Analyzing Financial Statements of FTSE 100 Companies

Step-by-Step Guide to Evaluating a Company's Performance

You are required to answer the questions below regarding a company from the FTSE 100 companies. You should then obtain a copy of the company’s latest Financial Statements and refer to the company’s website for further information. Make sure you choose a company for which you can obtain 3 years comparable accounts and whom has a competitor you can gather information on for comparisons. (1) Set the company context and summarise the history of the company including any significant developments during the past 3 years or since incorporation. (5 marks) (2) Analyse and evaluate the profitability of the company over the past 3 years or since incorporation. (15 marks) (3) Analyse and evaluate the efficiency of the company over the past 3 years or since incorporation. (15 marks) (4) Analyse and evaluate the short-term liquidity of the company over the past 3 years or since incorporation. (9 marks) (5) Analyse and evaluate the long-term financial stability of the company over the past 3 years or since incorporation. (9 marks) (6) Analyse and evaluate the company from an investor return point of view over the past 3 years or since incorporation. (9 marks) (7) Use your analysis of your chosen company to make relevant comparisons with one of their main competitors. Explain what this might mean for the comparative success of the two companies. (12 marks) (8) Discuss what your analysis tells you about the future prospects of the company making recommendations to improve the financial performance (relate this back to earlier analysis). (15 marks) (9) Published financial statements can only contain a certain amount of information. Discuss what further information would have been useful to you in your analysis of the Company’s performance. (6 marks) (10) Professional marks will be available for the presentation and format of your report.