Prior to beginning work on this discussion, read Chapter 3 of your textbook, and test your knowledge in the MindTap Practice Chapter 3 Problem 10 and Chapter 3 Problem 14 located in Ch 03: End-of-Chapter Problems – Evaluation of Financial Performance. You will also need to review your chosen company financial data and reports. Although not required, it is recommended that you also review the chapter videos and flashcards available in the recommended resources section of your course.
You were recently hired as a Financial Analyst by your subject company or organization. Your first task is to conduct a financial analysis of the firm, covering the last three years which will evaluate the companyâs financial condition. To begin, you should review all three accounting statements (i.e., balance sheets, income statements, statement of cash flows) and compare each of these statements to previous statements for the past three years. Using at least three to four different ratios for each of the five different aspects of business listed below, in addition to the most recent industry average data for the current period:
- Liquidity
- Asset management
- Debt management
- Profitability
- Market value assessment.
Be sure to show your analysis work.
In your paper,
- Summarize how your company compares to the overall market based on researched competitive market data.
- Explain the possible reasons for any differences between companyâs ratios and those of the industry average (cross-sectional).
- Compare your calculated financial ratios against industry averages.
- State possible reasons for the differences (competitor analysis).
- Describe how the economic value added (EVA) can be used to judge managerial performance.
- Describe any positive or negative trends that emerge from the accounting statement data and comparisons providing a detailed explanation of the factors that lead to these trends (over the most recent three-year periods using the common size technique).
- Summarize the extent to which the chairmanâs comments about the potential for improved future performance are supported by the financial statement information for the most recent annual report ending year.
