Assume that you are a trust officer for the Afri Bank. You are attempting to select a pharmaceutical manufacturer’s shares for a client’s portfolio. You have obtained the following data:
5 Year averages
Industry average
Opal Main Darcy Hunt
Sales growth 8.3% 9.8% 7.9% 7.2% 10.1% Net income growth 13.0 12.0 10.7 4.2 16.1 Asset growth 5.0 6.1 4.6 4.4 6.2
Current year
Industry average
Opal Main Darcy Hunt
Return on equity 16.2% 17.5% 17.5% 19.4% 21.6% Return on assets 8.5 7.8 12.7 8.4 11.4 Dividend payout 43.0 40.0 23.0 31.0 31.0
Required:
Comment on the relevant performance of each of the companies.