Showing posts with label fiqua. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fiqua. Show all posts

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Non-manufacturing z-score calculator

Sites like Sharelock Holmes typically publish the Altman z-score, assuming the company to be a manufacturer. However, many companies are not manufacturers, so his less-common, but more applicable, calculation is required. I am a programming geek who likes tinkering with "cool" languages like (Racket) Scheme.

I have combined these two interests together to create "fiqua", a fledgling company account analyser. Currently, it performs only one calculation: the Altman z-score for non-manufacturers. I plan to add more functionality. The calculator can be downloaded here. The program is free, and contains no spy- or ad- ware. Simply download the file, unzip it, and click on the executable file. Let me know if you have any problems.

The first company I tried it on was TCG.L (Thomas Cook), which is on my watch list - deathwatch list, that is. It looks pretty poorly to the naked eye, but the z-score confirms the bad news. My program calculates it as -1.2, well into the danger zone. Here are the specific numbers I pulled from Digital Look:
Total Assets: 6900
Total Liabilities: 5157
Working Capital: -1922 (Current Assets 1463 - Current Liabilities 3385)
Retained Earnings: -626
EBIT: 167
Mkt Cap: 624

Enjoy!