EVA：一个较好的财务绩效评价方法【外文翻译】 .doc

本科毕业论文（设计）外 文 翻 译原文：EVA: A better financial reporting tool Economic Value Added (EVA) is a financial performance measure being adopted by many companies in corporate America. This new metric, trademarked by Stern Stewart and Company, is a profit measure based on the concept of true economic income which includes the cost of capital for all types of financing. EVA provides a more comprehensive measure of profitability than traditional measures because it indicates how well a firm has performed in relation to the amount of capital employed. This article summarizes the EVA concept of measuring profitability, the EVA calculation and the benefits of adopting an EVA framework.The EVA Concept of Profitability EVA is based on the concept that a successful firm should earn at least its cost of capital. Firms that earn higher returns than financing costs benefit shareholders and account for increased shareholder value. In its simplest form, EVA can be expressed as the following equation: EVA = Operating Profit After Tax (NOPAT) - Cost of Capital NOPAT is calculated as net operating income after depreciation, adjusted for items that move the profit measure closer to an economic measure of profitability. Adjustments include such items as: additions for interest expense after-taxes (including any implied interest expense on operating leases); increases in net capitalized R&D expenses; increases in the LIFO reserve; and goodwill amortization. Adjustments made to operating earnings for these items reflect the investments made by the firm or capital employed to achieve those profits. Stern Stewart has identified as many as 164 items for potential adjustment, but often only a few adjustments are necessary to provide a good measure of EVA.1 Measurement of EVA Measurement of EVA can be made using either an operating or financing approach. Under the operating approach, NOPAT is derived by deducting cash operating expenses and depreciation from sales. Interest expense is excluded because it is considered as a financing charge. Adjustments, which are referred to as equity equivalent adjustments, are designed to reflect economic reality and move income and capital to a more economically-based value. These adjustments are considered with cash taxes deducted to arrive at NOPAT. EVA is then measured by deducting the company's cost of capital from the NOPAT value. The amount of capital to be used in the EVA calculations is the same under either the operating or financing approach, but is calculated differently. The operating approach starts with assets and builds up to invested capital, including adjustments for economically derived equity equivalent values. The financing approach, on the other hand, starts with debt and adds all equity and equity equivalents to arrive at invested capital. Finally, the weighted average cost of capital, based on the relative values of debt and equity and their respective cost rates, is used to arrive at the cost of capital which is multiplied by the capital employed and deducted from the NOPAT value. The resulting amount is the current period's EVA. The remainder of this article summarizes the financing approach because it emphasizes the significance of capital employed and illustrates how accounting rules impact the calculation of EVA. Exhibit 1 on page 33 shows a sample calculation of EVA. EVA Calculation and Adjustments As stated above, EVA is measured as NOPAT less a firm's cost of capital. NOPAT is obtained by adding interest expense after tax back to net income after-taxes, because interest is considered a capital charge for EVA. Interest expense will be included as part of capital charges in the after-tax cost of debt calculation. Other items that may require adjustment depend on company-specific activities. For example, when operating leases rather than financing leases are employed, interest expense is not recorded on the income statement, nor is a liability for future lease payments recognized on the balance sheet. Thus, while interest is implicit in the yearly lease payments, an attempt is not made to distinguish it as a financing activity under GAAP. Under EVA, however, the interest portion of the payment is estimated and the after-tax amount from it is added back into NOPAT because the interest amount is considered a capital charge rather than an operating expense. The corresponding present value of future lease payments represents equity equivalents for purposes of capital employed by the firm, and an adjustment for capital is also required. See Exhibit 1 for sample adjustments commonly used in the calculation of EVA. R&D expense items call for careful evaluation and adjustment. While GAAP generally requires most R&D expenditures to be expensed immediately, EVA capitalizes successful R&D efforts and amortizes the amount over the period benefiting the successful R&D effort. Another example of an EVA adjustment is the LIFO reserve increase. The increase is added back to profit because it converts inventory from a LIFO to FIFO valuation, which is a better approximation of current replacement cost. The full amount of the LIFO reserve represents past holding gains and accordingly is added back to the equity component to reflect the capital invested by the firm in inventory not yet reflected in equity under GAAP. Other adjustments recommended by Stern Stewart include the amortization of goodwill. The annual amortization is added back for earnings measurement, while the accumulated amount of amortization is added back to equity equivalents. Goodwill amortization is handled in this manner because by "un-amortizing" goodwill, the rate of return reflects the true cash-on-yield. In addition, the decision to include the accumulated goodwill in capital improves the real cost of acquiring another firm's assets regardless of the manner in which the acquisition is accounted. While the above adjustments are common in EVA calculations, according to Stern Stewart, those items to be considered for adjustment should be based on the following criteria: Materiality: Adjustments should make a material difference in EVA. Manageability: Adjustments should impact future decisions. Definitiveness: Adjustments should be definitive and objectively determined. Simplicity: Adjustments should not be too complex. If an item meets all four of the criteria, it should be considered for adjustment. For example, the impact on EVA is usually minimal for firms having small amounts of operating leases. Under these conditions, it would be reasonable to ignore this item in the calculation of EVA. Furthermore, adjustments for items such as deferred taxes and various types of reserves (i.e. warranty expense, etc.) would be typical in the calculation of EVA, although the materiality for these items should be considered. Unusual gains or losses should also be examined and eliminated if appropriate. This last item is particularly important as it relates to EVA-based compensation plans. The Significance of the Capital Charge Under traditional financial reporting, a cost rate is not assigned for the equity used to finance operations. Thus, the use of net income as a performance measure is limited by the exclusion of that cost. In addition, when used in calculations such as return on equity, net income also includes the accounting distortions included in its calculation and that of book value. EVA, on the other hand, through its adjustment efforts, seeks to eliminate the impact of accounting distortions while treating the impact of financing costs more comprehensively in its capital cost charge. Therefore, a truer measure of economic profit is provided by EVA than that provided by the use of traditional GAAP-based measures. This may be significant because some companies spend heavily on R&D and the accounting treatment for this and certain in tangibles is not included on GAAP-based balance sheets. EVA provides a way to compare performance among firms impacted by these accounting weaknesses. The specific amount of the capital charge for EVA is based on the amount of equity equivalents determined after adjustments, multiplied by the capital cost rate. The capital cost rate is based on the individual cost rates for both debt and equity. While the cost rate for debt can be readily determined, the rate for equity requires some effort. The cost for equity can be measured by using the capital asset pricing model, or other risk premium approaches. Once that rate is determined, it is combined with the relative proportions of capital to produce the weighted average cost of capital (WACC). It is that overall rate, when combined with all capital including equity equivalents, that produces the overall capital charge used in EVA. After the capital charge is calculated and deducted from NOPAT, the full extent of EVA' s benefits can be observed, because all opportunity costs involved in the production of income have been measured and included in profitability. An example of the WACC is shown in Exhibit 1. EVA-Based Compensation Plans For firms that reward managers based on performance, EVA can offer advantages over traditional profit-based plans. First, by tying compensation to a better performance metric, the company can achieve a better matching of its own objectives with those of the manager. Second, EVA can help reduce some conflicts of interest often associated with managers and profitability measurement. Because an objective of EVA is to eliminate the impact of accounting distortions on profitability and the influence of management in its calculation, EVA is a better representation upon which to reward executives. It should be noted that EVA measurement is not without subjective elements. It may be necessary to involve an independent committee to determine the appropriateness of specific EVA adjustments and how to best handle unusual situations. Stern Stewart also recommends that EVA-based bonus systems involve some form of deferral of pay with the full amount of EVA bonuses dependent on long-term success. This feature of paying only a portion of the current amount and banking the remainder for the future is an important component of the system and is designed to enhance long-term loyalty to the firm. Bonuses should also be uncapped and include stock options, thereby turning managers into owners. The ability of the system to lower bonuses based on subsequent performance is one feature that makes EVA systems fair to both the company and its managers. Thus, EVA and its inclusion in compensation, rewards long-term success and helps the company promote this aspect of corporate performance. The overall success of the plan is dependent on several important factors including the ability of all employees to understand and agree with its goals. To reach this objective, it is necessary to provide focused training of EVA to all employees in the company. In that way, everyone better understands the philosophy and their role in the system. While this training may take considerable time and effort, it is usually rewarded by sustained improvements in EVA. EVA Drivers Another advantage of EVA systems is the emphasis on EVA drivers and the contribution of certain activities to EVA. When implementing EVA, firms seek to determine those areas of the business most responsible for success. By isolating activities, such as inventory management or capacity utilization, firms can judge the value of these on projects, divisions, etc. Thus management can focus on ways to increase economic value, rather than on reported numbers alone. By including capital contributions which do not require a stock price, firms are also able to use EVA in evaluating the performance of individual units or divisions of the firm as well as the managers who run those businesses. EVA helps focus on improving operating profits without tying up more capital in the business, curtailing or liquidating investments that do not meet capital costs, and/or reducing the cost of capital. Management actions such as cost reductions, improvements in technology, reduced working capital, or the optimal use of debt, represent the types of benefits resulting from EVA analysis and implementation. Share Price and EVA A controversy that surrounds EVA is whether it correlates well with a firm's stock prices as claimed by Stern Stewart. While many believe that it does, the results of several studies are mixed.3 Nevertheless, many seem convinced of the overall benefit of EVA. Therefore, firms contemplating the adoption of EVA, or any performance-based measure used for decision making and compensation, should examine their own individual characteristics, the underlying theory of the measure sought, and the likelihood that the measure selected will capture the attributes it seeks. For advocates of EVA, the underlying theory of finance embedded in its calculation is one of its strengths. This can more easily be seen when one considers that the present value of EVA parallels that of using net present value, and for capital projects, would be expected to yield a similar result. Source: Larry M.Prober,2000 “EVA: A better financial reporting tool”. Pennsylvania CPA Journal, vol.71, lessue 3,p27.译文：EVA：一个较好的财务绩效评价方法经济增加值（EVA）作为财务绩效评价的一种方法，目前正被很多美国公司所应用。这种由思腾思特公司所发明的新的指标体系，是基于包括所有类型的资本成本在内的真正的经济收入的一种利润衡量方法。比起传统的绩效评价方法，EVA提供了更为全面的评价办法，因为EVA表明公司是怎样运用其大数额的营运资本的。本文总结了EVA衡量盈利能力的概念，EVA的计算，以及采用EVA的优势。EVA的盈利性EVA认为，一个成功的企业至少应该获得等于其所耗费的资本成本的收益。该公司应赚得比股东融资成本效益和增加股东价值更高的回报。EVA可以表示为下列公式：EVA=税后净营业利润（NOPAT） 资本成本税后净营业利润是根据折旧后的净营业收入，将利润调整为更接近经济性的盈利衡量方式。调整项目为：税后增加的利息费用（包括任何经营租赁隐含的利息支出），增加的净资本化的研发费用，后进先出储备的增加，以及商誉和摊销。对这些项目的营业收益做出调整，反应了企业所做的投资和为实现这些利润所进行的资本的投资。思腾思特确定了多达164个需要调整的项目，但通常只有几个的项目的调整对于EVA的计算来说是必要的。EVA的计量EVA可以从经营或融资两个角度进行计算。在经营方式下，税后净营业利润是从销售现金收入扣除经营费用和折旧而得。利息费用是排除在外的，这是因为把它当做融资费用来考虑。那些被当做股权进行调整的项目，是用来反应现实经济和动态的收入，以及更具经济性的资本。这些调整被认为是税后净营业利润扣除了现金税的结果。计算EVA时，都需要从税后净营业利润中扣除企业的资本成本。无论在融资方式下还是经营方式下，计算EVA都需要运用到资本，只是计算上有差异而已。从经营角度说，从资产出发，建立了投资资金，包括经济性的派生权益等项目的调整；另一方面，从融资角度说，从负债出发，同时加上了股权和等值股权，从而形成了投资资本。最后，建立在负债、股权成本和各自的资本成本率的加权平均资本成本，就被用来计算企业的资本成本。由资本成本和税后净营业利润相减得出当期的EVA。本文的其余部分总结了融资的方法，因为它强调的是运用资本的重要性，并说明如何会计规则的影响EVA的计算。第33页的图表显示了一对EVA的样本计算。EVA的计算和调整如上所述，EVA是通过税后净营业利润减去企业的资本成本而得的。税后净营业利润可以表述为税后净收益加回利息支出，因为存款利息被认为是EVA的资本要求。在税后负债成本的计算中，利息费用还包括资本支出。其他项目，是否需要调整则取决于公司的具体活动。例如，当经营租赁而不是融资租赁时，利息费用是不计入损益，也不计入当期的资产负债表。因此，根据公认会计准则（GAAP），利息被作为融资活动中产生的费用，与企业每年的租赁费用并没有区分开来，而是隐含在其中。在EVA方法下，利息的支付部分是被估计计算的，税后又加回到税后净营业利润，因为利息被认为是一项资本支出而不是经营支出。其相应的未来租赁付款额的现值代表了等值的公司所投入的资本的股票的价值，同时，对于资本的调整也是必须的。对于研发费用的项目也要求认真评估并进行必要的调整。虽然一般公认会计准则要求大多数的研发费用需要立即支销，但在EVA方法下，通常将研发费用资本化，在研发期间的费用进行摊销将有利于研发工作的成功。计算EVA时需要调整的另一个例子是后进先出设备的增加，这种增加将加回至利润，因为，这是从后进先出到先进先出估值的转换，是一个很好的近似的实现重置成本的过程。后进先出法下的设备代表了过去持有收益的增加，因此添加回到权益部分，以反映该公司投资于股票尚未反映在会计准则中存货的资本。思腾思特建议，另一个需要调整的项目是商誉摊销。每年的摊销都加回到收入中，而累积摊销总额则被加回至等值的股东权益上。商誉摊销运用这种方式其实是通过“非摊