Financial statement analysis – Cheap Research Essays

Financial statement analysis (including ratios) before, during, and after the crisis of Lehman Brothers
Group Cases

What are you to do?
Each group will analyze a real company of your choice (with my approval). The case will provide a general history of the company and its financial performance. The case will focus on the financial situation at the company during a period of significant financial uncertainty and discuss in depth how that period was handled by the company. You will need to submit your presentation and a write up.

When will you turn it in?
Both the presentation (via PowerPoint) and write up (via Word) will be due prior to the first group’s presentation. So regardless of when you present, it must be turned in by 4/13 at 6:00 pm in the Assignment section of Blackboard. If it is late, there is a 5% deduction.

You must also turn into me a hard copy on the day of your presentation or prior to that. The lack of a hard copy will result in 5% deduction.
How will this group case be graded?
The write up will be worth 60% of the case grade and the presentation will account for the remaining 40%.

What is required for the paper portion and how is the paper portion graded?
The write up is to be a word document with at least 5 full pages of text (single spaced with normal margins). If you want to submit tables or other supplemental information, please include that at the end of the document. The grade for the write up will be based on the accuracy and completeness of your analysis. There may be deductions if your paper is filled with spelling or grammar errors (a few are okay, but if I have a hard time following it, that’s a problem).

Please make sure the paper has the following sections that are easy to find. These are the sections that will be graded. The percentages below are the weighting for the grades for those sections.

• Company Overview – 5%
• What went wrong – 15%
• Could it have been initially avoided – 10%
• What did they do to solve it – 20%
• What would you have done – 20%
• What should be done going forward so it doesn’t happen again – 10%
• Financial statement analysis (including ratios) before, during, and after the crisis – 20%
o If the company ceased to exist immediately after the crisis, financial statement analysis of “after the crisis” may not be possible.

What are some other things you should know/ do about financial rations?
For your paper when you are discussing financial ratios (before, during, and after the crisis), please make sure you say why a ratio moved the way it did. For example, let’s assume the current ratio fell from 1.2 to 0.8. It’s not enough to say it fell. It’s not enough to say current assets declined relative current liabilities. It’s not enough to say current assets fell by $30 million.

I’m looking for the qualitative reasons. You could say the current ratio fell from 1.2 to 0.8 because the company’s accounts receivable dropped by $30 million due to their new policy to not extend credit to certain customers. While this reduces delinquent accounts, it has had an adverse impact on sales overall. And then you can talk about sales.

READ ALSO : Communication Objectives

This information can be found in the notes of the financial statements (10-k) for a company. You can find all financial statements at the SEC’s website:
http://www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/companysearch.html
• If the paper is less than the 5-page requirement, there is a 5% deduction on the presentation portion.
• If the paper is late, there is a 5% deduction on the paper portion.
• If a hard copy is not provided, there is a 5% deduction on the paper portion.
• If the paper does not clearly lay out those sections, there is a 5% deduction on the paper portion.
What is required for the presentation portion, and how is the presentation portion graded?
Your presentation will typically be about 30-45 minutes in length. The presentation will have a Q&A section at the end. Part of the grade will be based on the accuracy of your answers to any questions. The non-participating groups are required to ask at least two *thoughtful* questions during the Q&A. That is two questions in total, not two questions for each group.

Please make sure the presentation has the following sections that are easy to follow. These are the sections that will be graded. The percentages below are the weighting for the grades for those sections.

• Asking at least a total of 2 questionsto the other groups during the Q&A – 5%
• Everyone having a speaking role – 5%
• Organization of presentation – 5%
• Ability to effectively convey subject and accurately answer questions – 20%
• Covering paper topics – 65% (5% for company overview and 10% for the rest: what went wrong, could it have been initially avoided, what did they do to solve it, what would have you done differently, what should be done going forward so it doesn’t happen again, and financial statement analysis)