Assessment Details and Submission Guidelines | |
Trimester | T1 2019 |
Unit Code | HI5002 |
Unit Title | Finance for Business |
Assessment Type | Group Assignment |
Assessment Title | Company Performance Analysis |
Purpose of the assessment (with ULO Mapping) | Students are required to form a group from 2 to 5 members to study, undertake research, analyse and conduct academic work within the areas of business finance covered in learning objectives 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10 & 11. The assignment should examine the main issues, including underlying theories, implement performance measures used and explain the firm financial performance. Your group is strongly advised to reference professional websites, journal articles and text books in this assignment. |
Weight | 30 % of the total assessments |
Total Marks | 30 |
Word limit | Not more than 3,000 words |
Submission Guidelines |
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ASSIGNMENT SPECIFICATIONS
This assignment task is a written report and analysis of the financial performance of one selected listed company on the ASX in order to provide financial and investment advice to a wealthy investor. This assignment requires your group to undertake a comprehensive examination of a firm’s financial performance based on update financial statements of the selected company.
Background
You’re a group of investment analysts who work for a large investment consulting firm based in Australia. There’s one big institutional investor from overseas that is interested in investing in the Australian market. You’ve been asked to choose one listed company the industry you think will have the most promising future for investment in Australia, then evaluate the performance of that company. Finally make a recommendation through your Report to the investor whether and why they should or should not invest in the company.
Create your group’s “business name” under which your group will be providing the financial advisory services. Choose one listed company that your group will investigate/analyse for the purposes of possible recommendation to your client. The group should obtain all information about the selected company from this web site: www.asx.com.au.
Requirements
Obtain copies of Annual Reports including Income Statements, Balance Sheets, and Statement of Changes in Equity, Cash Flows Statements and Notes for three (3) financial year 2015-2016, 2016- 2017 and 2017-2018. Your group can download these documents from the suggested web site using the firm’s code (example, BHP- for BHP Billiton Company, etc.). The assignment should cover the contents described in Part 1 to 7 bellows.
STAGES TO BE COMPLETED | |
1 | Description of operation and comparative advantages of the selected company. |
2 | Identify and conduct a trend analysis with two groups of financial ratios, including profitability, and operating efficiency of the selected company. |
3 | Identify the marketable securities that are available in current assets of the company. Discuss using of these securities as an instrument for cash management by the company. |
4 | Perform a sensitivity analysis with data provided. |
5 | Identify and discuss the systemic risks and un-systemic risks that may affect performance of the selected company. |
6 | Calculate the dividend payout ratio and comment on the dividend policy of the chosen company through 3 years |
7 | Recommendation Letter |
Final Submission of Complete Assignment on Blackboard (Week 10) |
Assignment structure and assignment tasks should be as the following:
Abstract
(no more than 200 words)
1. Introduction
Briefly introduction of you work: the purpose of assignment, the selected company, your findings and structure of your assignment
(not more than 300 words)
2. Financial Analysis of selected company
Description of the company
Prepare a brief description of the selected company, outlining the core activities, the market(s) in which they operate within and any factors in the company’s history which you consider help present the pictures of your company. Identify and comment on their comparative advantages.
Calculation and analysis of selected performance ratios
Using financial data obtained from current financial statements of your selected companies for the past 3 years. Annual reports are accessible via company websites or ASX website. Your client requests a comprehensive analysis of two groups of financial ratios, including profitability and operating efficiency of the company. Choose the relevant financial ratios for your analysis to meet your client’s requirement. Do a research to explain the trend of financial ratios of the selected company through 3 years to your client. You need to provide charts and/or tables for analysis and justification.
Cash management analysis: Identify the marketable securities that are available in current assets of the company. Discuss using of these securities as an instrument for cash management by the company. Tips: try to do a little research about instruments of cash management to enrich your comments and analysis.
Perform a sensitivity analysis with data provided
Assume that your selected company is considering a potential project with a new product that is expected to sell for an average price of $20 per unit and the company expects it can sell 300 000 unit per year at this price for a period of 4 years. Launching this project will require purchase of a
$2 000 000 equipment that has residual value in four years of $200 000 and adding $ 600 000 in working capital which is expected to be fully retrieved at the end of the project. Other information is available below:
Depreciation method: straight line Variable cost per unit: $12
Cash fixed costs per year $300 000 Discount rate: 10%
Tax Rate: 30%
Do an analysis with cash flows of the project to determine the sensitivity of the project NPV with the following changes in the value drivers and provide your results in (a) relevant tables:
Unit sales decrease by 10% Price per unit decreases by 10%
Variable cost per unit increases 10%
Cash fixed cost per year increases by 10%
As a group of investment analysts who work for an investment consulting firm based in Australia, the following report provides a comprehensive financial analysis for an Australian publically listed company.
The objective is to provide investment recommendation to a large investor overseas. The company selected for the purpose is the Macquarie Group Limited which is a large group in Australia.
The report will provide overview of the company, its operational segments and its key performance parameters from 2016 till 2018. For this purpose, key ratios analysis will also be performed. Additionally, a sensitivity analysis will also be done.
Basis the above analysis, conclusion and recommendation will be drawn for the purpose of investment in the Group.
The following pages present a financial analysis of the Australian company Macquarie Group Limited on behalf of the Group XXX. The objective is to provide financial and investment advice to investor XXX from XXX. Hence, the report will provide a comprehensive analysis of the company, including the core business of the company, operations, its performance during three years from 2016 till 2018, performance basis various key ratios as well as the trend analysis, sensitivity analysis, dividend policy, risk analysis, thereby, to provide an overview of the company’s investment prospects.
The key performance ratios that will be covered are: (i) Profitability Ratios which indicate the margins and profitability of the company on year-on-year basis, (ii) Efficiency Ratios which indicate the level of efficiency with which various resources are being utilized in the company. These are famously also known as Turnover Ratios, (iii) Liquidity Ratios which indicate the level of liquidity (mainly cash level) of the organization. These ratios are important as at any time a company may be required to discharge some liabilities or meet some urgent expenses for which liquidity plays a crucial role, (iv) Leverage Ratios which indicate the leverage or debt level in the capital structure and how well the organization is insulated from the impact of fixed obligations that come along with the debt and (v) Investment Ratios which indicate various parameters that an investor or a prospective investor will be interested in such as the dividend pay-out ratio and earnings per share etc.
Basis the above analysis of the Macquarie Group, a conclusion would be formed regarding the financial state of the company, various parameters on which it is doing very good and issues or concerns that can be seen currently or in nearby future. This conclusion will form the basis for recommendation to investor XXX regarding the investment in Macquarie Group limited and linked risks.
As discussed above, the selected company is Macquarie Group (ASX: MQG) which is headquartered in Sydney, Australia and was founded in 1969. The company is involved in the business of providing investment banking and financial services and currently employs around 14,500 employees across 25 countries. A total of AUD 497billion assets were under management of the group as of 31st March, 2018, an increase of almost AUD 15billion over previous period.
As of March 2018, the group reported total assets of AUD 191.3billion with equity of AUD 18.2billion. The company reported a net profit of AUD 2.6million for the year which is an increase of 15% over previous year. In fact, the company has reported profits continuously for 49 years, which is a record in itself. The Return on Equity for the period was reported at 16.8%, an increase over 15.2% in previous period.
The numbers above indicate that the company has been doing well with various businesses such as, Macquarie Asset Management, Corporate and Asset Finance, Banking & Financial Services, Commodities and Global Markets segments all contributing to the organization’s growth. The Company has even been able to sail through difficult economic times with record profits through the contribution of various segments and unmatched expertise of the Company.
As discussed above, the subject Company is a financial group that is involved in the variety of financial services such as, advisory, baking, financial solutions and risk / capital solutions. The main operating segments and their contribution to Net Profit of the company can be seen as below (the first three segments together are known as ‘Annuity-Style Businesses’ while the last two segments are together known as ‘Capital Markets Facing Businesses’):
As discussed earlier, we will be calculating major performance ratios under following five heads:
Looking at the Balance Sheet of the Company, we can see that the liquid assets include Trading portfolio assets, Derivative assets and Investment securities available for sale. These assets classes formed 26.9% of total assets in 2016, 25.1% in 2017 and 18.1% in 2018. Hence, it can be seen that liquidity is slowly reducing for the Group as the Group tries to allocate its resources in the most profitable and efficient manner.
Through the Cash Flow Statement, we can see the ending cash balance was AUD 14.3million in 2016, AUD 11.8million in 2017 and AUD 13.0million in 2018.
Hence, the cash flow seems to be stable and improved slightly in 2018 despite major financing activities in 2018 out of which dividend pay-out was the largest cash outflow. The increased cash flow from operating activities could assist in taking the burden of increased investment and financing activities in 2018.
A sensitivity analysis was performed for the Group, assuming a hypothetical new project whereby a product is launched. The timeframe is 4 years with certain assumptions as available in Appendix. The four scenarios were created in order to see the sensitivity of net present value of the project. These can be summarised as follows:
Scenario Summary | ||||||
Current Values: | Unit Sales decrease by 10% | Price per unit decreases by 10% | Variable Costs increases by 10% | Fixed Cost increases by 10% | ||
Changing Cells: | ||||||
$B$3 | 3,00,000 | 2,70,000 | 3,00,000 | 3,00,000 | 3,00,000 | |
$B$2 | $20.00 | $20.00 | $18.00 | $20.00 | $20.00 | |
$B$4 | $12.00 | $12.00 | $12.00 | $13.20 | $12.00 | |
$B$5 | $3,00,000 | $3,00,000 | $3,00,000 | $3,00,000 | $3,30,000 | |
Result Cells: | ||||||
$B$28 | $30,34,044.81 | $25,01,507.41 | $17,02,701.32 | $22,35,238.71 | $29,67,477.63 |
It can be seen that maximum NPV is at current assumed values at $3.03 million. The next closest NPV occurs at the assumption where fixed cost increases by 10%. The NPV is $29.7 million. The lowest NPV occurs when the unit price falls by 10% when NPV stands at $17.02 million.
Hence, we can see that the scenario is least sensitive to changes in fixed cost and most sensitive to changes in price per unit. The scenario is also reasonably sensitive to changes in variable cost and number of units sold.
The group has a robust risk management system which is a part and parcel of each group and division within the organization. This helps the organization to sail through the worst times and minimise disruptions as far as possible.
The Group also takes a conservative approach such that it has been able to report profits for 49 consecutive years irrespective of the global economic conditions. Further, the business is well-diversified across segments as discussed earlier such that it is able to deliver consistent results.
Apart from these measures, the Group boasts of deep expertise in the field combined with knowledge of the nuances of local markets such that it has been able to become a leader in many areas.
The Group continues to remain dynamic by pursuing relevant and organic growth opportunities.
However, despite all of these, the Group remains exposed to multiple risks which are systemic as well as unsystemic.
The Group cannot control market conditions or economic conditions of a market which is bound to impact the Group’s numbers. Similarly, the exchange rate of Australian Dollar against major currencies is another major risk. Due to large portion of income being in foreign currencies, this risk prevails although the Group makes efforts to hedge it to the maximum extent possible. Additionally, any regulatory changes related to the area of business in domestic or international environment may impact the Group adversely (or favourably).
Further, there are certain types of risks that arise due to nature of business despite all the risk management procedures. For example, the Group is exposed to risks of wilful misconduct by employees, cyber-crime, information and data security related risks, liquidity risks due to increased cost of financing, operational risks etc.
The Company has been paying very high dividends which is a delight for the shareholder but may indicate limited growth opportunities. Instead of heavy reliance on debt, equity funds can be ploughed back into the business. Further, the high dividend pay-out also creates expectations and unnecessary burden on the company to pay even higher dividends. Ultimately, this is a loss for the equity shareholder in the long run as the dividends paid out could have been utilised in a better way to earn larger profits for them.
However, over the period, the Group seems to be reducing the ratio slowly.
It can be seen from above analysis that the Macquarie Group is one of the oldest and most experienced organizations in the field of financial and banking services. The Group has wide and extensive experience in various types of markets, be it based on geography or the type of security or the type of solution required by customer. The organization is leader in providing customised solutions in a variety of sectors such as real assets, real estate, infrastructure etc. Apart from this, it also provides banking services in Australia.
Hence, the group is well diversified such that it can absorb multiple types of risks and continue to provide good refutes to its stakeholders. This is clearly evident in the fact that the organization has reported profits for 49 consecutive years which is a record in itself. The group has reported profit even when the global economic scenario was not particularly upbeat indicating the strength of the Group.
Further, the Group keeps focus on organic growth opportunities such that it can avail these opportunities to provide magnified benefits to its stakeholders.
The results are evident in high dividend pay-out ratio and consistently increasing earnings per share. The Return on Investment ratio also indicates increasing trend which is a positive sign. The performance ratios as analysed above also indicate good control over expenses and increased profits trend. The group is able to utilize and appropriate its resources in an efficient manner. The debt is on the higher side but shows a declining trend over the period with increased interest coverage which indicates that the group is aware about the same.
Hence, it is recommended to include the above discussed company, The Macquarie Group Limited in the investment portfolio as it is expected to enhance the value of your portfolio.
Appendices
$mn | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
Interest and similar income | 5,461 | 5,138 | 4,943 |
Interest expense and similar charges | -3,182 | -2,953 | -2,957 |
Net interest income/(expense) | 2,279 | 2,185 | 1,986 |
Fee and commission income | 4,862 | 4,331 | 4,670 |
Net trading income | 2,067 | 1,758 | 1,957 |
Share of net profits of associates and joint ventures | 880 | 921 | 935 |
accounted for using the equity method | 4 | 51 | 241 |
Other operating income and charges | 66 | 1,118 | 1,131 |
Net operating income | 10,158 | 10,364 | 10,920 |
Employment expenses | -4,244 | -4,379 | -4,493 |
Brokerage, commission and trading-related expenses | -892 | -852 | -830 |
Occupancy expenses | -397 | -392 | -402 |
Non-salary technology expenses | -587 | -644 | -604 |
Other operating expenses | -1,023 | -993 | -1,127 |
Total operating expenses | -7,143 | -7,260 | -7,456 |
Operating profit before income tax | 3,015 | 3,104 | 3,464 |
Income tax expense | -927 | -868 | -883 |
Profit after income tax | 2,088 | 2,236 | 2,581 |
(Profit)/loss attributable to non-controlling interests: | |||
Macquarie Income Securities | -16 | -15 | -14 |
Macquarie Income Preferred Securities | -1 | 0 | 0 |
Other non-controlling interests | -8 | -4 | -10 |
Profit attributable to non-controlling interests | -25 | -19 | -24 |
Profit attributable to ordinary equity holders of Macquarie Group Limited | 2,063 | 2,217 | 2,557 |
Basic earnings per share | 619 | 658 | 758 |
Diluted earnings per share | 600 | 645 | 744 |
2016 | 2017 | 2018 | |
Assets | |||
Receivables from financial institutions | 33,128 | 27,471 | 38,559 |
Trading portfolio assets | 23,537 | 26,933 | 15,585 |
Derivative assets | 17,983 | 12,106 | 12,937 |
Investment securities available for sale | 11,456 | 6,893 | 6,166 |
Other assets | 12,496 | 16,558 | 18,370 |
Loan assets held at amortised cost | 80,366 | 76,663 | 81,150 |
Other financial assets at fair value through profit or loss | 1,649 | 1,502 | 1,434 |
Due from subsidiaries | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Property, plant and equipment | 11,521 | 11,009 | 11,426 |
Interests in associates and joint ventures | 2,691 | 2,095 | 4,055 |
Intangible assets | 1,078 | 1,009 | 993 |
Investments in subsidiaries | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Deferred tax assets | 850 | 638 | 650 |
Total assets | 1,96,755 | 1,82,877 | 1,91,325 |
Liabilities | |||
Trading portfolio liabilities | 5,030 | 5,067 | 8,061 |
Derivative liabilities | 14,744 | 11,128 | 11,925 |
Deposits | 52,245 | 57,708 | 59,412 |
Other liabilities | 13,103 | 15,031 | 16,086 |
Payables to financial institutions | 23,860 | 17,072 | 15,440 |
Due to subsidiaries | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Debt issued at amortised cost | 63,685 | 50,828 | 53,717 |
Other debt issued at fair value through profit or loss | 2,672 | 2,404 | 2,363 |
Deferred tax liabilities | 543 | 621 | 749 |
Total liabilities excluding loan capital | 1,75,882 | 1,59,859 | 1,67,753 |
Loan capital | 5,209 | 5,748 | 5,392 |
Total liabilities | 1,81,091 | 1,65,607 | 1,73,145 |
Net assets | 15,664 | 17,270 | 18,180 |
Equity | |||
Contributed equity | 6,422 | 6,290 | 6,243 |
Reserves | 1,536 | 1,396 | 1,297 |
Retained earnings | 7,158 | 7,877 | 8,817 |
Total capital and reserves attributable to ordinary equity holders of Macquarie Group Limited | 15,116 | 15,563 | 16,357 |
Non-controlling interests | 548 | 1,707 | 1,823 |
Total equity | 15,664 | 17,270 | 18,180 |
2016 | 2017 | 2018 | |
Cash flows from/(used in) operating activities | |||
Interest and similar income received | 5,455 | 5,161 | 4,908 |
Interest expense and similar charges paid | -3,125 | -2,843 | -2,940 |
Fees and other non-interest income received | 226 | 4,484 | 4,405 |
Fees and commissions paid | 4,961 | -909 | -877 |
Operating lease income received | -835 | 1,607 | 1,831 |
Dividends and distributions received | 1,541 | 209 | 228 |
Employment expenses paid | -2,114 | -3,885 | -3,913 |
Operating expenses paid | -2,065 | -1,401 | -1,836 |
Income tax paid | -4,102 | -723 | -483 |
Changes in operating assets and liabilities: | |||
Net receipts from trading portfolio assets and other assets/liabilities | -1,178 | 3,901 | 3,937 |
Net movement in deposits | 1,056 | 5,561 | 1,499 |
Net movement in debt issued at amortised cost | -972 | -12,303 | 2,500 |
Net movement in payables to financial institutions and other borrowings | -1,013 | -4,259 | 182 |
Net movement in loan assets and balance with related entities | 314 | 1,012 | -3,610 |
Net margin money paid | 15,359 | -1,104 | -184 |
Net payments for assets under operating lease | -685 | -320 | -1,202 |
Life business: | |||
Life investment linked contract premiums received, disposal of investment assets and other unitholder contributions | 12,823 | 1,181 | 1,104 |
Life investment linked contract payments, acquisition of investment assets and other unitholder redemptions | -2,406 | -1,077 | -1,099 |
Net cash flows from/(used in) operating activities | 1,897 | -5,708 | 4,450 |
Cash flows (used in)/from investing activities | |||
Net proceeds from investment securities available for sale and financial instruments designated at fair value | -14,580 | 3,212 | 111 |
Proceeds from the disposal of or capital return from associates, subsidiaries and businesses, net of cash deconsolidated | 34 | 2,869 | 3,510 |
Payments for the acquisition of associates or capital contribution, subsidiaries and businesses, net of cash acquired | -183 | -2,619 | -4,224 |
Proceeds from the disposal of property, plant and equipment, and intangible assets | -15,238 | 0 | 58 |
Payments for the acquisition of property, plant and equipment, and intangible assets | 530 | -329 | -255 |
Net cash flows (used in)/from investing activities | 120 | 3,133 | -800 |
Cash flows (used in)/from financing activities | |||
(Payments for)/Proceeds from non-controlling interests | 1,503 | 1,160 | -33 |
Proceeds from the issue of loan capital | -718 | 980 | 0 |
Payments on redemption of loan capital | -82 | -221 | -330 |
Dividends and distributions paid | -1,228 | -1,477 | -1,663 |
Payments for treasury shares | -363 | -433 | -373 |
Net cash flows (used in)/from financing activities | -238 | 9 | -2,399 |
Net increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents | -2,653 | -2,566 | 1,251 |
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the financial year | 16,973 | 14,320 | 11,754 |
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the financial year | 14,320 | 11,754 | 13,005 |
CALCULATIONS | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
Profitability Ratios | |||
Net Interest Margin | 1.16% | 1.19% | 1.04% |
RoE | 13.8% | 14.4% | 15.8% |
Efficiency Ratios | |||
Efficiency Ratio | 70.3% | 70.1% | 68.3% |
Liquidity Ratios | |||
Current Ratio | 1.16 | 1.01 | 0.96 |
Acid Test Ratio | 0.62 | 0.52 | 0.36 |
Leverage Ratios | |||
Gearing Ratio | 0.82 | 0.77 | 0.77 |
Interest Cover Ratio | 1.95 | 2.05 | 2.17 |
Investment Ratio | |||
Dividend Payout Ratio | 0.58 | 0.65 | 0.64 |
EPS (cents) | 619.2 | 657.6 | 758.2 |
Sales price per unit | $20.00 | |||||
Unit sales | 3,00,000 | |||||
Cost per unit | $12.00 | |||||
Fixed Annual Cost | $3,00,000 | |||||
Investment in fixed assets | $20,00,000 | |||||
Residual Value | $2,00,000 | |||||
Life | 4 | |||||
Income tax rate | 30% | |||||
Discount rate | 10% | |||||
Working Capital | $6,00,000 | |||||
Net income | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
Revenues | $60,00,000 | $60,00,000 | $60,00,000 | $60,00,000 | ||
– Costs | $39,00,000 | $39,00,000 | $39,00,000 | $39,00,000 | ||
– Depreciation expense | $4,50,000 | $4,50,000 | $4,50,000 | $4,50,000 | ||
Taxable income | $16,50,000 | $16,50,000 | $16,50,000 | $16,50,000 | ||
– Taxes | $4,95,000 | $4,95,000 | $4,95,000 | $4,95,000 | ||
After-tax income | $11,55,000 | $11,55,000 | $11,55,000 | $11,55,000 | ||
Annual Net Cash Flow Estimates | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
Investment in fixed assets | -$20,00,000 | $2,00,000 | ||||
CF due to change in net working capital | -$6,00,000 | $6,00,000 | ||||
Net income | $0 | $11,55,000 | $11,55,000 | $11,55,000 | $11,55,000 | |
Add back depreciation | $0 | $4,50,000 | $4,50,000 | $4,50,000 | $4,50,000 | |
Net cash flows | -$26,00,000 | $16,05,000 | $16,05,000 | $16,05,000 | $24,05,000 | |
NPV | $30,34,044.81 |