問18
頻出度★★★
A社の３年間の業績推移を示すグラフに関して，次の記述中の a，b に入れる字句の適切な組合せはどれか。 売上高に対する，売上原価の比率は [ a ] 傾向，販売費及び一般管理費の比率は [ b ] 傾向である。
平成23年度 特別試験 ITパスポート試験 問18
ストラテジ系企業活動 › 業務分析・データ利活用
This question's explanation and your answers so far.
解説
問 18
Incorrectア
The “decreasing” for a is correct, but the “decreasing” for b is wrong. The cost of sales ratio falls from 60% to 50%, yet the operating profit margin falls from about 15% to about 9%. If the SG&A ratio were also decreasing, the operating profit margin would necessarily rise by that amount, which contradicts the downward-sloping line. It is precisely because the rise in the SG&A ratio more than cancels out the fall in the cost ratio that the operating profit margin is going down.
- イ
正解 Reading the three years of figures off the graph: net sales are 100 → 130 → 160 (hundred million yen), cost of sales is 60 → 70 → 80 (hundred million yen), and the operating profit margin drawn as a line moves from about 15% → about 12% → about 9%. [a: ratio of cost of sales] The ratio of cost of sales to net sales (the cost of sales ratio) is 60/100 = 60% in 2007, 70/130 ≈ 53.8% in 2008, and 80/160 = 50% in 2009. The cost amount itself is rising, but net sales are growing by even more, so the ratio falls year after year. Therefore a is a “decreasing” trend. [b: ratio of selling, general and administrative expenses] The basic formula of profit-and-loss calculation is “operating profit = net sales − cost of sales − selling, general and administrative expenses”, so rewritten as ratios it becomes “SG&A ratio = 100% − cost of sales ratio − operating profit margin”. This gives 100 − 60 − 15 = 25% in 2007, 100 − 53.8 − 11.7 ≈ 34.5% in 2008, and 100 − 50 − 9.4 ≈ 40.6% in 2009. The SG&A ratio rises year after year, so b is an “increasing” trend. (Checking with the amounts gives the same result: in hundred-million-yen terms operating profit stays at roughly 15 every year, while SG&A expenses shoot up from 25 → about 45 → about 65.) Therefore イ, the combination a = decreasing and b = increasing, is the correct answer.
Incorrectウ
The “increasing” for a is wrong. In amount terms the cost of sales does grow, 60 → 70 → 80 (hundred million yen), but what the question asks about is the “ratio to net sales”. Because net sales grow at a faster pace, 100 → 130 → 160 (hundred million yen), the cost ratio actually falls: 60% → about 54% → 50%. This option mistakes the growth in bar height (the amount) for growth in the ratio. The “decreasing” for b is also wrong, for the same reason as in ア above.
Incorrectエ
The “increasing” for b is correct, but because the “increasing” for a is wrong, the combination does not hold. As in ウ, it confuses the growth in the amount of cost of sales with the direction of the cost of sales ratio. In fact net sales grow faster than costs do, so the cost ratio decreases from 60% to 50%.
ここがポイント
- When reading a combination chart (bars = amounts, line = ratios), do not confuse a change in the amount with a change in the “ratio to net sales”. Even if the cost of sales grows in amount, the cost of sales ratio falls as long as net sales grow by more.
- Rewriting the basic profit-and-loss formula “operating profit = net sales − cost of sales − selling, general and administrative expenses” in terms of ratios gives “operating profit margin = 100% − cost of sales ratio − SG&A ratio”. The SG&A ratio, which is not drawn on the graph directly, can be obtained as the remainder of this formula: 100% − cost of sales ratio − operating profit margin.
用語