LCMB7002 Financial Management L7 Essay Assessment Brief

Task Description

This assignment is comprised of two discrete tasks that each align with one of the learning outcomes described above. One is an informal report based on a five-year evaluation of the financial management and performance of a London Stock Exchange (LSE) FTSE 100 listed company. This report relates to learning outcome one. The second task, covering learning outcome two, is an essay on a particular aspect of financial making and the main issues and theoretical frameworks related to the topic.

Task one (Informal business report)

Students are required to choose a public listed company from a given list of familiar United Kingdom (UK) firms whose shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange’s FTSE 100 index, download its most recent annual report(s) covering financial statements for the past five years, and from the data
presented produce an informal report of approximately 3,000 words, which includes a critical overall analysis of its financial performance over the period.
Your report should include the following sections …

• A brief introduction and overview of the company’s history and current position in its respective marketplace (300 words)
• A graphical illustration, together with a short-written summary, of the five-year trends in sales, profits, costs, and dividends paid (One graphical illustration in the form of a chart created from data using Microsoft Excel) (100 words)
• Calculation, illustrations, and analysis of the main key financial ratios for the past 5 years, including, as a minimum, profitability, liquidity, gearing, efficiency, and investment ratios. Here, you are strongly encouraged to include comparative graphical illustrations of your ratios over the five-period. You are also required to show a single-sheet summary of all your Excel
  calculation results of the ratios, copied into the main Word report document you submit (1,600 words)
• A critical assessment of the firm’s working capital management over the same period. Again, you are advised to include graphical illustrations to support your answer. (600 words)
• A summary of the firm’s financial performance over the five years (400 words).

Task two (Academic essay)

Provide a 2,000-word essay that offers a critical evaluation of the main investment appraisal methods of those that may be applied in capital rationing decision-making by firms. You should provide an overview of each method, highlighting their respective strengths and limitations, and critically analyse
their effectiveness in different investment scenarios. In addition, you should examine relevant theoretical concepts and use numerical examples from academic literature to support your arguments. Please ensure that your arguments are well-structured and logically organised. Use supporting examples, calculations, and illustrations while adhering to proper referencing and citation
guidelines and using relevant sources. 

As an academic essay, you should include an introduction, main body, and a conclusions section. As a framework, allow approximately 10% of the word count for the introduction and conclusion sections and the remainder for the main body.

Please note that both parts of the assignment should be submitted to the Moodle-Turnitin system as one Microsoft Word document, including a front page with your student details and clear headings and sub-headings throughout. Also, you are expected to use relevant academic references and
include tables, charts, graphs, and other relevant illustrations that you feel will support this report. Please use Arial font size 12 with 1.5 line spacing and include page numbers

Learning Outcomes

Upon the successful completion of this module, the student should be able to demonstrate the ability to:

• apply and evaluate a variety of financial assessment techniques for application to a case study;
• Evaluate and critically discuss various issues and theoretical frameworks used in the management and control of financial resources.