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Hello @GillianM,
Thank you for your time, shall i just mention the web link in the reference list, or there is any specific format for e.g. Appendix, (2019). company name. available at (web link). (accessed on)?
waiting for your response.
Regards.
Hello, @GillianM.
1) i would like to ask that do we need to cite info each time if it is repeated? for e.g. info from pestel/swot repeated in the conclusion part.
2) do we need to provide reference each time if the information is taken from annaul reports or a single reference of annual report is fine?
waiting for your repsonse.
Regards
1) Normally as you should not be introducing new information in the Conclusion they should be little need to reference in the Conclusion
2) Referencing is important and therefore you are expected to show each time where you are extracting information for your statements or are using someone else’s work or their opinion. So one blanket reference is not acceptable practice although where there is CONSECUTIVE use of the same source you may use the abbreviation (Ibid.) to show this. [Ibid is short for the Latin Ibidem and means ‘in the same place’]. However it does need to be ‘appropriate’ use: so the first time you might put (Annual Report 2018 p.20) and for the second reference (Ibid. p.49)
BTW I don’t fully understand your previous query but it is not good practice to start references in the list with a weblink but they should be included as after ‘Accesible at:…’
Thank you @GillianM, for your timely response i see that you have mentioned citation of the annual report as (Annual report 2018 p.20) but i have provided the annual report citation as (DHL, 2018, p.20) is it fine to use this format or may i use the format you suggested.
p.s i will be submitting my project in 2 days as i’m extremely busy and will be traveling, eagerly waiting for your response.
Regards
Yes that will be fined provided in your reference list you show it as DHL 2018. Do take a last minute look at the Open Tuition Ultimate Guide to Referencing your RAP that is on our homepage http://www.opentuition.com/obu for any last minute queries – the Golden Rules should be useful in this respect.
Thank you @GillianM, really appreciate your timely response. Edited the report and reference as per your guidance.
Best of luck for your future results.
Regards.
Hello @gillianm
Am currently staying in United Arabic Emirates and i chose Automobiles industry ,my challenge is two companies i wanted to do Toyota and Nissan . But it seems they is no manufacturer like Toyota (Pakistan ) , Nissan (Pakistan). Any Advise how can i tackle this challenge ?
Sorry I don’t fully understand your question – why can’t you use Toyota (Pakistan ) and Nissan (Pakistan)? I am sure other students are using those two companies (where you live has nothing to do with the companies you may choose).
Hi @hanne58, @gillianm, @trephena
I will appreciate your guidance on the following:
I am currently working on Goodyear Tires with Cooper Tire as the comparator all in US.
1> Goodyear’s products includes consumer tires, OEM tires, Tire for trucks and sales of tire related chemicals and Fleet services. The products and services offered by Cooper Tire is a subset of these and Goodyear is larger in terms of production capacity and revenue. The both operate majorly in the US market with regional presence in other countries/region. They both prepare their books with the same currency and accounting standard. ….Will Cooper tire still be a fair comparator considering the difference in size and product portfolio?
2> Cooper Tire uses the LIFO inventory system while Goodyear uses the FIFO system. will it be necessary to make adjusted of Cooper Tire inventory to conform to that of Goodyear?
3> Will it be necessary to include EPS, Dividend cover, share price growth and other ratios relating to return to shareholder in my ratio analysis?
4> There are speculations that Goodyear and Cooper Tire are working on a merger. I am working towards period 40 in may. and both companies have the 31 December Year End. Will this have any effect considering i will be working with the Financial statements for the years 2017, 2018 and 2019.
Thanks.
Hey msg4wale , thanks for including me among this forums great mentors.
I try my best.
1) you will find that this is an inherent drawback with this topic, it is very difficult to find perfectly matched companies. However, this does not have to be an issue. Close enough is good enough, its your depth of evaluation in acknowledging such weaknesses that counts. As you will be comparing in relative terms like percentages, size should not be an issue. Perhaps you may consider using the underdog as your main , as a change of perspective may make the evaluation more focused.
2) Interesting question.
The use of Lifo and fifo will much likely have a significant impact on key financial statement items. Depending on your project objectives, you can get around this without making adjustments (provided you include sufficient explanations). However, it would be best if you can do the painstaking work and make the adjustments, assuming you have sufficient information. You will most likely be rewarded for your efforts with a higher grade.3) This depends on your research objectives, typically it is good to include at least one ratio from each category of financial ratios, profitability, efficiency, investor etc. However if you feel that your objectives would lead you to include more ratios on a category or exclude the category totally, then go ahead.
4) No.
If you research the reasons behind the possible merger, you may be able to gain insights that would strengthen your business analysis.
First I want to say a big thank you to Hanne for answering this query and making valuable contributions to this forum (especially as Topic 8 is not a topic I mentor for as personally I find it too frustrating finding comparators and all rather dull and boring). However I am making the following comments since I am asked to express my opinion.
1. I concur – you will rarely find a perfect match
2. You will need to explain when discussing ratios involving inventory that they use different bases and the potential impact of this on the figures and comparisons.3′ You need some investor and gearing type ratios
You should mention any impending merger or takeover as the two Boards of directors may be pursuing (and for the last couple of years may have been pursuing) strategies and made decisions in anticipation of this – and appreciation of strategies form an important part of Topic 8 analysis
Nothing much to add here except a few clarifications:
Unless the 2019 annual report is published by 1 Feb 2020 (unlikely) then you do not HAVE TO incorporate it in your findings (though you may choose to do so)
It will definitely strengthen your report if you look at strategies. Although it may not say so in the Information Pack it emphasises the importance of the business environment in the Resubmission Guide where the External Examiner suggests for a ‘sound financial analysis’ this should ‘put the analysis in the context of the industry (or industries concerned, the relative risk of the industry, trends in the industry where appropriate and the impact of changes in the economic, political and regulatory environment. Due cognisance should be accorded to environmental factors and sustainability in arriving at conclusions and recommendations’
As hanne said: “If you research the reasons behind the possible merger, you may be able to gain insights that would strengthen your business analysis” So for example, if you have already done the SWOT for Goodyear and are contemplating changing Cooper to the main company then when you have done a SWOT for that, look for any synergies that would facilitate the merger or how a combined operation would build on their joint strengths and eliminate any of a particular company’s weaknesses. You could then possibly comment briefly on this and the like, if not in the main findings where appropriate at least in your conclusions.
Greetings,
I am starting my RAP for May 2020 submission, intend to complete by end of January. For Topic 8 Automobile Manufacturers, Most of the companies have their year end at 31st December, Hence the latest Annual Reports available are of year ended 31 Dec 2018.
I wanted to ask that if I make my project using Annual reports of 2016, 2017 and 2018, will there be any issue of not using latest financial statements. This is because most of companies are also reporting on quarterly basis and might release quarter 4 accounts soon after year end although the Annual report might be issued later on.
I wanted your guidance that should I go on with these annual reports without worrying or will I have to alter the research later on after new financial results are released.
Thanks alot in advance for you time and consideration.
If you look at page page 16 of the Information Pack you will see that you are not compelled to use any annual reports that were released after 90 days before the submission window opens which works out at annual reports published before the beginning of February. It is unlikely that any company with a 31 December year end will have these in the public domain by that date and therefore using 31 December 2018 as the last of the 3 years is perfectly reasonable as these are in fact the ‘latest’ in accordance with the rules.
Quarterly reports are unaudited and therefore you are justified in sticking with the audited financial statements so 2016, 2017 and 2018 would be the usual statements to use. Students can however CHOOSE to go with financial statements that were published within the 90 days but there is no obligation to do so.
Hi GillianM, Trephena
I am planning to submit my RAP on period 40. I have chosen Tire for my project.
CEAT Limited is my chosen company and JK Tires and industries Limited is it’s competitor.
Both Companies headquarters are in india. Their financial statements are prepared according to Accounting standards of Chartered Accountants of India. My concerns regarding these companies are as follows:
1. These companies fall under National Industrial Classification(NIC) code 22111- Manufacture of rubber tyres and tubes for Motor vehicles, Motorcycles, Scooters, three wheelers, tractors and aircrafts. Does this code fall under ICB’s classification to Tire? Can I do my research project on these companies?2.Both Companies have subsidiaries and associates so, I am going to use Standalone financial statements for both companies.
3.Tyre Products for both companies are similar. Both companies produces Tyres, tubes and flaps.Major revenue is from tyre so no segmental revenue recognition for Tubes and flaps.
4. Latest Share price for CEAT Limited is 1020 rs and 75.95 rs for jk tyres and industries Limited. Revenue is 782.05 crore difference but share price is such difference. So, does it affect for comparison?
Thank you and Regards
1. If you consult the information pack it states:
40101015 Tires (3357 in older version) – Manufacturers, distributors and retreaders of automobile, truck and motorcycle tires. I am not sure what the difference is between this and 22111 but the definitions seem to be more or less the same
2. You just need to justify this in Part 2 and ensure that you include the appropriate extracts from the financial statements in your appendix
3. Fine
4. This might be due to the group structure so see if you can find any definite reasons for the difference in share price but otherwise the whole point about using ratios for the rest of the analysis is that ratios even out many of the disparities because you are not comparing absolute numbers. For example. an organisation with a GP figure of 15% in the first instance would appear to be operating more efficiently than one with say GP % of 10% regardless of actual revenue (which might in fact hypothetically be much less than its rival)
Don’t forget to look at strategies – for some reason this passage seems only to be in the resubmission guide it applies equally to first submissions:
that for a ‘sound financial analysis’ the report should:
…put the analysis in the context of the industry or industries concerned, the relative risk of the industry, trends in the industry where appropriate and the impacts of changes in the economic, political and regulatory environment. Due cognisance should be accorded to environmental factors and sustainability in arriving at conclusions and recommendations.
In other words look at company strategies and don’t just do a SWOT and PEST as a routine exercise – ensure that you apply the factors where possible when analysing and evaluating the ratios. The decisions taken by management will be reflected in the strategies and these will have been on the factors from the SWOT and PEST – so both parts of your report should be linked.
Thanks a lot @trephena for your response. your response has build up my confidence. However i am still in confusion regarding industry allocation according to ICB.
I wonder if there is any basis to compare national industrial classification(NIC) of India and ICB. How do I know whether these companies under NIC falls under the category of ICB. Should I go further for these companies?Hello,
I am planning to do RAP with Hyundai motors, and KIA motors as a comparison target.
I wonder if i can use two companies in a same group as KIA is a subsidiary of Hyundai.Thank you!
@binodbaniya – all I can suggest is that you contact OBU yourself at acca@brookes.ac.uk and check with them about the classifications
@hossnu said:
@GilliaMHello,
I am planning to do RAP with Hyundai motors, and KIA motors as a comparison target.
I wonder if I can use two companies in the same group as KIA is a subsidiary of Hyundai.Thank you!
@phillips – Period 40
@hossnu- I don’t think this is permissible but you could check yourself with acca@brookes.ac.uk so that you get a definitive answer
Hi everyone. I have chosen Topic 8 and the companies both have the same year end, June, but what I wanted to just confirm is that the 2019 Annual Reports have been released (i.e. SOFP and SOPL for June 2019) so obviously the 2020 will be submitted by June 2020 that would be out of the timeline for May 2020 submission.
So I am required to consider AR June 2019, 2018, and 2017 right?
Also, if both the companies issue Quarterly reports am I required to consider those as well in the analysis or just the audited Annual Reports are to be considered as a basis of analysis for Topic 8. Of course the changes or any significant impact on the companies that has been discussed in any of the quarter would need to be discussed in the RAP right?
Looking forward to the reply.
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