You have just been hired as a financial analyst for Lydex Company, a manufacturer of safety helmets. Your boss has asked you to perform a comprehensive analysis of the company’s financial statements, including comparing Lydex’s performance to its major competitors. The company’s financial statements for the last two years are as follows: To begin your assignment you gather the following financial data and ratios that are typical of companies in Lydex Company’s industry: Current ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3 Acid-test ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2 Average collection period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 days Average sale period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 days Return on assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.5% Debt-to-equity ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.65 Times interest earned ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.7 Price-earnings ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Required: 1. You decide first to assess the company’s performance in terms of debt management and profitability. Compute the following for both this year and last year: a. The times interest earned ratio. b. The debt-to-equity ratio. c. The gross margin percentage. d. The return on total assets. (Total assets at the beginning of last year were $ 12,960,000.) e. The return on equity. (Stockholders’ equity at the beginning of last year t