Page 1 of 5

Dublin Business School

Assessment Brief


Module Title: Financial Analysis
Module Code: B9AC036
Module Leader: Michael Kealy, Enda Murphy
Assessment Title: Analysis of Financial Statements
Assessment Number (if relevant): 1 of 2
Assessment Type: Formal Report to Board of Directors
Restrictions on Time/Length : 2,500 words (excl. Bibliography) +/- 10%
Individual/Group: Individual
Assessment Weighting: 50%
Issue Date: Week 1
Hand In Date: Week 8
Planned Feedback Date: 3 weeks from submission date
Mode of Submission: Moodle


















Page 2 of 5

Assessment Task
You are a senior executive in a publicly quoted company.
Your board of directors has asked you to review the performance of a competitor listed on the
FTSE 100 and provide them with a written report of your findings. It has been suggested to your
board that your company should buy 10% of your competitors share capital with a view to a
possible acquisition in the future.
1. Review its stated focus and goals as noted in its mission statement or in its Chairmans
statement.
2. Analyse and discuss its financial performance and financial position in that context. Your
analysis will be supported by appropriate and relevant ratio calculations and explanatory
comments.
3. Include your opinions on the usefulness or otherwise of the use of ratio analysis in making
such business decisions.
4. Conclude with your recommendations regarding the business decision under consideration
and highlight any further information that you consider that the board should obtain
before arriving at a final decision.
Footnote:
The constituents companies on the FTSE 100 may be obtained from many sources including::
http://shareprices.com/ftse100 and

http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/prices-and-markets/stocks/indices/constituents-
indices.html?index=UKX
Further Information
Your coursework is to be submitted via Moodle. Your latest submission date and time is 23.30 on
Wednesday 27
th
November 2013.

Do not choose a Financial Services company.

For illustration, companies chosen in the past have included Tesco; Vodafone; Cadbury; M & S;
Bunzl; Rolls Royce; Imperial Tobacco.

No two students in the class may select the same company.

You reserve your proposed company by nominating a company from your listing of the FTSE 100 at
the start of class to your lecturer. Where two students choose the same company, the first
reservation prevails

While there is no specific minimum word limit, the maximum accepted is 2,500 words (excluding
appendices, diagrams and graphs etc). Please note that you must present your work in Microsoft
word format and include your word count on your course work submission.

Marks are awarded (or deducted) for the standard of your content, focus and course work
presentation. The indicative marking scheme is below.

The marking of this course work represents 50% of the Financial Analysis module total.


Page 3 of 5



Further Clarifications:
1. A professional written presentation is the expected standard for your report.
2. Annual reports are obtained directly from the companys website.
3. All sources of data e.g. numerical data or external sources must be quoted and/or referenced in
your report and/or in your bibliography or appendices.
4. Penalties apply for the late submission of any of the required data.


Assessment criteria
Component Max. Mark
%

Introduction Introduction to your chosen company and identification
of its focus and goals


10

Subject Knowledge
Ratio analysis of financial statements covering:
a) Profitability
b) Solvency
c) Activity
d) Capital Structure
e) Stock Market Measures



7
7
7
7
7
Critical Appraisal
Discussion of the results of your ratio analysis covering:
a) Profitability
b) Solvency
c) Activity
d) Capital Structure
e) Stock Market Measures



7
7
7
7
7
Usefulness of Ratio Analysis
The use of ratio analysis in making such a business decision



10
Concluding comments
Summary of issues together with your conclusions supported by
evidence in the answer



10
Total marks


100%




Page 4 of 5



General Requirements for Students:

1. A proportion of assessment marks is allocated to presentation. All assignments must be word-processed, with
word count noted unless otherwise stated by the lecturer.

2. Where a hardcopy submission is required, an Assignment Submission Form must be securely attached to each
submission.

3. All assignments must be submitted no later than the stated deadline.

o Assignments submitted after the latest deadline (date and time) specified, including any extension, are
deemed to be late and are penalised, as follows:
Where the assignment is submitted not more than seven working days after the latest
specified date, the mark awarded to the assignment is reduced by 25%.
Where the assignment is submitted more than seven working days after the latest specified
date, it is awarded a mark of zero
Where the assessment is undertaken in a group, the piece of work should be submitted in its
complete entirety, and any penalty for late submission incurred applies to all group members.

4. All relevant provisions of the Assessment Regulations must be complied with.

5. Extensions to assignment submission deadlines will be not be granted, other than in exceptional circumstances.
To apply for an extension please go to http://www.dbs-students.com/Registrar/ and download the Assignment
Extension Request Form. Once completed this form should then be returned to your Programme Leader, for
approval.

6. Students are required to retain a copy of each assignment submitted, and the submission receipt (If a physical
submission is required) until the issuing of a transcript indicating the mark awarded.

7. Assignments must be appropriately packaged and presented.

8. Where a submission involves digital media, it is the submitting students responsibility to ensure the media is
appropriately labelled, fully working and they must retain a copy.

9. Assignments that breach the word count requirements will be penalised. There is a 10% discretion, either way,
applicable in terms of word count.

10. Students are required to refer to the assessment regulations in their Student Guides and on the Student
Website.
11. Dublin Business School penalises students who engage in academic impropriety (i.e. plagiarism, collusion and/or
copying).
12. To prevent plagiarism please follow this link to the Harvard Style Referencing Guide - all referencing is required
in this format.
http://issuu.com/dbslibrary/docs/harvard-referencing-guide/1?mode=a_p
(Guide on referencing is also available under DBS library guides at www.library.dbs.ie)



Page 5 of 5



13. In relation to electronic submissions:

A. All assignments should be submitted to your subject/course page on Moodle by the deadline date.
B. It is the students responsibility to ensure their file is uploaded correctly.
C. When an assignment is submitted, it is the students responsibility to ensure that the file is in the correct
format and opens correctly.
D. When you submit your assignment you will be asked to click on a button which will declare the following:


By submitting this assignment I confirm that I am aware of DBSs policy regarding cheating, plagiarism and all other forms
of academic impropriety. The coursework submitted is my own or my groups work, and all other sources consulted
have been appropriately acknowledged. I am aware that in the case of doubt an investigation will be held.

E. Include an electronic cover sheet with the following details to the front of the assignment:

Electronic Assignment Cover sheet
Please fill out and attach as the first page of Assignment.
Student (s) Number as per your student card:
____________________________ __________________________
____________________________ __________________________
_____________________________ __________________________

Course Title:

Lecturer Name:

Module/Subject Title:

Assignment Title:

No of Words:

Note: Technical support is available to student between 0930- 1700 hrs only. There is no technical support
after 1700 hrs. It is your responsibility to ensure that you allow time to troubleshoot any technical
difficulties by uploading early on the due date.