Financial Management Report

Sample structure doc

The sample structure below is provided as a guide to students only. Students do not need to follow this strictly as we encourage you to tailor your report where you feel it is appropriate and according to the nature of the business and your own independent research.

Please note that the KBS Library is a valuable resource, including IBIS World reports, Morningstar reports and the Australian Financial Review

Financial Analysis Report on [name of your company] by [your name and student number]

Executive Summary [approx. 20% of word count]

· Company background: main business activities, main geographic areas of operations.

· Purpose of report: which stakeholder is the report aimed at and what is the purpose of the report for that stakeholder.

· A brief statement of your recommendation

Note that an Executive Summary enables the reader to capture the key aspects of the report without having to read the full report.

Analysis

· Present and discuss the key financial results and performance indicators extracted from the company’s annual report. Detailed tables can be provided in the Appendix.

· A concise commentary should explain the significant changes in the financial results.

· Provide a minimum of 2 years and max of 5 years of financial data.

· For trend analysis, at least 3 years is typically required. The data below is for Harvey Norman (replace with your company’s data).

· The following two tables may be combined.

Table 1 - Financial Statement Summary
(A$'m)	FY17	FY18	FY19	FY20
Income Statement
Sales	3,138	3,159	3,420	3,546
Gross Profit	1,903	1,833	1,909	1,991
Net Profit	453	380	409	486
Balancesheet
Assets	4,190	4,578	4,799	5,829
Liabilities	1,377	1,640	1,601	2,351
Equity	2,813	2,938	3,198	3,477
Cashflow
Operating CF	425	454	373	1,057
Investing CF	(199)	(303)	(66)	(137)
Financing CF	(287)	(68)	(246)	(811)
Net CF	(61)	83	60	109
Table 2 - Trend Analysis
	FY17	FY18	FY19	FY20
Profit
- Change
- % Change
Sales	3,138	3,159	3,420	3,546
- Change		21	261	126
- % Change		0.7%	8.3%	3.7%
Item 3
- Change
- % Change

· Select, calculate and present financial ratios for different financial years. Ratio calculations to be provided in the Appendix.

· Justify the inclusion of your chosen financial performance indicators.

· Think about the stakeholder your report is aimed at: if the stakeholder is an investor, include some sharemarket ratios. If the stakeholder is management, you may want to focus on other ratios.

· You may wish to include ratios not covered included in the Workshop slides.

Table 3 - Ratio Analysis
Ratio Name	FY17	FY18	FY19	FY20
Profitability & Returns
Ratio 1
Ratio 2
Asset Management & Efficiency
Ratio 1
Ratio 2
Liquidity & Stability of Balance Sheet
Ratio 1
Ratio 2
Sharemarket Ratios
Ratio 1
Ratio 2

· Select and present relevant non-financial indicators.

· These may come from the company’s annual report or sources beyond the company (identified through your research).

· Justify the inclusion of your chosen non-financial indicators.

Table 4 – Non-Financial Indicators
Ratio Name	FY17	FY18	FY19	FY20
Indicator 1
Indicator 2
Indicator 3

Interpretation [combined with Analysis should account for approx. 70% of word count]

This section may include some or all of the following. Avoid repetition, however, from points already covered in the Analysis section.

· Discuss the company’s business activities and the financial implications of the activities (but avoid repetition from the Analysis section).

· Interpret the causes of the changes in the company’s financial performance.

· Apply your financial and non-financial indicators to explain trends and issues in the company’s financial results.

· Are there any risks / weaknesses / strengths to highlight. These may be financial or non-financial (including sustainability, environmental, social or ethical issues).

· What is the company’s current business strategy?

· Are there management issues to discuss?

· Should competitors be considered?

· Discuss the company’s outlook. This may include referring to expert opinion, the economic outlook, industry competition, and regulatory / policy factors.

Conclusion / Recommendation [approx. 20% of word count]

· What are your key findings and conclusions from your Analysis and Interpretation?

· What are your recommendations? State a clear recommendation that addresses the decision-making needs of a stakeholder. For example, recommend investing or not investing in the company (if the report is written for a potential shareholder). Alternatively, make a strategic or operational recommendation(s) to improve the financial performance of the company if the report is written for an internal manager.

· Justify recommendations by explaining how they will meet the needs of the stakeholder.

Bibliography

· You must correctly cite all references (information sources) and comply with the expectations for academic writing.

· References beyond the company being studied are expected.

· The bibliography and citations are excluded from total word count.

Appendix

· To include detailed data and calculations to avoid unnecessary volume and distraction in the main report.

· Include ratio calculations as tabled below.

Ratio Calculations
	FY17	FY18	FY19	FY20
Debt Ratio (Liabilities / Assets x 100)
Liabilities	1,377	1,640	1,601	2,351
Assets	4,190	4,578	4,799	5,829
Debt Ratio	32.9%	35.8%	33.4%	40.3%

Video Presentation

· Please view and adhere to the separate Students Video Assignments Guide and Video FAQs for the correct way to record and submit the video.

· Your video should be a summary of your report. As such, the key areas to focus on should be:

· providing background information on your chosen company,

· outlining your clear recommendation to your stakeholder, and

· your rationale for that recommendation (based on your research)

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