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Assessment Coursework 2025-26

Module Title: Business Finance

Module Code: NBS-6140A

Assessment Question

Title:

Corporate Financial Analysis of a FTSE Listed Company.

(Two files for submission: an investment report document (Word Length: 2,500 words) & an Excel data file)

Objectives:

This assessment aims to develop your ability to:

1. Collect and analyse corporate financial data from reliable sources.

2. Apply modern corporate finance theories to real-world contexts.

3. Communicate financial insights effectively in professional report format.

4. Critically evaluate the use of Generative AI tools in academic and analytical work.

Coursework Description:

You will act as a financial analyst to produce a professional corporate financial analysis report on a publicly listed FTSE company assigned to you, using data sources including the company’s Annual Reports, Yahoo Finance, FAME, LSEG Workspace, or Bloomberg.

The file “NBS-6140A Firm-Student ID 2025-26.xlsx” provided in the Assessment folder on the Blackboard site of the module assigns a real FTSE firm to each student ID. You must work on the assigned firm.   

You will prepare the report in Microsoft Word for the Board of Directors and record your data analysis work in an Excel file.

· The report, includes all of the following five sections, should not exceed 2,500 words in total apart from title page, table of contents, tables, figures, references and appendices.

· The report should adopt tables and figures to support your analysis and discussion, and they should be contained and discussed in the main body of the report, not in some appendix.

· All data, facts, and ideas from external sources must be cited within the text and included in a reference list. Use UEA Harvard referencing system:

https://my.uea.ac.uk/departments/learning-enhancement/help-with-your-studies/resources/academic-writing-and-study-skills/academic-integrity-and-referencing.

· You should use Generative AI responsibly and follow the UEA Generative AI Policy for Teaching and Learning (pay special attention to Section 5.1 Student Practice): https://assets.uea.ac.uk/f/185167/x/3f57af21ae/generative-ai-policy-for-teaching-and-learning.docx 

Section 1. Company Profile and Financial Performance

Present and discuss the profile of the company, including the following:

· Briefly describe the company’s core business model and main business segments, and primary strategy for value creation. Present the breakdown of shareholders (e.g., insiders, individual investors, and institutional investors). Identify and discuss the typical investor profile for the company’s stock

· Present key financial profile of the company over the past five financial years from 2020 to 2024 and discuss its evolution. Pay special attention to market capitalisation, stockholders’ equity (common stock and preferred stock), short-term and long-term debt, retained earnings, corporate tax rate, payout ratio, credit rating and ESG rating. 

· Include a comparative analysis of key financial statistics over the most recent financial year in 2024 with at least one major competitor (preferably within the same FTSE industry sector). If industry averages are used, explain the basis for their calculation. Focus on market capitalisation, revenues and profitability of these companies.

Marks: 20%; Suggested Word limit: 500 words

Section 2. Debt Policy Evaluation

Investigate the debt policy of the company, including the following:

· Analyse the company’s funding over the last five years from 2020 to 2024. Evaluate the relative importance of internal funds (retained earnings) versus external funds (debt and equity).

· Calculate the Debt-to-Equity (D/E) ratio and Interest Coverage Ratio for the past five years from 2020 to 2024 and present a trend. Compare the most recent ratios in 2024 with at least one major competitor (preferably within the same FTSE industry sector). If industry averages are used, explain the basis for their calculation.

· Critically discuss whether the company’s financing choices align more closely with the Trade-off Theory or the Pecking Order Theory, using evidence from your analysis and company characteristics (e.g., profitability, stability, asset tangibility).

Marks: 25%; Suggested Word limit: 600 words

Section 3. Payout Policy Evaluation

Examine the payout policy of the company, including the following:

· Identify how the company returns cash to shareholders (dividends and/or share buybacks) over the last five years from 2020 to 2024, including a table that shows how Earnings Per Share (EPS), dividend payout ratio, dividend yield, and dividend coverage ratio evolve during those five years. Analyse payout trends and discuss whether they are supported by earnings and cash flow performance.

· Compare the most recent payout ratios of the company with in 2024 with at least one major competitor (preferably within the same FTSE industry sector). If industry averages are used, explain the basis for their calculation. Consider whether the company appears to be paying more, less, or about average, and discuss whether this seems appropriate given its profitability, leverage, and reinvestment needs.

· Apply the Corporate Life Cycle perspective to justify whether the company’s current payout policy is appropriate for its current growth stage. Enhance your discussion with relevant corporate finance theories (e.g., Modigliani–Miller Proposition, Agency Theory, Signalling Theory where appropriate).

Marks: 25%; Suggested Word limit: 600 words

Section 4. Risk Management & Corporate Deal Analysis

Review the risk management and recent corporate transaction deals of the company, including the following:

· Based on the latest 2024 Annual Report, identify one significant market risk that arises from movements in stock prices, interest rates, exchange rates, or commodity prices. Discuss the main areas of this risk exposure and explain how the company manages this risk using the Risk Treatment Framework (Risk Reduction, Hedging, Risk Retention, or Risk Avoidance). Justify the effectiveness of these actions.

· Identify one significant corporate transaction deal (M&A, divestiture, spin-off or carve-out) undertaken in the past five years during 2020 to 2024. Discuss how it aligns with the firm’s long-term strategy, improves financial strength, or creates value for shareholders by referencing financial news or company statements.

Marks: 20%; Suggested Word limit: 500 words

Section 5: Reflection on the Use of AI   

Reflect critically on your use of Generative AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, or Deep Seek) during your report preparation:

· Describe how AI supported your work (e.g., summarising documents, finding data, explaining concepts, brainstorming, checking grammar).

· Evaluate the benefits (e.g., efficiency, research and learning support) and limitations or challenges (e.g., hallucinations, factual inaccuracies, referencing issues, risk of over-reliance).

· Explain the ways you took to tackle the challenges and maintain academic integrity.

· A high-quality reflection will go beyond description and show critical awareness of ethical, methodological, and academic integrity aspects of using AI tools.

Marks: 10%; Suggested Word limit: 300 words 

Important Coursework Requirements:

You need to submit 1) a report document (Word Length: 2,500 words) & 2) an Excel data file. The report alone counts for 100% of your grade. However, failure to submit the Excel data file will cost your marks of up to 30% and may mean that you fail the coursework.

Part 1: Coursework Report

· You should submit the investment report electronically by naming your report file with your student number: “StudentID_Report.docx”.

· Report must be word processed in Microsoft Word (or equivalent software). Font must be Times New Roman with a size of 12 points; character scale must be 100% and spacing and position should be normal (the default options); use normal margins (2.5cm on top, bottom, left and right); line spacing must be 1.5 lines with an extra line between paragraphs and headings; alignment must be justified; edit your graphs to distinguish the relevant items.

· All sections, tables and figures must be clearly titled and sequentially numbered. All tables and figures should self-explanatory and should include necessary axis definitions and legends. Apply appropriate formatting for the tables and figures. Numbers in the text, tables and figures should have a reasonable number of decimal points in order to allow an accurate representation and comparisons (usually between 2 and 4 decimal points).

· Include at least 6 references to articles in credible academic journals or professional magazines/newspapers. Do not include articles that you do not cite within your report or that you have not at least partly read. Do not use material that exists exclusively on the internet (e.g., websites, blogs, etc) or module lecture notes/slides as sources in your references.

· Provide a contents list in the beginning of the report (we do not require you to write an abstract or executive summary). Add page numbers on all pages. Include a reference list by using the Harvard referencing system.

· In each section of the report, you should also include important details about the relevant data and theoretical equations. Try to be brief and clear in your explanations. Do not include any Excel functions in your report.

· In line with normal practice in investment banking and consulting industries, you can assume that the report you will prepare may be used for both background reading and presentation purposes. You may include an appendix if you like but this is optional. Do not include the share price series in your report as we can check them in the Excel file.    

· Any questions related to the coursework should be submitted to the “Module Q+A Forum” in the Module Resources Section on the Blackboard Site of the module. You can also click on “Follow” to receive an email when a new discussion is posted. You should visit the forum regularly.

Part 2: Coursework Excel File

· You should submit the relevant Excel file electronically by naming the Excel file with your student number: “StudentID_Data.xlsx”.

· You should evaluate the reliability and timeliness of your data sources (e.g., cross-checking data between LSEG Workspace and Annual Reports).

· The calculations and data analysis should be performed using Microsoft Excel in a single workbook with multiple worksheets.

· The Excel file should contain the data used along with the relevant analysis, results, and section titles.

· Failure to submit this file will cost your marks of up to 30% and may mean that you fail the coursework.