Assessment Brief – T2 2018
Course Bachelor of Business / Bachelor of Accounting
Unit Financial Management
Unit Code FINM202
Type of Assessment Assessment 3 – Group Report (2-4 students in a group)
Length • Not applicable for part A
• 1,000 words for part B
Course Learning
Outcomes addressed Course Learning Outcomes 1,2,3,4,5,6,7
Unit Learning
Outcomes addressed 1. To demonstrate knowledge of broad business principles with depth of understanding of at least one business discipline.
2. To develop effective oral and written communication skills.
3. To develop the skills to demonstrate a broad understanding of business principles and demonstrate depth in at least one discipline.
5. To develop and apply skills in critical thinking, complex problem solving and decision making.
Submission Date Week 9 (online submission)
Assessment purpose The assignment is designed to enhance students’ skills in analysing and interpreting financial statements and other market-related financial information as well as facilitating students’ discussion of corporate governance in the finance sector.
Total Mark 40 marks
Weighting 20%
Students are advised that any submissions past the due date without an approved extension or without approved extenuating circumstances incurs a 5% penalty per calendar day, calculated from the total mark
E.g. a task marked out of 40 will incur a 2 mark penalty per calendar day.
More information, please refer to (Documents Student Policies and Forms POLICY –
Assessment Policy & Procedures – Login Required)
ASSESSMENT DESCRIPTION:
Students are required to work in a group of 2 – 4 students in order to complete this assignment. Students must register for their group with the lecturer during the first three weeks of the trimester and it will NOT be allowed to change the group members afterward.
The assignment consists of 2 parts.
The assignment marking guide is provided on the last page.
Part A: Interpreting Financial Information (20 marks)
A financial analyst has gathered the following information about ABC Retail Company for the years 2016-2018.
ABC Retail Company Pty Ltd
Comparative Financial Information
30th June ($'000)
2016 2017 2018
Balance Sheet Information
Current Assets
Cash
342
344
281
Accounts Receivable 4346 4892 5239
Inventory 6483 7196 8013
Non-current Assets
Property Plant & Equipment
16546
16546
18746
Accumulated Depreciation 8273 11582 14983
Current Liabilities
Bank Overdraft
14
0
65
Accounts Payable 6224 4167 3982
Non-current Liabilities
Loan
10750
10750
10750
Shareholders Equity
Paid in Capital
2000
2000
2000
Retained Earnings 456 479 499
Total Shareholders Equity
2456 2479 2499
Other Financial Information
Sales
38222
39258
40592
Earnings Before Interest and Tax 1208 1281 1305
Interest Expense 1077 1215 1247
Tax Expense 39 20 17
Dividends Paid
46 23 20
Earnings Per Share
0.046
0.023 0.020
P/E ratio 11.16 8.39 7.66
Other Income 0 0 0
1. Use the above information to answer the following questions:
a) At what price did ABC’s shares trade on the 30th June 2018?
b) What was the market capitalisation of the company at this date?
c) Compare ABC’s most recent Price/Earnings (P/E) ratio to the industry average and provide an explanation for any difference observed (remember to cite the source of your information).
2. Analyse the company’s current and quick ratios.
3. Evaluate the company’s working capital management over the three-year period. Use ratio analysis to support your conclusions.
4. Use ratio analysis to identify and explain the trend in the company’s profitability.
5. If you were a bank considering lending to ABC, what ratio(s) would give the best indication of the company’s solvency? Explain why you would or would not lend to ABC.
Part B: Business Report (20 marks) – 1,000 words
Your employer is an Australian financial corporation. You have been asked to write a business report on the role of ethics in corporate governance. Your report should be supported by appropriate academic research and must include an analysis of recent news regarding AMP and its relationship with the corporate regulator.
Assessment Criteria:
• Demonstrated knowledge of the agency problem and shareholder wealth maximization.
• Application of relevant financial theory to real world examples
• Logical inferences drawn from information presented and appropriate justification of stance taken.
• Overall presentation of the argument is relevant and appropriate.
ASSESSMENT SUBMISSION:
This assessment is a group activity and students are required to work with their respective groups. No individual submission will be accepted.
You will not receive any marks for this assignment if your group members collectively report against you for non-participation or non-cooperation. You have to nominate someone as your group leader to coordinate the assignment submission.
The assignment must be submitted online in Moodle and Turnitin. Only submit one copy of your assignment but include all group member names on the cover sheet. All materials MUST be submitted electronically in Microsoft Word format. Other formats may not be readable by markers. Please be aware that any assessments submitted in other formats will be considered LATE and will lose marks until it is presented in MS Word. No paper based or hardcopy submission will be accepted.
Our Academic Learning Support (ALS) team would be happy to help you with understanding the task and all other assessment-related matters. For assistance and to book one-on-one meeting please email one of our ALS coordinators (Sydney ALS_SYD@kent.edu.au; Melbourne ALS_MELB@kent.edu.au ). For online help and support please click the following link and navigate
Academic Learning Support in Moodle. http://online.kent.edu.au/cms/course/view.php?id=437
GENERAL NOTES FOR ASSIGNMENTS
Assignments should usually incorporate a formal introduction, main points and conclusion, and will be fully referenced including a reference list.
The work must be fully referenced with in-text citations and a reference list at the end. We strongly recommend you to refer to the Academic Learning Skills materials available in the Moodle. For details please click the link http://online.kent.edu.au/cms/course/view.php?id=437 and download the file “Harvard Referencing Workbook”. Appropriate academic writing and referencing are inevitable academic skills that you must develop and demonstrate.
We recommend a minimum of THREE references, unless instructed differently by your lecturer. Unless specifically instructed otherwise by your lecturer, any paper with less than FIVE references may be failed. Work that includes sources that are not properly referenced according to the “Harvard Referencing Workbook” will be penalised.
Marks will be deducted for failure to adhere to the word count – as a general rule you may go over or under by 10% than the stated length.
GENERAL NOTES FOR REFERENCING
High quality work must be fully referenced with in-text citations and a reference list at the end. We recommend you work with your Academic Learning Skills site
(http://online.kent.edu.au/cms/course/view.php?id=437) available in Moodle to ensure that you reference correctly.
References are assessed for their quality. You should draw on quality academic sources, such as books, chapters from edited books, journals etc. Your textbook can be used as a reference, but not the lecturer notes. We want to see evidence that you are capable of conducting your own research. Also, in order to help markers determine students’ understanding of the work they cite, all in-text
references (not just direct quotes) must include the specific page number/s if shown in the original. Before preparing your assignment or own contribution, please review this YouTube video by clicking on the following link:
Plagiarism: How to avoid it
You can search for peer-reviewed journal articles, which you can find in the online journal databases and which can be accessed from the library homepage. Wikipedia, online dictionaries and online encyclopedias are acceptable as a starting point to gain knowledge about a topic, but should not be overused – these should constitute no more than 10% of your total list of references/sources. Additional information and literature can be used where these are produced by legitimate sources, such as government departments, research institutes such as the NHMRC, or international organisations such as the World Health Organisation (WHO). Legitimate organisations and government departments produce peer reviewed reports and articles and are therefore very useful and mostly very current. The content of the following link explains why it is not acceptable to use nonpeer reviewed websites: Why can't I just Google? (thanks to La Trobe University for this video).
Kent Institute Australia Pty. Ltd.
Assessment Brief ABN 49 003 577 302 CRICOS Code: 00161E RTO Code: 90458
Version 1: 22nd December, 2016 TEQSA Provider Number: PRV12051
THE ASSIGNMENT MARKING GUIDE:
Part Expectation of Content Max Marks
A 1. 4 marks 2. 4 marks 3. 4 marks 4. 4 marks
5. 4 marks
20
B • Content of the report (demonstrated knowledge of the topic): 15 marks
• Presentation: Proper report format is used and an assignment cover page is also presented: 2 marks
• Referencing: Harvard referencing is strictly followed. A minimum of 3 different academic reference sources were used. Students are advised to use EBSCO Research. (Remember that Wikipedia, Investopedia and other similar websites are not academic sources and must not be used.): 3 marks
• Word limit: The word limit is 1,000 for the essay. The acceptable range for the essay’s word count is based on +/-
10%. Possible mark deduction if failing to comply with the requirement. 20
Plagiarism and
Collusion Approved Overall Similarity Index is Less Than 30%, otherwise the assignment is considered “Not Be Submitted”.
• Plagiarism: Plagiarism is used as a general term to describe taking and using another’s thoughts and writings as one’s own. Plagiarism can occur not only in essays and dissertations, but also in scientific experimentation, diagrams, maps, fieldwork, computer programmes, and all other forms of study where you are expected to work independently and produce original material.
• Collusion: Collusion is the active cooperation of two or more students/groups to deceive examiners. You will be guilty of collusion if you knowingly allow any of your academic work to be acquired by another person/group for presentation as if it were that person/group’s own work. If you offer to provide work to another student/group to be passed off as their own or if you arrange for another student or third party to complete work on your behalf, you are guilty of collusion.
Total 40