Profitability of the First Commercial Thinning, a Simulation Study in Northern Finland

Despite positive signals from increasing growing stock volumes and improved roundwood trade, first commercial thinnings (FCTs) tend to be a bottleneck in Finnish forest management and forestry. The reasons are many, but probably the most crucial would be the lack of simultaneous economic incentives for participating agents, i.e., private forest owners and forest machine contractors. This is due to poor stand characteristics in most FCT cases: low cutting removal with small average stem size. There are five predetermined management options: (1) Industrial wood thinning with only two timber assortments, pulpwood and saw logs, (2) Integrated procurement of industrial and energy wood, (3) Energy wood thinning solely consisting of delimbed stems, (4) Whole-tree energy wood thinning with an energy price of 3 € m−3 and (5) Whole-tree energy wood thinning with energy price of 8 € m−3, that were applied for six separate forest stands located in Northern Finland, and derived from a database representing stands with an urgent need for FCT. Then, a two-phase financial analysis consisting of stand-level optimization (private forest owners) and profitability assessment (contractor) was conducted in order to find out whether there would be simultaneous economic incentives for both participants of FCT. The stand-level optimization revealed the financially best management options for a private forest owner, and then, for a contractor, the profitability assessment exposed the profit (or loss) associated with the particular management option. In brief, our results demonstrated that conducting either an industrial wood thinning (1) or an integrated procurement (2) resulted in a positive economic incentive for both the private forest owner and the contractor in all six cases (stands). Further, applying energy wood thinning with delimbed stems (3) would even generate a financial loss for the contractor, given the roadside prices applied in this study

PROFITABILITY OF AUDIT COMPANIES IN THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA: EMPIRICAL RESEARCH IN THE PERIOD 2010-2019

The subject of the research in the paper is profitability assessment of audit companies operating in the Republic of Serbia. The objective of the research is to provide the answer to professional and scientific public whether the profitability of audit companies is conditioned by the impact of the size of audit company, origin of its equity or the existing market participation? The research included the entire population of active audit companies in the Republic of Serbia in the period from 2010 to 2019. Data analysis was performed in the statistical program SPSS, and non-parameter tests Kruskal-Wallis H test and Mann-Whitney U test were used. The research will give the answer to the question whether the profitability of an audit company depends on the source of its equity, the size or market participation it has in provision of audit services. The results of the research have shown that there is an impact of the size of the company, the origin of its equity and market participation on the profitability of audit companies measured by net income and return on total assets.

Profitability Assessment of Residential Photovoltaic Battery Systems in Japan Using Electric Power Big Data

Residential photovoltaic (PV) battery systems are key technology in the design of low-carbon and resilient energy systems; however, limited research has assessed their profitability. This study aims to evaluate the economic performance of PV battery systems for end-users. The evaluation takes geological, technological, and socio-economic factors into consideration, thereby making the evaluation more comprehensive. We used PV power generation data and power consumption data of more than 40,000 all-electric houses in Japan. We performed scenario analyses with a sensitivity analysis. The results showed that residential PV battery systems were highly profitable when their storage battery operation modes were appropriately utilized at the end of the purchase period for solar power generation in Japan’s feed-in-tariff (FIT) scheme. The profitability, however, varied across regions. The results also indicated that the PV self-consumption rate was more than 50% when charging the battery with surplus power. The results of the sensitivity analysis suggested that the unit prices of grid electricity and the purchasing price of surplus power after the FIT scheme had a significant effect on the profitability of residential PV battery systems.

Economic and potential profitability assessment of poultry farming

India today is the one of the world’s largest producer of eggs and broiler meat. The poultry industry in India has undergone a major shift in structure and operation during the last two decades transforming from a mere backyard activity into a major industry with the presence of a large number of integrated players. Present study was conducted to examine the economic and potential profitability assessment of poultry farming. The study was based on the data collected from the primary source. The results revealed thatthe total fixed cost in RIR breed and Kadaknath breed were estimated to be Rs. 55.66 per bird and Rs. 50.61 per bird, respectively. Feed cost was the major cost item accounting 57 per cent of the total cost. BCR, IRR and PI of the project were 1.56, 57 per cent and 2.57, respectively. Similarly, NPW of the project was also positive. Project recovered its initial investment in one year one month 28 days. It shows that, this project is financially feasible.

Improving profitability: assessment of new rootstocks and planting systems

For over 25 years, rootstocks for sweet cherries are evaluated in different locations in the german federal state of Rhenania Palatinate. They are situated in a vine growing climate and have medium-heavy soils. Replant disease of stone fruit plays a significant role in most orchards. In general, all trees in the rootstock trials are trained as central leader and planted 4.0 to 4.5 m by 2.0 to 3.0 m depending on the expected vigour. In addition to the common performance parameters, tree health, anchorage and tendency for root suckers are observed. In 2013 a new rootstock trial has been established including, inter alia, the new Weigi series and some recent Gisela numbers. In the experimental orchard of Oppenheim, replanted soil can be compared to new land. Up to now, Weigi 2 is slightly more dwarfing but also less productive in this trial what is no disadvantage regarding the fruit size. In the group of semi-dwarfing rootstocks Weigi 1, Weigi 3, Gisela 13 and Gisela 17 seem to be similar both in vigour and yield efficiency. In this group there is an interest to replace PiKu 1 which turned out to be not winter hardy enough and susceptible to heavy soils and bark beetles under German conditions. Training trials revealed that also with low tree forms, yields and qualities comparable to the spindle can be obtained. The picking performance can be improved in many cases. Mechanical pruning only makes sense if it is combined with manual correction pruning. An exclusive mechanical pruning reduces the fruit size and can also reduce the picking performance.

THE IMPACT OF FINANCIAL STATEMENT ANALYSIS ON THE PROFITABILITY ASSESSMENT (APPLIED STUDY OF KIRKUK COMPANY FOR PRODUCING CONSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS)

The present study entitled “financial statement analysis and assessing the profitability of the Kirkuk’s Company for producing constructional materials”. The main goal of the accounting department in the firms is to prepare the reliable financial statements in order to make their valid balance sheets, income statements and cash flow statement. This paper determines the confirming effects of the financial statement analysis to assess the profitability of the Kirkuk Company. The data in this study is based on the secondary data and it collected from the past and present performance of Kirkuk’s Company for producing constructional materials. To achieve the research goal, four categories of the financial ratios were utilized for testing the study’s hypothesis. This group of ratios was applied to assess the financial situation of the company in the years between “2005 to 2011” by using different techniques of financial statement analysis. The results clearly show that, there are insignificant relationships between profitability with asset regulated and assets utilization. At the same times, there is a weak relationship between profitability and liquidity.