Assignment rules and guidelines
1. This is a group assignment. Each group comprises of 4-5 students.
2. No student should submit an individual piece of coursework. Anyone who does will
automatically fail this module.
3. Each group is required to submit one report. Only ONE member of your group is
required to submit on behalf of the whole group.
4. As this is a group coursework, each member of the group is expected to make an
equal contribution to the work. Groups are strongly recommended to keep a record of all activities relating to the coursework, including roles and duties of each group member, their contributions to the coursework etc.
5. Therefore, each group must submit a signed copy of the Statement of Contribution and participation with their coursework submission (available at the end of this document).
6. If any group member is found not to have actively participated in or contributed to the group coursework, s/he may be given a fail grade or, at the discretion of the Module Leader, be required to submit a separate piece of individual coursework on the same due date.
7. The word count is between 2000 – 4000 words. There will be a penalty of a deduction of 10% of the mark (after internal moderation) for work exceeding 4000 words. The word limit includes quotations, but excludes the references.
PLAGIARISM
As part of your study, you will be involved in carrying out research and using this when writing up your coursework. It is important that you correctly acknowledge someone else’s writing, thoughts or ideas and that you do not attempt to pass this off as your own work. Doing so is known as plagiarism.
It is not acceptable to copy from another source without acknowledging that it is someone else’s writing or thinking. This includes using paraphrasing as well as direct quotations. You are expected to correctly cite and reference the works of others.
Turnitin includes a plagiarism detection system and assessors are experienced enough to recognise plagiarism when it occurs. Copying another student’s work, using previous work of your own or copying large sections from a book or the internet are examples of plagiarism and carry serious consequences.
Please familiarize yourself with the APA Referencing style and use it correctly to avoid a case of plagiarism or cheating being brought. Again, if you are unsure, please contact a member of the course team.
SECTIONS
This assessment has 2 sections. Answer both sections.
Section 1 (70 marks)
You are a financial analyst working at a stock brokerage and have been approached
by a client to assess two investment opportunities on his behalf.
You are provided with the financial statements for both companies for two consecutive recent years.
Required:
1. Abriefexecutivesummary:
a. highlighting the core operations of both companies
b. giving a brief for the overall industry performance in Egypt in the last 3
years.
2. A detailed and critical evaluation and interpretation of both companies’ recent financial performance, summarizing your findings on their performance for both years in light of wider industry and economic factors based on:
a. your computation of a range of different financial ratios for both companies for both years.
b. any other credible sources at your disposal.
3. Basedonyouranalysis,
a. explain which company performed better during the two-year period
b. recommend and explain which company would make a suitable
investment option to your client.
c. discuss limitations of your analysis, including the ratio analysis
562017
Apr 17, 8:25 PM
Assessment criteria:
Criteria
Marks
Brief background/introduction of both companies 10 Clear calculation and written interpretation of the ratios that demonstrate a 40 thorough understanding of financial statements and the ratios calculated
Clear and reasonable recommendations and conclusions, including 15 acknowledgement of limitations and challenges.
Professional presentation (including use of correct referencing) 5
Total marks 70
3
Section 2
A company is trying to decide which of two new product lines to introduce in the coming year. The predicted revenue and cost data for each product line follows:
The company has a 30% tax rate, it uses the straight-line depreciation method, and it predicts that cash flows will be spread evenly throughout each year. Calculate each product’s payback period. If the company requires a payback period of three years or less, which, if either, product should be chosen? (30 marks)
Product A
Product B
Sales
$80,000
$96,000
Direct materials
3,000
6,000
Direct labor
30,000
45,000
Other cash operating expenses
7,500
9,000
New equipment costs
75,000
100,000
Estimated useful life (no salvage)
5 years
5 years
4
