Answer: 16.55%
Explanation:
Profit margin is the amount of earnings that a company has left when every expenses and costs have been deducted.
From the information given, firstly, we calculate the return on equity. This will be:
= Growth rate /(1 + Growth rate) × Retention ratio
= 8% / (1 + 8%) × 46%
= 0.08/(1 + 0.08) × 0.46
= 0.08/1.08 × 0.46
= 0.08/0.4968
= 0.1610
= 16.10%
Return on equity, ROE = 16.10%
We then calculate the profit margin. This will be:
= ROE / Asset turnover × Equity Multiplier
where,
Equity Multiplier = 1 + debt-equity ratio
= 1 + 0.37 = 1.37
Profit margin = ROE / Asset turnover × Equity Multiplier
= 16.10% / {(1/1.41) × 1.37}
= 16.10% / 0.71 × 1.37
= 0.1610 / 0.9727
= 0.1655
Profit margin = 16.55%
