Assignment Task
Section 1
Assess the financial performance and position of the company over the period covered by the report. This should be assessed from the following perspectives:
- Profitability & Growth;
- Liquidity;
- Gearing; and
As part of this section, your answer should provide a clear outline of any assumptions made when calculating the ratios. Where relevant, the group should also briefly outline if there are any other reasonable assumptions that could have been made for the same ratio calculation.
Section 2
The annual report is a valuable source of information for the stakeholders of a company. However, in recent years these documents have been growing significantly in length due to increased regulation and a demand for more reporting on sustainability.
From the perspective of a group of shareholders, critically assess the usefulness of the annual report provided. Your answer should refer to at least two other annual reports for comparison of what is done particularly well/poorly by your allocated company. Provide at least three suggested improvements with an associated rationale.
Section 3
Publicly listed companies publish a significant amount of accounting and other financial information on a regular basis. The publication of this information can result in share price reactions.
- Provide an overview of the financial information and reports published by your assigned company for at least the past twelve months. How often is such financial information released and in what format(s) does it appear?
- Include an analysis of how the market reacts to the information when it is released (e.g. was it a positive or negative reaction and why?). (Charts and diagrams may be useful for this).