Posted: March 6th, 2014
INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL REPORTING
AC5001–INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL REPORTING
ASSESSED COURSEWORK ASSIGNMENT
Year                                                                  2013 – 2014
Date for Submission                                         7 March 2014 (Week 21)
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ASSESSMENT INSTRUCTIONS
- Assessed coursework must represent the work of individual students and references to published works must be cited. Plagiarism constitutes an examination offence and if discovered will render a student(s) liable to the appropriate provisions of the University’s Examination Regulations.
- Assignments should either be typed, word-processed, or clearly hand-written in fair hand. A hand-written script will not suffer any penalty in grading, but it must be clear and easily legible. (Assignments should be submitted with writing on one side of sheet only).
COURSEWORK ASSIGNMENT
You are required to prepare a report which is a financial comparison of two companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. The report must take into account the viewpoints of all corporate stakeholders. Your two companies must be chosen from the following:
GlaxoSmithKline Plc                      Year ended 31 December 2012
Home Retail Group Plc                   52 weeks ended 2 March 2013
J Sainsbury Plc                               52 weeks ended 16 March 2013
Kingfisher Plc                                 Year ended 2 February 2013
Wm Morrison Supermarkets Plc     53 weeks ended 3 February 2013
Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc            Year ended 31 December 2012
No other company will be accepted. The annual reports selected should be for the year ends stated above and no other.
REQUIRED
The report should be structured with section headings, etc, and should be addressed to your supervisor (use your seminar tutor’s name). The report should contain the following:
(a)Â Â Â Â Introduction
The introduction should summarise the aims and objectives of your report together with any limitations in this type of financial comparison. It should also give a brief profile of each company, its markets and products and a brief commentary on its key operations and recent trading background.
15 marks
(b)Â Â Â Â Analysis
Use a selection of appropriate accounting ratios (you must choose the ratios) together with any other relevant data to evaluate the relative performance and financial status of the two companies. The comparison should be made from the viewpoints of the companies’ key stakeholders (management, investors and lenders). You may use ratios published within the annual reports plus ratios calculated yourself (the workings for which should be shown in an appendix). The comparison must be year on year for each company plus a comparison of both companies.
This part of the report must give evidence of your understanding of the interpretation of your chosen ratios and the data you are using. The chosen ratios should be kept to a manageable number – the emphasis should be on quality rather quantity.
50 marks
(c)Â Â Â Â Â Performance factors
Research and discuss any factors (financial and non-financial relevant to these two companies) that may have affected the companies’ performance during the periods under review, with reasons. This must take into account the performance of the different segments of the businesses as shown in the annual reports as well as all other relevant factors. These factors must be specific to your chosen companies. This information can be obtained from various commentaries within the annual reports, corporate websites, trade journals and financial press websites. You must show the source of the information that you use in this section.
25 marks
Overall Presentation (including report structure, grammar and spelling)Â Â Â 10 marks
TOTALÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 100 marks
COURSEWORK CRITERIA
Word limit 2000 words (excluding any information supplied in appendices).
The following criteria will be used in assessing your work:
.        Evidence that you can apply your knowledge of financial analytical tools to a specific company.
.        Demonstration of your understanding of the implications of the environment in which the company operates and its ability to perform well.
.        Evidence of your capability to search for and use source material. A reading list should be given. All sources used should be specifically cited as mentioned. Good use of citations enhances the credibility of your findings, as they demonstrate that you have carried out an adequate search for information and can substantiate your views.
Access to financial statements of companies
The electronic copies of the annual reports of the six companies from which you can select the two companies to be used in your report have been posted on web-learn. You may save the annual reports to disc and access them as required. It is not necessary to print off the entire report. You can print off the financial statements and only those sections which are relevant to your report.
Coursework hand-in deadline:Â Friday 7 March 2014 (end of Week 21)
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