analysing and interpreting financial data of real life companies operating in the UK

The purpose of the coursework is to test your research skills and an ability to select appropriate financial and non-financial data and apply this to analyse and interpret financial reports of a real life company.

Students are required to conduct a financial ratio analysis (for at least the past two years) and write a report using the latest Annual Report to assess the performance of a major UK company of their choice from the FTSE250 Index companies and give advice to an investor based on their findings. The required length of your written assignment is 1000 words max (excluding the title page, reference list and appendices).

Relevant extracts from the annual report should be submitted with your written assignment such as chairman’s statement, management report, income statement, statement of financial position and statement of cash flow statement with notes to the accounts where appropriate.

Read the company’s latest Annual Report (2016 or 2017 accounts if available). Consider the following questions when writing a report which should analyse the financial reports and providing recommendations for the investor regarding what his or her best course of action would be with respect to that company’s shares. The investor may already hold the shares or may be considering buying shares in the company.

REQUIRED

1. Evaluate the business performance position based on the ratios you have identified as being relevant or significant.You need to calculate a comprehensive set of ratios for at least two years for your given company (anything less than 20 sets of ratios is not enough). You should take the current state of global financial situation and economy into account in your discussion. (The calculations of your ratios should be in a separate table which MUST be submitted with your written assignment, including formulas!).

                           (20 marks for ratios calculation)

(50 marks for analysis and discussion)

2. Aerts and Walton (2017) argue that ratio analysis provides a useful tool for evaluating organisational performance. Drawing from the relevant literature, critically evaluate the above statement.

  (20 marks)

3. The report should be written clearly, presented neatly and effectively and have appropriate subsections (i.e. executive summary, main body, conclusion, references, appendices, etc.).