Bryce Corporation is preparing the comparative financial statements for the annual report to its shareholders for the fiscal years ended May 31, 2017 and May 31, 2018. The income from operations was $1.8 million and $2.5 million, respectively, for each year. In both years, the company incurred a 10% interest expense on $2.4 million of debt for an obligation that requires interest-only payments for five years. The company experienced a loss of $600,000 from the discontinued operation of its Scotland facility in February 2018. The company uses a 30% effective tax rate for income tax.
The capital structure of Bryce Corporation on June 1, 2016 consisted of 1 million common shares outstanding and 20,000 of $50, par value, 6% cumulative preferred shares. There were no preferred dividends in arrears, and the com- pany had not issued any convertible securities, options, or warrants.
On October 1, 2016, Bryce sold an additional 500,000 common shares at $20 per share. Bryce distributed a 20% stock dividend on the common shares outstanding on January 1, 2017. On December 1, 2017, Bryce was able to sell an additional 800,000 common shares at $22 per share. These were the only common share transactions that occurred during the two fiscal years.
Instructions
(a) Identify whether the capital structure at Bryce Corporation is a simple or complex capital structure, and explain why.
(b) Determine the weighted average number of shares that Bryce Corporation would use in calculating earnings per share for the fiscal year ended:
1. May 31, 2017
2. May 31, 2018
(c) Prepare, in good form, a comparative income statement that begins with income from operations for Bryce Corporation for the fiscal years ended May 31, 2017 and May 31, 2018. Assume that Bryce Corporation discloses all applicable earnings per share data on the face of the income statement.