Bell Cash Flow

Most will find that Bell generates a heavy cash flow thats equipped to withstand the changes of the telecommunication industry. For 2015, Bell had net income of $15.0T. Their average net income over the past four years was $19.5T with the largest year being 2013.

The majority of Bells Operating Activities consists of Depreciation and Amortization. The total for 2015 was $28.2T and the average from 2012 to 2015 was $26.7T. This made up 58.0% of total operating activities. Additionally, Amortization of Film and Television Costs also made up a large portion of the operating activities for Bell. In 2015, $9.6T was attributed to this. Amortization of Film and Television Costs made up 20.0% of operating activities. Depreciation and Amortization and Amortization of Film and Television Costs made up approximately 78% of total operating activities.

Investing activities bottom line was $(17.0T) with the majority of investing activities consisting of Purchase of Property and Equipment. The 2015 total for Purchase of Property and Equipment was $(19.4T) and averaged $(20.6T) from 2012 to 2015. This was offset by the disposition of assets which totalled $4.7T for 2015 and was the largest year of dispositions. An extraordinary item occurred in 2014 with an acquisition totalling $(43.3T). In 2014, investing activities ended the year at $(63.1T) and the acquisition was the key player.

Lastly, Financing activities were $(25.1T) for 2015. In 2013, the issuance of long term-debt far exceeded the repayment of the debt. This caused a positive cash flow in Financing activities for the 2013 fiscal year of $25.9T. The other three years under observance contained the opposite. Repayment of long term debt exceeded the issuance of the long term debt. For the 2015 fiscal year, issuance of long-term debt totaled $17.0T. Repayment of long-term debt was $27.6T for 2015. Dividends paid were also an important contributor to the overall financing cash flow. Dividends paid for the 2015 fiscal year were $14.9T and averaged $13.3T over the four year period.

The bottom line for cash flows for Bell was $12.3T in 2015. The largest out of the 4 years was 2013 at $50.9T. This was primarily due to the large difference in the repayment versus the issuance of long term debts discussed in the financing cash flows. In 2014, the large decline in cash flows can be attributed to the acquisition that took place. Cash flows then nearly doubled over 2014 in the 2015 fiscal year.

Read the Cash Flow section of the sample paper and respond to the following three prompts.

1. What are some of the strengths of this section?

2. What are some of the weaknesses of this section?

3. What recommendations for improvement would you share with its author?