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Whether you're walking a tightrope or scribbling in your checkbook, balance is a good thing. And, one of the best ways to evaluate a company is to glance at its balance sheet to see what it owns with what it owes.
The balance sheet is a paragon of simplicity and is made up of three components: assets (the stuff it owns), liabilities (the money it owes), and shareholders' equity (the company's value to its shareholders).
Assets take two forms: short-term (or current) assets and long-term assets. Under short-term, there¿s good ol' hard cash. Then, there¿s something called "cash equivalents," which are assets like short-term bonds that can be sold so quickly, they might as well be cash. There you factor in inventory, which (if you're a reasonably competent business owner) you can sell to customers in return for--you guessed it--cash. (The raw materials a company owns to make that inventory also falls under this category.)
Long-term assets are things that are harder to convert into cash. (Think real estate and equipment.) Long-term assets depreciate, meaning they lose some value over time. Also under the long-term category are what's called intangible assets: things like patents and brands, that are important, but hard to quantify. Accountants earn their stripes figuring out the real overall value of these assets.
Once you know your assets, it's time for liabilities. As with assets, liabilities are separated into short-term or current, and long-term. Current liabilities are what a company owes in that year: Things like payments to employees or accounts payable to suppliers. Long-term liabilities are debts paid over several years.
Shareholders' equity is determined by subtracting the liabilities from the assets. That number represents the value of the company after all its bills are paid.
Obviously, investors should pay close attention to balance sheets. Spikes in the amount of debt carried, or a reduction in shareholders' equity, are usually red flags.
Home / Markets / Industries / Telecom
Friday, May 16, 2008
Cisco Increases Donation to $1 Million for China Earthquake Relief
Comtex
SAN JOSE, CA, May 16, 2008 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) ----Cisco(R) (NASDAQ: CSCO), the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate, today announced that it has increased its initial donation from $250,000 to $1 million for the victims of the earthquake in China's Sichuan province on May 12, 2008.
In addition to the company donation, the Cisco Foundation will also match employee contributions up to $1,000,000 and the TOSA Foundation, headed by Cisco chairman emeritus, John Morgridge, and his wife, Tashia, will match employee donations up to $250,000. To date, Cisco employees have donated $136,678.00. All donations will go to the American Red Cross for transfer to the Red Cross Society of China.
The donation will be focused on the immediate relief efforts to assist local victims of the disaster. In addition to working closely with the Red Cross Society of China, Cisco is also in discussion with non-governmental agencies, including NetHope, to provide relief and is willing to offer governmental assistance for mobile emergency communications capabilities.
"On behalf of the entire Cisco family, I would like to offer my deepest sympathies to the people of the Sichuan province," said John Chambers, Chairman and CEO, Cisco. "One of Cisco's core values is giving back and to that end, we believe it our responsibility to assist local and global communities. We hope our donation will help accelerate the process of helping those impacted by this terrible natural disaster."
Cisco first established operations in China in 1994 and now employs more than 3,000 staff in sales, customer support and service, research and development, business process outsourcing, IT outsourcing, Cisco Capital(TM) programs, and manufacturing. The company has 12 offices in China, a major R&D facility in Shanghai, Scientific Atlanta R&D and manufacturing facilities and several development centers supporting WebEx, which Cisco acquired in March 2007.
Cisco's offices in China are fully operational. The company did not sustain any physical losses to its office in Chengdu and all employees are accounted for.
In addition to its contribution to China, the Cisco Foundation has donated $100,000 to CARE to support the cyclone relief efforts in Myanmar. The TOSA Foundation will match employee contributions up to $250,000 through CARE for assistance in Myanmar.
About the Cisco Systems Foundation
The Cisco Systems Foundation was established in 1997 by a gift from Cisco Systems, Inc. As Corporate Philanthropy's primary cash investment vehicle, the Foundation provides grants to select organizations with long-lasting, local or global impact. More information on the Cisco Systems Foundation is available at www.cisco.com/go/foundation.
About Cisco
Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, visit http://newsroom.cisco.com.
For direct RSS Feeds of all Cisco news, please visit "News@Cisco" at the following link:
http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/rss.html
Press Contact: Heather Dickinson Cisco 212-714-4350 hdickins@cisco.com Investor Relations Contact: Laura Graves Cisco 408-526-6521 lagraves@cisco.com
SOURCE: Cisco Systems, Inc.
mailto:hdickins@cisco.com mailto:lagraves@cisco.com
Copyright 2008 Market Wire, All rights reserved.
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