An analyst has computed the average DSO for Lenovo for fiscal years ended 31 March 2010 and 2009:
|
2010 |
2009 |
|
|
Days of sales outstanding |
16.5 |
15.2 |
Revenue increased from US$14.901 billion for fiscal year ended 31 March 2009 (FY2008) to US$16.605 billion for fiscal year ended 31 March 2010 (FY2009). The analyst would like to better understand the change in the company’s DSO from FY2008 to FY2009 and whether the increase is indicative of any issues with the customers’ credit quality. The analyst collects accounts receivable aging information from Lenovo’s annual reports and computes the percentage of accounts receivable by days outstanding. This information is presented.
|
FY2009 |
FY2008 |
FY2007 |
||||
|
US$000 |
Percent |
US$000 |
Percent |
US$000 |
Percent |
|
|
Accounts receivable |
||||||
|
0-30 days |
907,412 |
8739% |
391,098 |
76.41% |
691,428 |
8932% |
|
31-60 days |
65,335 |
6.29% |
9,014 |
1.76% |
0 |
0.00% |
|
61-90 days |
32,730 |
3.15% |
21,515 |
4.20% |
32,528 |
4.20% |
|
Over 90 days |
32,904 |
3.17% |
90,214 |
17.63% |
50,168 |
6.48% |
|
Total |
1,038,381 |
100.00% |
511,841 |
100.00% |
774,124 |
100.00% |
|
Less: Provision fin impairment |
—17,319 |
—1.67% |
—29,755 |
—5.81% |
—13,885 |
—1.79% |
|
Trade receivables, net |
1,021,062 |
98.33% |
482,086 |
94.19% |
760,239 |
98.21% |
|
Total sales |
16604,815 |
14,900,931 |
16351,503 |
|||
These data indicate that total accounts receivable more than doubled in FY2009 versus FY2008, while total sales increased by only 11.4 percent. This suggests that, overall, the company has been increasing customer financing to drive its sales growth. The significant increase in accounts receivable in total was the primary reason for the increase in DSO. The percentage of receivables older than 61 days has declined significantly which is generally positive. However, the large increase in 0–30 day receivables may be indicative of aggressive accounting policies or sales practices. Perhaps Lenovo offered incentives to generate a large amount of year-end sales. While the data may suggest that the quality of receivables improved in FY2009 versus FY2008, with a much lower percentage of receivables (and a much lower absolute amount) that are more than 90 days outstanding and, similarly, a lower percentage of estimated uncollectible receivables, this should be investigated further by the analyst.