Pandora A/S, operating cycle ratio, prospective analysis and financial leverage ratio simply shows that the company is in a much better position from investor’s perspective. Therefore, it can be concluded that Pandora A/S has depicted an overall good result in all the financial parameters and it is a good decision to invest in long-term with a medium risk.

Accounting Analysis of Pandora A/S

Conclusion

The findings from the understanding the economy for the chosen Danish Jewellery company is predominantly identified with market factors which influence the developments in the company. These factors are considered to influence the competitors and market which involve the appropriate and supplier. Moreover, in terms of the Identification of the Competitor Company it needs to be seen that Pandora A/S has performed better in all aspects. The main form of the competitive strengths of Pandora A/S needs to be identified as per the designs and quality of jewellery as agility of the value chain and an improved focus on the sustainability. On the contrary, Georg Jensen has taken continued initiative to modernise the overall retail business and making improvement to the digital shopping capabilities however it has failed to retain the customers due to increase price of the fashion jewellery. Some of the main aspects of the corporate strategy are discerned as per Innovate affordable jewellery, Agile manufacturing, Digitalised brand experience which are seen as the main contributing factor for its success in the market.

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