Nachman Inc. has the following balance sheet:
Cash $18,750
Receivables $ 106,250
Inventories $ 325,000
Net Fixed Assets $ 300,000
Total Assets $ 750,000
Accounts Payable $ 62,500
Other Current Liabilities $ 56,250
Long-Term Debt $ 193,750
Common Equity $ 437,500
Total Liabilities & Equity $750,000
Last year the firm had $40,000 of net income on $600,000 of sales. However, the new CFO thinks that inventories are excessive and could be lowered sufficiently to cause the current ratio to equal the industry average, 2.5, without affecting either sales or net income. Assume inventories are sold off and not replaced to get the current ratio to 2.5, and the funds generated are used to buy back common stock at book value without changing anything else. What is the ROE after these changes are made?
a. 9.14%
b. 11.60%
c. 14.07%
d. 15.33%
e. 16.25%