Bertelsmann AG Financial Analysis Report
History
Bertelsmann AG was founded in July 1835 by Carl Bertelsmann as a print shop. Initially the company concentrated on Christian books and songs. In 1849 Carl Bertelsmann’s son Heinrich took over the publishing business, which employed 14, and extended the inventory of the publishing house to novels. At the time of his death in 1887, the staff had grown to 60.
Next to head the company was Johannes Mohn, son-in-law of Heinrich. The company’s growth slowed during this period and the focus was redirected to theological subjects. In 1910 he introduced paid vacation to the company. By 1921, when he turned control of the company over to his son Heinrich, the company had grown to 85 people.
Under the leadership of Heinrich Bertelsmann, the company experienced rapid growth and by 1939, the publishing house had grown to employ 400 people. New marketing channels were added as the readership became more mainstream in the late 1920’s. On the verge of World War II, the company moved from classical literature and fiction to include books with militaristic themes and eventually published books with nationalistic, racial and anti-Semitic content. The publisher insured its survival for most of the war by linking itself with the Nationalist Socialist ideology. Trouble started in 1944 when it was shut down by the German government as non-essential to the war effort and then crippled in March 1945 during an allied air raid on Gutersloh, in which only some of the printing machines survived.
After the war, the publisher was rebuilt by the fifth generation to lead Bertelsmann, Reinhart Hohn, whose influence continues to the present. He took the company from a medium-size printing company to a media conglomerate. In 1950 he established the Reader’s Circle, which bypassed the traditional marketing channels and allowed books to go directly to the reader. Within a year, it had 100,000 members and by 1954 membership had reached 1,000,000. The LP label Ariola Records was founded in 1958 which signaled the company’s entry into the music market. Bertelsmann entered the film industry with the purchase of Ufa Filmproduktionsgesellschaft in 1964. Mohn’s transition of the company culminated in 1971 with incorporation. He remain...
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...tor-Presse Stutgart. The Sales to Asset Ratio of the Gruner + Jahr group is very high, at 1.90 (corporate is .81) which could indicate that demand is very strong. Sales to Asset Ratio of Random House is close to the corporate ratio at 1.02. The parent company also has a strong cash position, so operations in this division will have solid financial backing. Whether these efforts will be successful cannot be determined at this time, but Bertelsmann has a rich history and culture upon which to build.
Bibliography
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Bernstein, Leopold A. Financial Statement Analysis. Homewood, Illinois: Ricard D. Irwin Inc., 1978.
Bertelsmann Media Worldwide. 4 April 2005. .
Bertelsmann Media Worldwide. 2004 Annual Report. Blelefeld. 4 March 2005.
Bertelsmann Media Worldwide. 2003 Annual Report. Blelefeld. 15 March 2004.
Bertelsmann Media Worldwide. Press Conference, “Corporate Development and Strategy”. Berlin. 17 March 2005.
Surman, Matt. “Bertelsmann Profit Rises in 2004.” Business Week Online 17 March 2005. 4 April 2005 .
Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. “Bertelsmann AG.” 4 April 2005. .
Also, its pre-tax profits in 1991 were £750,000 which is obviously not a small amount, Berghaus clearly mean business. By the sound of it, that number is only expected to increase in the years to come. It has an export ratio of 1988-9 of more than 50%, which is the vast majority, within the whole of Europe, meaning that its export increased by a great deal during those years specifically, and we assume it still increases in other years too, although maybe not as much as between 1988-9. 2) In the context of Berghaus, market differences mean many things.
One look at the common-size income statements for these companies can tell a story. While Jones Apparel Group was lagging at year ended 1998, even with a restructuring charge on Liz Claiborne’s income statement, 1999 was a different story. Huge growth at Jones lead to revenues double of that one year ago while Liz, while increasing, was quickly falling behind. The growth for both of these companies continued into the year ended 2000, but Jones Apparel Grou...
Norris, Floyd. "Bausch & Lomb and S.E.C. Settle Dispute on '93 Profits." The New York Times. The New York Times, 18 Nov. 1997. Web. 16 May 2014.
The Lincoln Electric Company started in 1906 by James F. Lincoln in Cleveland, Ohio. His father was a minister and so in turn you can see many Christ like principals at the center of Lincolns Electric Company. James’s Golden Rule was taken from the Sermon on the Mount: Do unto others as you would have then do unto you. Through this philosophy stems many of Mr. Lincoln’s main ideas for his company such as: The Incentive Management plan, the way people communicate within the company, the bonus plan and even down to the management style.
...o renegotiate credit agreements with banks. However, the liquidity was a result of structural changes and would not bring significant effect to the company because it is unusual and infrequent (the extraordinary credits of $15 million fall in this category also). The financial report must be consistent year-by-year. A company should do the same or similar activities, especially operating activities, to generate “money” every year and recognize “money” as its profit. However, this is not the case for Harnischfeger. We are doubtful that the company will perform well in the future. The company recorded modest profit this year because it reduced operating cost not because it increased operating revenue. Since Harnischfeger did not generate its profit by operating activity, it would be too risky to predict if its stock price will reach $6.00 per share in the 1986-87.
After two unsuccessful attempts to establish a company to manufacture automobiles, the Ford Motor Company was founded in 1903 with Henry Ford as vice-president and chief engineer. (Editors 9.) The small company produced only a few cars a day at the Ford factory on Mack Avenue in Detroit. Groups of two or three men worked on each car from components ordered in by other companies. (Yenne 45)
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act passed by President Barack Obama is a significant change of the American healthcare system since insurance plans programs like Medicare and Medicaid (“Introduction to”). As a result, “It is also one of the most hotly contested, publicly maligned, and politically divisive pieces of legislation the country has ever seen” (“Introduction to”). The Affordable Care Act should be changed because it grants the government too much control over the citizen’s healthcare or the lack of individual freedom to choose affordable health insurance.
Henry Ford was in two companies before making a successful company. The first company he had was first named Cadillac Motor Company then changed into the Ford Motor Company when they went bankrupt once, which was established in August 22, 1902. He went into this company with twenty-eight thousand dollars and eleven men. This company only made around five cars a day. The only way that they made cars was that they would group three guys on one car. During this time, the Great Depression was going on which made one of the toughest times to sell cars. When the company went bankrupt twice, he was not about to give up. When he was forty years old, he created the Ford Motor Company. On one of his projects he made a design for a car that broke the fastest car record. Once the word went around people started to buy his cars. Once the Great Depression ended he started making money. Today Ford Motor Company is one of the most successful company in America.
...the changes that were made could give a guarantee for the long-time prosperity. Schenck made a huge work, which could not be made by the founders, but these improvements were largely associated with the industry as a whole. Managerial changes of the firm tightened the inside control and helped to pursue new goals. However, technology was moving forward as well as the taste and the demand of the public. In such circumstances the right management of the company was no longer enough. The company had to adapt to the rapidly changing industry and be able to compete with other big players.
...rs, setting a good trend for the corporation. They also have a very low debt-to-equity ratio, indicating that they have enough equity to easily pay off any funds acquired from creditors. As a creditor I would feel safe in lending them funds for any future projects or endeavors.
When the 1980’s rolled around, it was a thriving company, in the Seattle area. However, the co-founders began to have other interests and were involved in other careers simultaneously. Despite that, the company was about to undergo a major turnaround. A man by the name of Howard Schultz started to pursue an interest in the company. He noticed that the coffee shop had a wonderful environment.
While the concept of the “triune brain” is, as a whole, wrong, MacLean in 1970 did propose some interesting ideas about the evolution of the brain. He proposed that there are three main layers of evolutionary progress in the human brain. It starts in the middle with the most basic, the reptilian brain. The reptilian brain is the brainstem itself, and is responsible for the most basic of survival behaviors. The next layer out is what he called the paleomammilian brain, which is where MacLean says we find the limbic system. This part of the brain deals with social and emotions, and MacLean argues that most mammals have this. The third and most complex layer is the neomammilian or neocortex that deals with the highest of cognitive functions. LeDoux argues that while MacLean was fundamentally wrong about the physical layers of the brain, he was not far from the truth about the evolutionary brain. Emotions at the core are in part for survival, and so therefore the more complex the emotion, the more complex the functions needed.
Surprisingly I don’t have many memories of my experiences with literacy. Early on I just remember picking up any book and reading, writing without stopping, and all those parent teacher conferences with my English teachers that became a blur. Throughout my years of school, I’ve come to realize that writing has become a bigger part of me than I had previously thought. I didn’t go into elementary or middle school thinking I was skilled at writing so my confidence came from teachers who admired what I wrote. Their compliments and encouragement lead me to have a better view of my capabilities. My improvement seems to be invisible until I finally notice the progress when I get to my last paper at the end of the semester or year. This semester and especially this class have tested me the most so far. Learning more about literacy has made me recognize who I am and what I can do so, I will move ahead through the ever continuing process.
According to “Obesity crisis risks making Britain 'fat man of Europe ', warns report”, an article in The Telegraph from 2013 written by Hayley Dixon, something needs to be done before Britain becomes the fat man of Europe. It is said that by 2050 more than half of adults will be overweight, and something needs to be done before this situation gets worse. Doctors want the government, NHS, councils, food firms and parents to step in and do something about this situation before more people become sick or even worse, die from complication caused by overweight or obesity.
Cite: Dr. Eric Kendel in States of Mind, Columbia professor and director of Columbia's Center for Neurobiology and Behavior