Sample Solution

Accounting

Prepare an analytical review of the financial performance, position and reporting of a company, listed on an internationally recognized stock exchange and using the most recent published financial statements
You have been appointed to the financial team of a substantial company. You have been asked by the board to prepare an analytical review of the financial performance, position and reporting of a company, listed on an internationally recognized stock exchange and using the most recent published financial statements (annual rather than half-year or other interim statements) and other information available, either in the public domain or from within the company. You MAY choose the standpoint from which this report is made (competitor, investor, potential acquirer, supplier, customer, landlord or lessee) and, if you do so, should identify this in the introduction to the report. This is in order to give the report some ‘focus’ and does NOT mean that you should limit your analysis purely to factors specifically of interest to the type of organization you represent. You may NOT choose Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc – the company used as an illustration in the course material. You should NOT choose a private company or a subsidiary company or division of a larger group, since these entities are not subject to the ‘open market’ disciplines of a publicly listed company and this may give rise to business practices, transactions and accounting, which, while perfectly legal, are nevertheless ‘abnormal’. You should also NOT choose banks, insurance companies or other financial services businesses, they are almost always subject to different, enhanced, forms of regulation, which may often result in specialized forms of reporting and disclosure, which, in turn, may add additional problems for analysis. You will have to obtain copies of the published financial statements; this process is itself a significant exercise in investigating sources of financial information. If you are studying this module while based outside the UK, you may make your company selection from any internationally recognized stock exchange.