Jungle Co is a very successful multinational retail company. It has been selling a large r

ange of household and electronic goods for some years. One year ago, it began using new suppliers from the country of Slabak, where labour is very cheap, for many of its household goods. In 20X4, Jungle Co also became a major provider of ‘cloud computing’ services, investing heavily in cloud technology. These services provide customers with a way of storing and accessing data and programs over the internet rather than on their computers’ hard drives.

All Jungle Co customers have the option to sign up for the company’s ‘Gold’ membership service, which provides next day delivery on all orders, in return for an annual service fee of $40. In September 20X5, Jungle Co formed its own logistics company and took over the delivery of all of its parcels, instead of using the services of international delivery companies.

Over the last year, there has been worldwide growth in the electronic goods market of 20%. Average growth rates and gross profit margins for cloud computing service providers have been 50% and 80% respectively in the last year. Jungle Co’s prices have remained stable year on year for all sectors of its business, with price competitiveness being crucial to its continuing success as the leading global electronic retailer.

The following information is available for Jungle Co for the last two financial years:

3. Administration expenses

Included in these costs are the costs of running the customer service department ($860,000 in 20X5; $1,900,000 in 20X6.) This department deals with customer complaints.

4. Non-financial data

Required:

Discuss the financial and non-financial performance of Jungle Co for the year ending 31 August 20X6.

Note: There are 7 marks available for calculations and 13 marks available for discussion.