Analyzing Cash Sources and Uses

Cash Flow Analysis

Decision Analysis

A1 Analyze the statement of cash flows and apply the cash flow on total assets ratio. Most managers stress the importance of understanding and predicting cash flows for business decisions. Creditors evaluate a company’s ability to generate cash before deciding whether to lend money. Investors also assess cash inflows and outflows before buying and selling stock. Information in the statement of cash flows helps address these and other questions such as (1) How much cash is generated from or used in operations? (2) What expenditures are made with cash from operations? (3) What is the source of cash for debt payments? (4) What is the source of cash for distributions to owners? (5) How is the increase in investing activities financed? (6) What is the source of cash for new plant assets? (7) Why is cash flow from operations different from income? (8) How is cash from financing used? To effectively answer these questions, it is important to separately analyze investing, financing, and operating activities. To illustrate, consider data from three different companies in Exhibit 16.13. These companies operate in the same industry and have been in business for several years. EXHIBIT 16.13 Cash Flows of Competing Companies Each company generates an identical $15,000 net increase in cash, but its sources and uses of cash flows are very different. BMX’s operating activities provide net cash flows of $90,000, allowing it to purchase plant assets of $48,000 and repay $27,000 of its debt. ATV’s operating activities provide $40,000 of cash flows, limiting its purchase of plant assets to $25,000. Trex’s $15,000 net cash increase is due to selling plant assets and incurring additional debt. Its operating activities yield a net cash outflow of $24,000. Overall, analysis of these cash flows reveals that BMX is more capable of generating future cash flows than is ATV or Trex.  Decision Insight Free Cash Flows  Many investors use cash flows to value company stock. However, cash-based valuation models often yield different stock values due to differences in measurement of cash flows. Most models require cash flows that are “free” for distribution to shareholders. These free cash flows are defined as cash flows available to shareholders after operating asset reinvestments and debt payments. Knowledge of the statement of cash flows is key to proper computation of free cash flows. A company’s growth and financial flexibility depend on adequate free cash flows. ▪