Читать книгу Applied Mergers and Acquisitions - Robert F. Bruner - Страница 143

The popular self-sustainable growth model can yield insights into the comparative strategic robustness of competitors within an industry. For instance, Exhibit 6A.1 gives the calculations for the self-sustainable growth rates for five retailers competing in selling women’s apparel. The data, drawn from Value Line,¹⁹ are forecasts of the variables for each firm in early 1991 for the period through 1995. Consider each firm’s strategic ability to grow and the sources of that strength.

EXHIBIT 6A.1 Self-Sustainable Growth Rates for Five Retailers

Name	Self-Sustainable Growth Rate	Dividend Payout Ratio	Return on Total Capital	Hypothetical Bond Rating and After-Tax Cost of Debt	Debt-to-Equity Ratio
Charming Shoppes, Inc.	13.2%	15%	14.5%	A 6.1%	12.6%
Deb Shops, Inc.	11.3%	20%	14.0%	Baa 6.6%	2.0%
The Dress Barn	17.5%	0%	17.5%	Baa 6.6%	0.0%
Petrie Stores Corporation	8.0%	25%	10.0%	Baa 6.6%	19.0%
The Limited, Inc.	27.6%	22%	23.0%	A 6.1%	53.8%

The exhibit reveals dramatic strategic disparities among these competitors. The Limited enjoys an unusually robust self-sustainable growth rate of 27.6 percent, stemming in large part from its high internal profitability and its relatively more aggressive use of debt capital. At the other end of the spectrum, Petrie Stores Corporation appears to be able to self-sustain only an 8 percent annual growth rate; this is due largely to its relatively low internal profitability. The Dress Barn stands out for its unusual set of financial policies: no debt and no dividends. Given that this firm has the second-highest internal profitability in the competitive group, The Dress Barn could probably boost its self-sustainable growth rate materially by even modest use of leverage.