Comparing Two Companies in the Same Industry: General Mills and Kellogg’s Refer to the financial information for General Mills and Kellogg’s included at the back of the book.

Required
1. Compare the list of property, plant, and equipment for General Mills to the list on the Kellogg’s balance sheet. How are the lists similar? Note the differences between the lists and provide a logical reason for the differences.
2. What method is used by each company to depreciate the assets? Why do you think each company has chosen the method it uses?
3. What are the accumulated depreciation and book values of the property and equipment for each company? What does this information tell you about these competitors?
4. What is the estimated life of General Mills’s assets? How does this compare to the estimated life of Kellogg’s assets?
5. Refer to the Investing Activities portion of the cash flow statements of the two companies. Were any assets purchased or sold by either company during the year? This section of the statements does not tell whether there was a gain or loss on the sale of long-term assets. Where would you find that information?