| | ON JICHODO CO., LTD.: ICON GROUP INTERNATIONAL LTD. PUBLISHES VERTICAL ANALYSIS AND LABOR UTILIZATION BENCHMARKS San Diego —-- Two of the most comprehensive vertical gap analysis and labor productivity benchmarks were released today by ICON Group International Ltd. on Jichodo Co., Ltd. (OSA: 3597). The methodologist for this unique study is Philip Parker, Eli Lilly Chair Professor of Innovation, Business and Society at INSEAD (Fontainebleau, France and Singapore). According to Professor Parker, “We created these reports in response to two inescapable trends: a return to fundamentals and globalization.” The aim of these reports is to assist consultants, financial managers, strategic planners and corporate officers in gauging indicators of Jichodo Co., Ltd.’s financial and human resource structure. Professor Parker adds, “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.” The report has benchmarked Jichodo Co., Ltd. against competing firms in the Apparel and Other Finished Products Manufacturing 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. Coverage of the Reports The vertical analysis report considers such concerns as: How does Jichodo Co., Ltd.’s balance sheet structure differ from global benchmarks? Does Jichodo Co., Ltd. hold more cash and short-term assets, or does it concentrate its assets in physical plant and equipment? Does it have a higher percent of payables compared to the benchmarks? Does it hold a higher concentration of long-term debt? Does Jichodo Co., Ltd. have a relatively higher cost of goods sold, operating costs, income taxes, or profit margins compared to global benchmarks? Are workers at Jichodo Co., Ltd. productive? While there is no absolute answer to this economic question, the labor utilization analysis considers how labor deployment and productivity indicators for Jichodo Co., Ltd. differ from the global benchmarks. It looks at the amount of labor required to operate Jichodo Co., Ltd. and the resulting return on human investment. What is the ratio of short-term and long-term assets to employee? What are comparative capital-labor ratios? What are the average sales and net profits per employee in Jichodo Co., Ltd. compared to benchmarks in the same economic sector? Professor Parker states, "We are intrigued by the wide variations in basic financial and productivity measures between Jichodo Co., Ltd. and other Apparel and Other Finished Products Manufacturing companies. The Earnings Before Interest And Taxes (EBIT), for instance, varied from -5.06 to 28.94 within the group. We see this type of variation in the hundreds of ratios that we estimate.” Reports for over 85 Apparel and Other Finished Products Manufacturing companies are available now, including the following: Bebe Stores Inc. Gamma Holding NV Gerber Childrenswear, Inc. Guess? Inc Haggar Corporation Hartmarx Corporation Ithaca Industries, Inc. Jones Apparel Group Incorporated Kasper A.S.L., Ltd Kellwood Company Liz Claiborne Inc Nautica Enterprises, Inc. Oshkosh B'Gosh Inc Oxford Industries, Inc. Phillips-van Heusen Corporation Quiksilver, Inc. Russell Corporation Springs Industries Inc Swank, Inc. Tarrant Apparel Group Tropical Sportswear Int'l Corporation VF Corporation Vilenzo NV Wacoal Corporation
Methodology of the Reports While most vertical analyses focus on benchmarking against domestic ratios, often published by government agencies or commercial sources, ICON Group calculates thousands of industry norms by looking at firms at the global level. Statistics are pooled on tens of thousands of companies across over 40 countries, and a seven-stage methodology is applied: (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 Jichodo Co., Ltd. and the global benchmarks are provided with summary tables of ranks and percentiles. Previously available only through booksellers such as Barnes and Noble , Amazon.com, and Hoovers, two studies are now available direct from the publisher at a 50% discount off the cover price. This special offer includes International Competitive Benchmarks and Financial Gap Analysis and Labor Productivity Benchmarks and International Gap Analysis at US$ $420 ($210 each). E-mail for more information. FINANCIAL BENCHMARKS Audience: designed for financial managers, directors, CFOs, strategic planners Price: $210 Pages: 110 pp Published: Table of Contents About the Author(s) Methodology/Excerpt (free to view) Order Via Fax Order Online LABOR BENCHMARKS Audience: designed for productivity managers, HR directors, strategic planners Price: $210 Pages: 92 pp Published: Table of Contents About the Author(s) Methodology/Excerpt (free to view) Order Via Fax Order Online About ICON Group Ltd. ICON Group Ltd. 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. CONTACT: Orders & Customer Service ICON Group International, Inc. 7404 Trade St. San Diego, CA 92121 USA Fax: 858-635-9414 E-mail: Link: http://www.icongrouponline.com/PR/Jichodo_Co_,_Ltd_JP/PR.html - Additional links you may find of interest:
Important Disclaimer: This report was not prepared on behalf of or for Jichodo Co., Ltd.. Please refer to alternative information sources on Jichodo Co., Ltd. for the following: company financials (quarterly reports, annual report, forecasting, analyst reports, stock filing history, investor reports and relations, SEC or EDGAR documents, 10K, 10Q, articles, news press releases, projections, predictions, forecasts), products or services (warranty, guarantee, credit, equipment, accessory or accessories, service, repair or repairs, rebates or rebate policy, product discount or discounts, part or parts supply, price or prices, book value or valuation, logo design), personnel information (jobs, careers, career training, job placement, employment, human resources department, employee compensation or salaries, salary policy, benefit policies for employees, university benefits, credit union benefits), finding corporation location or contact information (map, company mail, mailing street address, corporate investor contacts, website web site, email search, e-mail addresses, regional offices, dealers list, distributors listing, stores directory, outlets, contact names, CFO, CEO, COO, CIO, CTO, HR, office manager, people, welcome, conference, etc.), geographic or production locations (e.g. USA, UK, Canada, Europe, Asia, Africa, China), legal structure or business activity (corporation, incorporated, company, partner, partnership, partnerships, alliances, limited liability, corp., inc, ltd, co, lawsuit or lawsuits), management plans (marketing strategy or strategic intelligence). ICON reports do not comment on any of the above. |  |