read the assignment brief

1

Faculty of Business and Law

ACADEMIC YEAR 2018/19 ASSESSMENT BRIEF

Module Code: UMACTT-15-M

Module Title: ADVANCED CORPORATE REPORTING

Submission Deadline: 2.00p.m. (14:00) on 4 APRIL 2019

Assessment Component COURSEWORK

Assessment Weighting: 30 per cent of total module mark

Marking and feedback deadline (20 working days)

08 May 2019

Assessment Instructions

A. Objectives B.

This assignment seeks to assess your ability to:

 Critically evaluate and discuss the following financial reporting questions in the context of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs);

 Analyse and critically appraise published financial reports, including accounting policies, disclosures and strategies;

 Interpret and apply international financial reporting standards to various situations;

 Apply relevant knowledge, techniques and concepts systematically and creatively to situations and problems in the field.

 Create a range of valid alternative responses to situations and problems and evaluate and discriminate between them in a critical way;

 Communicate information, ideas, arguments, concepts, theories in financial reporting and develop an argument in a clearly and effectively organised report.

C. Context & Requirement D.

You are a financial analyst in a credit rating company and are required to write an analysis report on the basis of a company’s latest group accounts and annual report. The company that you analyse must be a prominent company and trading on the FTSE 1001 in the London Stock Exchange. The published financial statements of the selected company must be prepared in accordance with IFRSs. Your choice must be discussed and agreed with the module leader by 18 February 2019. The company that you analyse cannot be changed once your choice is agreed with the module leader. Your company choice is registered on a first-come first-served basis. You should address and evaluate the research questions set out below by applying appropriate knowledge, analytical techniques and concepts. The research questions are designed to be attempted within the context of the operations and annual report of a FTSE 100 group company. Please note that this is a research-based report. It is not acceptable to copy or cut and paste sections from the annual report, the internet or other documents. You should analyse and discuss the issues and include some qualitative and quantitative evidence to support your arguments and analysis. In addition, you need to compare and contrast your findings with industry practice and/or economic indicators, where necessary. Referring to the company’s latest year-end group financial statements and annual report, and making your comments based on IFRSs, are both essential. A brief summary of the scope of your investigation and its main findings should be provided with the understanding that you are writing for a busy lender whose time is limited.

1The London Stock Exchange FTSE 100

2

Research questions:

1. Briefly introduce the company, its investments in subsidiaries and associated companies, and its operations by providing information about the regulatory framework for the financial reporting of the company.

2. Analyse and discuss the accounting policies of the company by considering the following

questions: a) How is the company divided into cash generating units for the impairment test of non-

current assets in accordance with IAS 36? How does the management assess the cash flows for an impairment review? What indications of impairment are there at the statement of financial position date?2 What are the bases of recoverable amounts and its assumptions to estimate the value of the assets at the reporting date? Are the key assumptions used in impairment testing different from historical results and industry/economic forecasts? Has the company performed a sensitivity analysis in assessing recoverable amounts? Does the company impair goodwill? Why or why not? How does the impairment loss affect the company’s financial statements and potentially its capital structure? Does the company have historical impairment losses, suggesting tendency to delay? How are the company’s impairment policies different from what are disclosed by other companies operating in the same industry under IAS 36? Discuss.

b) What are the types of financial instruments reported in the statement of financial position? What are the main financial risks faced by the company? How does the company manage its financial risks? How do the financial risks affect the company’s financial position in the future? Does the company have any material sensitivity to changes in financial risks? Which measurement bases are used to recognise financial instruments on financial statements? What are the assumptions made by the company to estimate the value of financial instruments those do not have an active market? Are there any provisions for impairment of financial instruments? How are they measured? How do these policies/results affect the company’s financial position and performance? How are they different from the industry practice? Does the company use hedge accounting? How does it affect the financial position and performance of the company? What are the company’s hedging policies? How are they in line with the industry practice? What is the impact of adopting IFRS 9 on the company’s financial statements? Discuss.

c) What are the accounting policies of the company to recognise post-employment benefits

(i.e. defined benefit pension plans)? What are the principal assumptions made by the company to estimate its obligations for defined benefit pension plans? Are they realistic? What impacts do these assumptions have on the financial statements of the company? How does the company determine the discount rate on the plans? How realistic is it? Are these assumptions different from historical results and industry/economic forecasts? Does the company have any material sensitivity to changes in key assumptions? What is the current financial status of the plans? Are there any improvements? Why or why not? What are the effects of actual and forecasted parameters for defined benefit plans? What is the impact of pension contributions to the plans? How do they impact the current and future financial position and performance of the company? Discuss.

3. What would you think about the quality and usefulness of the company’s disclosure that you

have reviewed? Discuss it as a conclusion of your report. You need to refer to the qualitative characteristics of useful financial information described in the IASB’s Conceptual Framework in your discussion.

Your report should be clear, concise and predominately analytical rather than descriptive. It is not enough only to show negative or positive points or to give short answers to the identified questions

2 If the company did not disclose this information please give your own comments on the possible indications

based on the nature of the asset (CGU) and the operations of the company.

3

above. You need to analyse, discuss and critically evaluate the identified issues in your report and explain the rationale for your points, where necessary. Good critical discussion normally accounts for why something is good or poor, why it works or fails, why it is rational or irrational, why it is useful or useless. Your report should be structured as follows:

 Title page.

 Content pages showing headings and their pages.

 Glossary and list of abbreviations, if necessary.

 Main text, which is subdivided into relevant headings including introduction and conclusion.

 The list of references at the end of the coursework assignment, which should be in the correct style and in the alphabetical order. You are not required a bibliography of sources.

 Your report should be written in a professional business style.

Marking Criteria

The following criteria will be used in evaluating this assessment:

Assessment Criteria

Maximum

marks

Clear, well-structured report, with appropriate referencing and headings. 5%

Introduction: Briefly introduce the company and the regulatory framework for

financial reporting (approximately 100-150 words for introduction)

5%

Depth of analysis and synthesis of question 2 (a) 25%

Depth of analysis and synthesis of question 2 (b) 25%

Depth of analysis and synthesis of question 2 (c) 25%

Conclusion: Critical evaluation of the quality and usefulness of the company’s

financial disclosure that you have reviewed – you should explain the rationale for

your points.

15%

Total 100%

Formative feedback and Support Formative feedback Formative feedback provides opportunities to reflect on your ongoing work and preparation for your assignment. You will be given a written feedback for your individual assignment. Further information about this assessment is available on the Blackboard site for this module and includes: Module handbook and other resources.

Formatting Please use the following file format: Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) format. We cannot ensure that other formats are compatible with markers’ software. All work should be word processed in 12-point font Arial and single spaced. The first page of your coursework must include:

 Your student Number

 The module Name and Number

 Your word Count  The coursework title

4

Word Limit The maximum word limit for this coursework is 2000.

 This word count includes everything in the main body of the text (including headings, tables, citations, quotes, lists, etc.).

 The references, bibliography and footnotes (provided footnotes only include references) are NOT included in this word count.

 There is no direct penalty for exceeding the word count, but the marker WILL stop reading once the maximum word limit has been reached and nothing further will be taken into account in the allocation of marks.

You can view the UWE word count policy here: http://www1.uwe.ac.uk/aboutus/policies

Referencing: Please adhere to the principles of good academic practice and ensure you reference all sources used when developing your assessment, using the UWE Harvard system. Failure to properly reference your work to original source material can be grounds for the assessment offence of plagiarism and may result in failure of the assessment or have more serious implications. For further guidance on correct referencing go to: http://www1.uwe.ac.uk/students/studysupport/studyskills/referencing.aspx Details of what constitutes plagiarism and how to avoid it can be found here: http://www1.uwe.ac.uk/students/studysupport/studyskills/readingandwriting/plagiarism.aspx For general guidance on how to avoid assessment offences see: http://www1.uwe.ac.uk/students/academicadvice/assessments/assessmentoffences.aspx

Instructions for submission You must submit your assignment before the stated deadline by electronic submission through Blackboard. Notification that the electronic submission portal is open for your assignment is displayed (usually two weeks before the submission date) in the Coursework tab in myUWE, the Coursework tab in Blackboard and via an announcement in the Blackboard course. Please allow sufficient time to upload your assignment, noting that the system becomes busier and slower as the deadline approaches. Only your final upload will be counted. Ensure all your information is submitted at one attempt to avoid ‘overwriting’ your intended submission. Always check and retain your receipts. Late submission in the 24 hours following the deadline will be accepted but the assignment mark will be capped at 50%. Submissions after 24 hours will not be accepted. For full guidance on online submission through Blackboard, see: http://info.uwe.ac.uk/online/Blackboard/students/guides/assignments/default.asp Submissions of coursework by any other method (including a paper copy, on disk or by email) are NOT permissible for this module unless specifically agreed in advance of the submission date. Before submitting your work, please ensure that:

 You have proof read you work thoroughly to ensure your work is presented appropriately

 You have addressed all the required elements of the assessment

 You have referenced in accordance with the guidance provided

 You have addressed each of the marking criterion

 The submission is in the correct format

Final feedback and marks release Students will normally receive marks and feedback on their submission within 20 working days of the submission deadline (not including any public holidays or university closure days). Any delay in returning students’ work will be communicated by the module leader via Blackboard.

5

Feedback on this module is not limited to the written comments you will receive on individual written

assessment submissions. Feedback and marks for this module will be available by 8 May 2019. For further guidance on feedback, please refer to the module handbook.

Further Guidance and Support General guidance on study skills: is available at: http://www1.uwe.ac.uk/students/studysupport/studyskills.aspx Specific study skills pages relating to this module include: Writing skills: https://www1.uwe.ac.uk/students/studysupport/studyskills/readingandwriting/writing.aspx Support from the FBL Academic Success Centre: http://www1.uwe.ac.uk/bl/bbs/aboutus/studentexperience/academicsupportcentre.aspx Guidance on UWE assessment regulations and terminology: http://www1.uwe.ac.uk/students/academicadvice/assessments/assessmentsguide.aspx Guidance on using the library: http://www1.uwe.ac.uk/library/usingthelibrary.aspx

Personal Circumstances If you are experiencing difficulties in completing a piece of assessment on time due to unexpected circumstances (for example illness, accident, bereavement), you should seek advice from a Student Support Adviser at the earliest opportunity. Please note the module leader cannot grant personal circumstances or extensions.

Appointments with a student adviser can be made via an Information Point or online at: http://www1.uwe.ac.uk/students/academicadvice/studentadvisers.aspx The Student Support Adviser will advise as to whether you should submit an application for ‘Personal Circumstances (PCs)’, how to do so and what evidence is required to support the application. Further details on ECs can be found here:

http://www1.uwe.ac.uk/students/academicadvice/assessments/personalcircumstances.aspx