Selected financial statement data from Texas Telecom, Inc., for Years 5 and 9 are reproduced

Selected financial statement data from Texas Telecom, Inc., for Years 5 and 9 are reproduced

below ($ millions):

Year 5

Year 9

Income Statement Data

Revenues

$542

$979

Operating income

35

68

Interest expense

7

0

Pretax income

28

68

Income taxes

14

34

Net income

Balance Sheet Data

Long-term operating assets

$ 52

$ 63

Working capital

123

157

Total liabilities

50

0

Total shareholders” equity

125

220

Required:

a. Calculate return on common equity and disaggregate ROCE for Years 5 and 9 using end-of-year values for computations requiring an average (assume fixed assets and working capital are operating and a 50% tax rate).

b. Comment on Texas Telecom”s use of financial leverage.