Institute of Management Nirma University BBA-MBA Integrated Programme

Batch: 2019-21 Term IV Financial Statement Analysis (FSA)

Group Assignment – Phase I : Guidelines and Expectations
Objective: Being able to read, analyze and interpret company annual reports is possibly the best
reality check on your understanding and application of FSA. From the perspective of a user of
annual reports, the objective of this assignment is to be able to analyze, interpret and compare the
financial position of companies from the perspective of different users of financial information for
decision-making.
Scheme: Each student is allotted one company from CNX 500 list. The student shall download the
latest five years published annual report from the official website of the respective companies and
downloads the required financials (Balance Sheet, Statement of Profit and Loss and Statement of
Cash Flows from the PROWESS (or any other) database available in the Institute’s Library. After
completing the requirements of this assignment, the student prepares for a viva. This group
assignment is administered in two phases.
Evaluation: Group Assignment weighs 20% in the course grading as per the below given
submission & evaluation schedule
Phase Weight Submission
I (Report) 8% Report is to be submitted on LMS latest by Friday 9th September 2020
II (Report) 12% Report is to be submitted on LMS latest by Thursday 24th September 2020
1. Analysis of the External Business Environment – Sector Watch (Group Task)
(Word limit: 1500)
1. Present detailed analysis of the sector and highlight the key opportunities, risks and
projections of the sector/industry. You must consider the industry analysis framework(s)
and models studied in Strategic Management course [Competitive Forces Model (Porter’s
5 Forces), Broad Factors Analysis (PEST Analysis), SWOT Analysis, etc.]

2. Search for FIVE most relevant articles about the INDUSTRY/SECTOR published in last one
year. Prepare a summary of these articles as it is useful in developing your view about the
sector.
For the above two tasks, you may refer to reliable sources available in library/internet/any
other publication. You are required to cite all these resources in the reference list. The
resources referred must be relevant in time i.e. should be latest. (include only the MOST
relevant info and data)
2. Competitive Strategy & Position (Individual & Group Task) (Word Limit: 1000)
3. Present a competitive analysis for three companies making use of the frameworks studied in
Strategy courses. Also comment on the relative competitive position of three companies.
(include only the MOST relevant info and data)
3. Basics of Business (Individual Task) (Word Limit: 500)
4. What is the company’s business? Explain in about 100 words.
5. What are its main products and services? Name some of the company’s brands.
6. Does the company export its products OR render services to offshore clients? To which
countries?
7. Highlight the difference, if any between the businesses of the three companies.
4. Management Analysis: (Individual Task) (Word Limit: 1000)
8. Study the profiles of the top officials of the companies, i.e. promoters, directors, CEO,
internal auditing firm etc. Do NOT paste their resumes in your report. Highlight any
significant negative about the management of the company, if any. This refers to any
incidence in past wherein the top management has not acted in the interest of the
shareholders or have been in pejorative press.
9. Highlight any news/incidence from past five years about the company and/or top officials
that the shareholders must look with concern, suspicion and/or caution.
 10. What is the remuneration given to promoters other than dividend? Comment on how this
amount has changed over the last 5 years.
11. How many promoters does the company have? Are they diversified? What is the change in
the number of shares promoters are holding and its percentage in total shareholding?
Comment on how this is changing over the last five years.
5. Directors’ Report (of latest financial year only) (Individual Task) (Word Limit: 500)
12. Read through carefully this section. Give highlights of three most significant items
mentioned in the Directors’ Report. What do they signify? Study the Remuneration of
Directors and Key Managerial Personnel. How this amount has changed over five years?
6. Management Discussion and Analysis (MDA) (of latest financial year only)
(Individual Task) (Word Limit: 500)
13. Read through carefully this section. Give highlights of three most significant items
mentioned in the MDA section. What do they signify?
7. Auditors Report Analysis (of latest financial year) (Individual Task) (Word Limit: 500)
14. Who are the company’s auditors?
15. List the main items on which the auditors’ report. Give details of three items that
significantly affect the financial statements.
16. How much was the auditor’s remuneration? Give the detailed breakup of the same.
17. Read through carefully this section. Highlight the concerns raised by the auditors in their
report. Give details of such items. Is auditor getting any fees other than audit work?
8. Corporate Governance Report (of latest financial year) (Individual Task) (Word Limit: 500)
18. Read through carefully this section. Give highlights of three most significant items
mentioned in the Corporate Governance Report. What do they signify?
9. Significant Accounting Policies (Individual & Group Task) (Word Limit: 1000)
19. Read carefully the section Significant Accounting Policies from the Annual Reports of last
5 years and prepare a table of and study carefully the accounting policies, estimates and
assumptions followed by the company over last five years for Sales & Other Income
Revenue Recognition, Inventory Valuation, Depreciation, Research & Development
Expenditure, Tangible Fixed Assets, Intangible Assets & Amortization, Impairment of
Assets etc.
20. Compare the accounting policies, estimates and assumptions followed by the three
companies (inter-company and intra-company comparisons) in last five years and highlight
the differences, if any and their implications on their relative financial
position/performance.
10. News Analysis (Individual Task) (Word Limit: 1000)
21. Search on internet/ newspapers/ magazines and analyze in detail LATEST & SIGNIFICANT
five news articles about the company, not older than six months. Prepare a summary of
these articles as it is useful in developing your view about the company. Comment on the
implication of the news on the future performance of the company.
Important Guidelines:
• References (include all the books, articles, web-links, reports referred/used in the Assignment)
• DO NOT attach the Statement of Profit and Loss, the Balance Sheet and the Cash Flow
Statement. You MUST provide .xls files having inbuilt formulas for all calculations.
• A format of front page will be provided. Report in shabby state will attract negative marking
as per the rubric.
• A soft copy of the Assignment (.docx files) is to be uploaded on LMS course page. This is
COMPULSORY requirement for the submission of the Assignment.
• All the Assignment files will be put through a plagiarism check software as per the university
policy. Any plagiarism in excess of 10% will have to be re-worked by the student.
• You cannot share/publish this report in public domain without the permission of the
faculty because this is part of FSA course evaluation till the assessment and grade of the
course is not declared. However, the copyright of the report rests with the student.

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