EVA一个较好的财务绩效评价方法.docx
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EVA一个较好的财务绩效评价方法
本科毕业论文(设计)
外文翻译
原文:
EVA:
Abetterfinancialreportingtool
EconomicValueAdded(EVA)isafinancialperformancemeasurebeingadoptedbymanycompaniesincorporateAmerica.Thisnewmetric,trademarkedbySternStewartandCompany,isaprofitmeasurebasedontheconceptoftrueeconomicincomewhichincludesthecostofcapitalforalltypesoffinancing.EVAprovidesamorecomprehensivemeasureofprofitabilitythantraditionalmeasuresbecauseitindicateshowwellafirmhasperformedinrelationtotheamountofcapitalemployed.ThisarticlesummarizestheEVAconceptofmeasuringprofitability,theEVAcalculationandthebenefitsofadoptinganEVAframework.
TheEVAConceptofProfitability
EVAisbasedontheconceptthatasuccessfulfirmshouldearnatleastitscostofcapital.Firmsthatearnhigherreturnsthanfinancingcostsbenefitshareholdersandaccountforincreasedshareholdervalue.
Initssimplestform,EVAcanbeexpressedasthefollowingequation:
EVA=OperatingProfitAfterTax(NOPAT)-CostofCapital
NOPATiscalculatedasnetoperatingincomeafterdepreciation,adjustedforitemsthatmovetheprofitmeasureclosertoaneconomicmeasureofprofitability.Adjustmentsincludesuchitemsas:
additionsforinterestexpenseafter-taxes(includinganyimpliedinterestexpenseonoperatingleases);increasesinnetcapitalizedR&Dexpenses;increasesintheLIFOreserve;andgoodwillamortization.Adjustmentsmadetooperatingearningsfortheseitemsreflecttheinvestmentsmadebythefirmorcapitalemployedtoachievethoseprofits.SternStewarthasidentifiedasmanyas164itemsforpotentialadjustment,butoftenonlyafewadjustmentsarenecessarytoprovideagoodmeasureofEVA.[1]
MeasurementofEVA
MeasurementofEVAcanbemadeusingeitheranoperatingorfinancingapproach.Undertheoperatingapproach,NOPATisderivedbydeductingcashoperatingexpensesanddepreciationfromsales.Interestexpenseisexcludedbecauseitisconsideredasafinancingcharge.Adjustments,whicharereferredtoasequityequivalentadjustments,aredesignedtoreflecteconomicrealityandmoveincomeandcapitaltoamoreeconomically-basedvalue.TheseadjustmentsareconsideredwithcashtaxesdeductedtoarriveatNOPAT.
EVAisthenmeasuredbydeductingthecompany'scostofcapitalfromtheNOPATvalue.TheamountofcapitaltobeusedintheEVAcalculationsisthesameundereithertheoperatingorfinancingapproach,butiscalculateddifferently.
Theoperatingapproachstartswithassetsandbuildsuptoinvestedcapital,includingadjustmentsforeconomicallyderivedequityequivalentvalues.Thefinancingapproach,ontheotherhand,startswithdebtandaddsallequityandequityequivalentstoarriveatinvestedcapital.Finally,theweightedaveragecostofcapital,basedontherelativevaluesofdebtandequityandtheirrespectivecostrates,isusedtoarriveatthecostofcapitalwhichismultipliedbythecapitalemployedanddeductedfromtheNOPATvalue.Theresultingamountisthecurrentperiod'sEVA.
TheremainderofthisarticlesummarizesthefinancingapproachbecauseitemphasizesthesignificanceofcapitalemployedandillustrateshowaccountingrulesimpactthecalculationofEVA.Exhibit1onpage33showsasamplecalculationofEVA.
EVACalculationandAdjustments
Asstatedabove,EVAismeasuredasNOPATlessafirm'scostofcapital.NOPATisobtainedbyaddinginterestexpenseaftertaxbacktonetincomeafter-taxes,becauseinterestisconsideredacapitalchargeforEVA.Interestexpensewillbeincludedaspartofcapitalchargesintheafter-taxcostofdebtcalculation.
Otheritemsthatmayrequireadjustmentdependoncompany-specificactivities.Forexample,whenoperatingleasesratherthanfinancingleasesareemployed,interestexpenseisnotrecordedontheincomestatement,norisaliabilityforfutureleasepaymentsrecognizedonthebalancesheet.Thus,whileinterestisimplicitintheyearlyleasepayments,anattemptisnotmadetodistinguishitasafinancingactivityunderGAAP.
UnderEVA,however,theinterestportionofthepaymentisestimatedandtheafter-taxamountfromitisaddedbackintoNOPATbecausetheinterestamountisconsideredacapitalchargeratherthananoperatingexpense.Thecorrespondingpresentvalueoffutureleasepaymentsrepresentsequityequivalentsforpurposesofcapitalemployedbythefirm,andanadjustmentforcapitalisalsorequired.SeeExhibit1forsampleadjustmentscommonlyusedinthecalculationofEVA.
R&Dexpenseitemscallforcarefulevaluationandadjustment.WhileGAAPgenerallyrequiresmostR&Dexpenditurestobeexpensedimmediately,EVAcapitalizessuccessfulR&DeffortsandamortizestheamountovertheperiodbenefitingthesuccessfulR&Deffort.
AnotherexampleofanEVAadjustmentistheLIFOreserveincrease.TheincreaseisaddedbacktoprofitbecauseitconvertsinventoryfromaLIFOtoFIFOvaluation,whichisabetterapproximationofcurrentreplacementcost.ThefullamountoftheLIFOreserverepresentspastholdinggainsandaccordinglyisaddedbacktotheequitycomponenttoreflectthecapitalinvestedbythefirmininventorynotyetreflectedinequityunderGAAP.
OtheradjustmentsrecommendedbySternStewartincludetheamortizationofgoodwill.Theannualamortizationisaddedbackforearningsmeasurement,whiletheaccumulatedamountofamortizationisaddedbacktoequityequivalents.Goodwillamortizationishandledinthismannerbecauseby"un-amortizing"goodwill,therateofreturnreflectsthetruecash-on-yield.Inaddition,thedecisiontoincludetheaccumulatedgoodwillincapitalimprovestherealcostofacquiringanotherfirm'sassetsregardlessofthemannerinwhichtheacquisitionisaccounted.WhiletheaboveadjustmentsarecommoninEVAcalculations,accordingtoSternStewart,thoseitemstobeconsideredforadjustmentshouldbebasedonthefollowingcriteria:
Materiality:
AdjustmentsshouldmakeamaterialdifferenceinEVA.
Manageability:
Adjustmentsshouldimpactfuturedecisions.
Definitiveness:
Adjustmentsshouldbedefinitiveandobjectivelydetermined.
Simplicity:
Adjustmentsshouldnotbetoocomplex.
Ifanitemmeetsallfourofthecriteria,itshouldbeconsideredforadjustment.Forexample,theimpactonEVAisusuallyminimalforfirmshavingsmallamountsofoperatingleases.Undertheseconditions,itwouldbereasonabletoignorethisiteminthecalculationofEVA.Furthermore,adjustmentsforitemssuchasdeferredtaxesandvarioustypesofreserves(i.e.warrantyexpense,etc.)wouldbetypicalinthecalculationofEVA,althoughthematerialityfortheseitemsshouldbeconsidered.Unusualgainsorlossesshouldalsobeexaminedandeliminatedifappropriate.ThislastitemisparticularlyimportantasitrelatestoEVA-basedcompensationplans.
TheSignificanceoftheCapitalCharge
Undertraditionalfinancialreporting,acostrateisnotassignedfortheequityusedtofinanceoperations.Thus,theuseofnetincomeasaperformancemeasureislimitedbytheexclusionofthatcost.Inaddition,whenusedincalculationssuchasreturnonequity,netincomealsoincludestheaccountingdistortionsincludedinitscalculationandthatofbookvalue.
EVA,ontheotherhand,throughitsadjustmentefforts,seekstoeliminatetheimpactofaccountingdistortionswhiletreatingtheimpactoffinancingcostsmorecomprehensivelyinitscapitalcostcharge.Therefore,atruermeasureofeconomicprofitisprovidedbyEVAthanthatprovidedbytheuseoftraditionalGAAP-basedmeasures.ThismaybesignificantbecausesomecompaniesspendheavilyonR&DandtheaccountingtreatmentforthisandcertainintangiblesisnotincludedonGAAP-basedbalancesheets.EVAprovidesawaytocompareperformanceamongfirmsimpactedbytheseaccountingweaknesses.
ThespecificamountofthecapitalchargeforEVAisbasedontheamountofequityequivalentsdeterminedafteradjustments,multipliedbythecapitalcostrate.Thecapitalcostrateisbasedontheindividualcostratesforbothdebtandequity.Whilethecostratefordebtcanbereadilydetermined,therateforequityrequiressomeeffort.Thecostforequitycanbemeasuredbyusingthecapitalassetpricingmodel,orotherriskpremiumapproaches.
Oncethatrateisdetermined,itiscombinedwiththerelativeproportionsofcapitaltoproducetheweightedaveragecostofcapital(WACC).Itisthatoverallrate,whencombinedwithallcapitalincludingequityequivalents,thatproducestheoverallcapitalchargeusedinEVA.AfterthecapitalchargeiscalculatedanddeductedfromNOPAT,thefullextentofEVA'sbenefitscanbeobserved,becauseallopportunitycostsinvolvedintheproductionofincomehavebeenmeasuredandincludedinprofitability.AnexampleoftheWACCisshowninExhibit1.
EVA-BasedCompensationPlans
Forfirmsthatrewardmanagersbasedonperformance,EVAcanofferadvantagesovertraditionalprofit-basedplans.First,bytyingcompensationtoabetterperformancemetric,thecompanycanachieveabettermatchingofitsownobjectiveswiththoseofthemanager.Second,EVAcanhelpreducesomeconflictsofinterestoftenassociatedwithmanagersandprofitabilitymeasurement.BecauseanobjectiveofEVAistoeliminatetheimpactofaccountingdistortionsonprofitabilityandtheinfluenceofmanagementinitscalculation,EVAisabetterrepresentationuponwhichtorewardexecutives.
ItshouldbenotedthatEVAmeasurementisnotwithoutsubjectiveelements.ItmaybenecessarytoinvolveanindependentcommitteetodeterminetheappropriatenessofspecificEVAadjustmentsandhowtobesthandleunusualsituations.SternStewartal