SAN DIEGO, June 5, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- ICON Financial Advisory Services, LLC (IFAS), a Registered Investment Adviser (CRD# 119-292), today released two of the most comprehensive studies to date on vertical gap analysis and labor productivity benchmarks for Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NYSE:ADP).
According to Aaron Freeman, President of IFAS, "We created these reports in response to two inescapable trends: a return to fundamentals and globalization." The goal of these reports is to assist consultants, financial managers, strategic planners, and corporate officers in gauging indicators of Automatic Data Processing, Inc.'s financial and human resource structure.
Drawing on the expertise of Professor Philip M. Parker of INSEAD (Fontainbleau, France and Singapore), IFAS has benchmarked Automatic Data Processing, Inc. against competing firms in the Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management industry worldwide -- going beyond traditional methods of company benchmarking. The results are two specialized reports: (1) global financial benchmarks using common-size statement ratios (vertical analysis), and (2) labor-productivity and utilization measures collected across borders. Parker notes, "With the globalization of markets, greater foreign competition, and the reduction of barriers to entry, it becomes all the more important to benchmark a company's financial indicators on a worldwide basis."
Freeman states, "We are intrigued by the wide variations in basic financial and productivity measures between Automatic Data Processing, Inc. and other Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management companies. The Gross Profit Margin, for example, varied from 86.49 to (0.13). We see this type of variation in the 100 or so ratios that we estimate."
What?: The Coverage of the Reports
Two reports, financial ratios and labor productivity ratios, are available for Automatic Data Processing, Inc. Each report reveals productivity and industry ranks for companies in the Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management industry. Reports for 130 of Automatic Data Processing, Inc.'s competitors in Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management are also available including:
Administaff Inc., Biogen Inc., Ceridian Corp., Corrpro Companies Inc., Covance Inc., FLUOR Corp., Forrester Research Inc., Foster Wheeler Corp., Franklin Covey Co., Gartner Group, Genencor International Inc., International Fibercom Inc., IT Group Inc., Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., Nichols TXEN Corp., Opinion Research Corp., OrthAlliance Inc., PAREXEL International Corp., Pharmaceutical Product Development, Quintiles Transnational Corp., ResortQuest International Inc., Right Management Consultants Inc., Servicemaster L.P., Solectron Corp., STV Group Inc., Tetra Tech Inc., The Keith Companies Inc., Total Research Corp., Trammell Crow Co., U.S. Laboratories Inc., URS Corp., US Oncology Inc., VSE Corp., and Wackenhut Corrections Corp.
The reports answer such questions as: How has Automatic Data Processing, Inc.'s asset structure varied compared to global benchmarks for the Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management industry? Does it generally hold more cash and other short-term assets, or does it tend to concentrate its assets in physical plant and equipment? On the liability side, does Automatic Data Processing, Inc. typically have a higher percent of payables compared to the benchmarks, or does it hold a higher concentration of long-term debt? Does Automatic Data Processing, Inc. have a relatively higher cost of goods sold, operating costs, or income taxes compared to global benchmarks? Have Automatic Data Processing, Inc.'s returns on equity been higher or its profit margins greater? What has been the ratio of short-term and long-term assets to employee? What are typical capital-labor ratios? What are the average sales and net profits per employee compared to global benchmarks?
How?: The IFAS Methodology
Most vertical analyses merely focus on benchmarking against domestic ratios, often published by government agencies or commercial sources. In contrast, IFAS calculates thousands of industry norms by looking at firms at the global level, pooling statistics on tens of thousands of companies across over 40 countries, and applying a seven-stage methodology: (1) identification of industry classifications, (2) firm-level data collection and aggregation, (3) standardization of raw statistics, (4) filtering outliers, (5) calculation of global norms, (6) projection of deviations and gaps, and (7) projection of ranks and percentiles. For each part of the financial statement, the larger structural differences and gaps between Automatic Data Processing, Inc. and the global benchmarks are provided with summary tables of ranks and percentiles.
Previously available only through booksellers such as Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, and Hoovers, two studies are now available direct from the publisher at a 50% discount off the cover price. This special offer includes Vertical Analysis and International Financial Benchmarks and Labor Productivity, Utilization and Global Benchmarks at US$ 199.90 ($99.95 each). Fax: 858-546-4341 or write iconsubs@san.rr.com, for more information.
About IFAS
IFAS assists managers with global benchmarking, gap analysis, and productivity studies. Clients can create their own benchmarks by choosing their competitors from among over 20,000 companies.