Revenues have also increased each year since 2008, as has net income, return on equity, return on assets, operating margins, and net margins.

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They remain too bearish regarding the return on equity for the big players as regulators elongate dates for compliance on net tangible assets per share, liquidity percentages and other restrictive yardsticks.

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Also on the plus side were a more than doubling of net current assets, to 769 million pounds and a debt-to-equity ratio that actually improved to 0.7 from 1.1 the previous year.

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