Instructions
Individual coursework – financial accounting – application of interpretation techniques and critical analysis for the purpose of analysing the financial position of a company.
Weighting: 50 %
Word limit: 2,000 words (plus or minus 10%). A 5% penalty will be applied for breaches of this range.
Assesses Learning Outcomes: 1 and 2.
- Critically analyse financial data and interpret information, evaluating timeliness, relevance and validity;
- Critically evaluate the wider role of fundamental analysis within the context of corporate performance;
In this assignment you are being asked to analyse and evaluate the financial position of a company, using both financial and strategic tools.
Requirement:
Taking three years’ of the published accounts (i.e. income statement, statement of financial position (balance sheet) and cash flow statement) of a chosen company (which may either be the one you work for or a listed company):
- Provide an introduction to your company; for example, industry sector, size, competition: you should choose the salient information which you think presents the company to a potential investor who has not heard of the company before.
- Present an analysis of the current situation of the firm, including its industry. You can use any tools, such as SWOT analysis, PESTLE, Porter’s Five Forces or similar to help construct your analysis.
- Calculate at least two financial ratios from each of the following sections used in class:
- Profitability
- Efficiency
- Liquidity
- Investment
If you wish to calculate more than two ratios from a section, this should be to further illustrate a trend which you believe is of interest. Therefore any additional ratios will be given additional credit ONLY if you can demonstrate the relevance to your analysis.
You should show your workings in the appendices (not part of your word count) and use tables or graphs to present your data in the main body of your report.
- Discuss the financial performance, position and potential of the company within the context of its industry, environment and economy. It is critical that you analyse and discuss, not describe the financial performance. In other words, it is not sufficient to state that the profit has increased or decreased over the period, but you need to find out WHY it has (or suggest a sensible explanation as to why). You can read the management reports in the annual reports, analyst websites etc., for the background on this.
- You should conclude with a discussion of whether you would recommend that an investor invests in your chosen company and why.
There is no requirement to provide an executive summary.
All sources of information used must be reported according to the Harvard referencing system.
Evaluation criteria
This is a guideline for the relative weighting of elements of the assessment and below is the marking rubric used in this assignment:
| Criterion | Weighting |
| Introduction and initial analysis of company and industry | 25% |
| Calculation of appropriate ratios including workings | 15% |
| Financial evaluation of the company | 35% |
| Conclusion and recommendation | 15% |
| Format and presentation, including referencing | 10% |
