MPA702 – Financial Interpretation - Trimester 2 2024

Assignment 2 Parts A & B– Business Report & Group Reflection Report

(Group Tasks)

DUE DATE AND TIME: Friday, 6th September 2024, by 8:00pm (AEST)
PERCENTAGE OF FINAL GRADE: 25%
WORD COUNT: 2,500 words

Description
This assessment task is divided into three parts:
Part A - Group Report – Group of 3 (20 marks) : The task focuses on developing your practical knowledge and
skills to analyse accounting information in the financial statements of an ASX listed company. You will need
to prepare a group report on the company’s financial performance and financial position trend over a period
of three years.
Part B - Teamwork review and self-evaluation (5 marks): In addition, as a team, you are required to provide
a teamwork review and self-evaluation of the team effort exerted to complete Part A (Business report).

Please see Part C instructions in a separate document under Assignment 2 folder.

Specific Requirements
Part A: Business report
This group assignment requires the completion and submission of a business report of 2,000 words that
analyses the financial position and performance of an ASX listed company for a three-year period advised by
the unit chair to your group. You will be allocated the company on which your report is to be based by the
unit chair once you have formed your group and enrolled yourselves into a group online.
Review the group formation and registration on page 4 of this document.

Please make sure that you have enrolled in a Group on our CloudDeakin site no later than Monday 19th
August 2024. You will be advised of your company via your Cloud Deakin group discussion forum after
formation of your group (within 1-2 working days).

Assume you are business consultants reporting to potential investors.

Step 1: Preparation
Review chapter 10 (ratio formulas on PP. 298-300) of the prescribed textbook and make sure you can:
1. Calculate financial ratios.
2. Interpret the meaning of each financial ratio; and
3. Use financial ratios to assess a company’s financial performance, financial position, and market
performance.
Step 2: Financial analysis
1. Calculate and analyse all relevant ratios for the three- year period required. Each group member
must calculate one year of ratios (ensuring the same formulas are used) and evidence of this
participation must be included in your group discussion on MS Teams.
 2. Analyse the changes in the following ratios of the company based on your three-year calculations:
 profitability
 operating efficiency
 liquidity and solvency
 market performance
Note:
To enable a comprehensive analysis of your company, you will need to include additional relevant
information in relation to the performance of, and existence of competitors and regulatory and/or
environmental factors influencing your company/industry. When undertaking your company research, you
must utilise current financial press (such as The Age, Financial Review, The Australian, or appropriate
relevant on-line business sites*). A minimum of four articles relevant to your company (or industry sector)
over the period of analysis must be incorporated into your report discussion.

* Appropriate business sites do not include sources such as Wikipedia, Investopedia,

MyAccountingCourse, Chat GPT or similar. These sites are not regarded as appropriate academic
sources.

Step 3: Write the group report and include all references.

Report Structure and Formatting Requirements (Your report must adhere to the structure set out below)
Section 1: Title page
The title page should be the first page of your report. It must include the following information:
 Title: ‘Analysis and interpretation of the performance of (name of company)’ Unit code and unit
name: MPA702 – Financial Interpretation
 Name of the Unit Chair: Ali Yaftian
 A table with the team number, the full names and Deakin student ID of team members and each membe
r’s contribution to the overall assignment (must be in percentage format).
 Due date Friday 6th September by 8.00pm (Melbourne Time). If granted a time extension, then the
revised date approved by the Unit Chair (show the approved date).
 The following statement:
“We certify that the attached work is entirely our own, except where material quoted or paraphrased
is acknowledged in the text. We also declare that it has not been submitted for assessment in any
other unit or course.”
Note: reports that do not contain this statement will not be assessed.
Section 2: Table of contents
Section 3: Introduction (maximum 250 words)
The introduction needs to include the company’s background the report purpose.
Section 4: Body of the report -Trend and cross-sectional financial analysis (maximum 1,500 words)
 You must use the financial ratios to analyse the company’s three years (e.g., 2021-2023)
profitability, operating efficiency, liquidity and solvency, and market performance.

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 You need to analyse whether the changes of a company’s financial position and performance are caused
by any external factors such as regulatory changes, increased market competition, changes of consumer
preferences, inflation, foreign exchange fluctuation or some other relevant events (e.g., COVID-19
pandemic, Middle East or Russia and Ukraine conflicts), especially when there are significant changes in
performance (hint: you may find this information from director’s report or media reports). Also,
remember to take all ratios, where appropriate, to two decimal places (i.e., ROE 10.75% not 11%).
 If you can find industry averages, compare a company’s financial ratios with the industry average.
However, this is not often available data. In addition, you may want to enhance the relevance of your
report by including the most recent reports released by your company, such as the mid- year e.g. 2024
report.
 This is to be presented as a business report, therefore use appropriate subheadings throughout your
report.

Section 5: conclusion (maximum 250 words)

Provide a summary of the issues raised with concluding remarks and recommendations.

Section 6: References and additional information

Students must submit a properly referenced assignment that complies with the Harvard referencing style.
This includes in-text citations and a reference list. The reference list is not included in the total word count,
and this gives flexibility as to the amount of research that is necessary to form opinions.
Please make sure that you adhere to the total word limit (2000 words for Part 1) double space, 12-point Ariel
or Times New Roman.
A 10% tolerance will be applied. A penalty of 20% will be applied to assessment of excessive length.
Each page of the report should be numbered, and every page must have a header that identifies full
name and I.D. of every contributing student, and the unit code MPA702.
You can use figures (or tables) to exhibit the trend change of a company’s financial ratios.
If figures are used, they need to be fully discussed and analysed. Figures should be numbered sequentially,
given appropriate captions, and placed in the main body of your report at suitable points. Please attach your
ratio calculations to your submission as the Appendix. The appendix is excluded from the word count.

Part B: Teamwork Review and Group Self-Evaluation (500 words)

Step 1: please use the Teamwork Review and Group Self-Evaluation Template (separate document
available on CloudDeakin site, assignment 2 folder) to discuss and reflect on the team effort to complete the
task.
Step 2: collectively address the criteria on the template.
Step 3: copy and paste the filled template into the document with your group business report (Part A).
Step 4: submit your combined document (parts A & B) for assessment.
Note: Overall word count for your collective response (Teamwork Review & self-Evaluation) should be
around 500 words (part B).

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Assignment Group Formation and Registration
All groups must consist of 3 members (group of 2 members might be allowed with the approval of the unit
chair).
You must REGISTER your group in the Cloud Deakin site for Assignment 2 Parts A & B (Group tasks). Under
the tab ‘Tools’ you will find Groups, click on this and it takes you to the Group folders where you will self-
enrol in a numbered box with your group members. Please make sure that you are enrolled in a group no
later than Monday 19th August 2024.
Students will self-select their groups. Where possible, Cloud students may wish to group with other online
students, and on campus with on campus (or a mix) but this is up to yourselves. Students will be allocated
the company on which their report is to be based once you have formed your groups and you have
enrolled yourselves into a group online from 6 th August 2024. You will be advised of your company via your
Cloud Deakin group discussion forum when your group is formed.
A student is not able to withdraw from the team if they have been allocated to in CloudDeakin unless the
student decides to withdraw from the unit. In that case, the withdrawing student must, as a courtesy, inform
the unit chair so the team impacted by the withdrawal can be informed.

Managing Teamwork
Team-work spirit - Important
Each group member is expected to contribute equally, and the assessment panel reserves the right to have a
peer performance review as part of grading of this task, should any group request it, based on group
interpretation of individual performance. Each group must submit an integrated report rather than an
assignment with disjointed pieces written by different group members. The group as a whole must ensure all
the fonts, tables, space between paragraphs and reference list are presented in a consistent manner and the
discussion in the report is presented in a logical flow.
The marking rubric for the group written report is provided at the end of this document. Please read it and
understand how your assignment will be marked. Should you need further clarification on internal
assessments, feel free to post your queries online.
To make your teamwork visible and to effectively manage your team’s tasks, communication, milestones,
files and progress, you have access to Microsoft Teams. Please use Microsoft Teams Student Support
webpage to familiarise yourself with the platform and make the most out of this feature-rich platform
designed to support online team collaboration. Additional resources to help you with using MS Teams have
been provided in the Unit Assessment folder.
Using MS Teams will also allow you to fully and constructively capture the evidence of how you
‘collaborated with peers to present and defend financial information and decisions’. This evidence is
crucial in supporting your evaluation and reflection part of this task.
Important:
Please make sure to read Assignment 2 Parts A & B brief and check the rubrics in conjunction with Part C
brief and rubric. To generate sufficient quality evidence for Part B, all critical team processes, MS Teams and
Planner setup, communication, collaboration, planning, allocation of team roles/responsibilities/tasks, goal
setting, file management, etc. must be discussed by all team members, carefully considered and put in place
BEFORE your team starts working on these parts. A list of useful resources to help you effectively manage
your team project has been provided in the Unit Assignment 2 Folder. Please study the resources thoroughly
before starting on the task.
When you create MS teams for your Assignments 2, please ensure:

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 1. Appropriate naming conventions: e.g. T2 2024 MPA702 Assignment 2 Group XX
2. You add your Unit Chair (Ali Yaftian). Please assign his role as ‘owner’.

Learning Outcomes
This task allows you to demonstrate achievement towards the unit learning outcomes. The ULOs are aligned
with specific graduate learning outcomes – that is, the skills and knowledge graduates are expected to have
upon completion of their studies – and this assessment task is an important tool in determining achievement
of those outcomes.
If you do not demonstrate achievement of the unit learning outcomes, you will not be successful in this unit.
It is good practice to familiarise yourself with the ULOs and GLOs as they provide guidance on the
knowledge, understanding and skills you’re expected to demonstrate upon completion of the unit. In this
way they can be used to guide your study.

Unit Learning Outcomes (ULO) Graduate Learning Outcomes (GLO)

ULO 1: Assess the financial standing of an GLO 1 Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities:
entity by examining relevant financial appropriate to the level of study related to a discipline or
information and identify how disclosure profession.
techniques can support business
decisions.

ULO 3: Collaborate with peers to present GLO 7: working and learning with others from different
and defend financial information and disciplines and backgrounds.
decisions.

Submission
 The written report which includes Team Member’s Collective Statements on the template must be
submitted electronically in the assignment dropbox in the MPA702 CloudDeakin unit site on or before
the due date.
 Each group must nominate one member to upload the report. When uploading your report, name your
document using the following syntax: <Group number XX_MPA702.doc (or ‘.docx’). For example, ‘Group
XX_MPA702.doc’.
 You must keep a backup copy of every assignment you submit, until the marked assignment has been
released to you. In the unlikely event that one of your assignments is misplaced, you will need to submit
your backup copy.
 Any work you submit may be checked by electronic or other means for the purposes of detecting
collusion and/or plagiarism.
 When you submit an assignment through your CloudDeakin unit site, you will receive an email to your
Deakin email address confirming that it has been submitted. You should check that you can see your
assignment in the Submissions view of the Assignment Dropbox folder after upload, and check for, and
keep, the email receipt for the submission.

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Marking and feedback
 The marking rubric for this task is included at the end of this document. It is always a useful exercise
to familiarise yourself with the criteria before completing any assessment task. Criteria act as a
boundary around the task and help identify what assessors are looking for specifically in your
submission. The criteria are drawn from the unit’s learning outcomes ensuring they align with
appropriate graduate attribute/s.
 Identifying the standard, you aim to achieve is also a useful strategy for success and to that end,
familiarising yourself with the descriptor for that standard is highly recommended.
 Students who submit their work by the due date will receive their marks and feedback on
CloudDeakin 15 working days after the submission date.

Extensions
Extensions can only be granted for exceptional and/or unavoidable circumstances outside of your control.
Requests for extensions must be made by 12 noon on the submission date using the online Extension
Request form under the Assessment tab on the unit CloudDeakin site. All requests for extensions should be
supported by appropriate evidence (e.g., a medical certificate in the case of ill health).

Applications for extensions after 12 noon on the submission date require University level special
consideration and these applications must be must be submitted via StudentConnect in your DeakinSync
site.

Late submission penalties

If you submit an assessment task after the due date without an approved extension or special consideration,
5% will be deducted from the available marks for each day after the due date up to seven days*. Work
submitted more than seven days after the due date will not be marked and will receive 0% for the task. The
Unit Chair may refuse to accept a late submission where it is unreasonable or impracticable to assess the
task after the due date. *'Day' means calendar day for electronic submissions and working day for paper
submissions.

An example of how the calculation of the late penalty based on an assignment being due on a Thursday at
8:00pm is as follows:

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  1 day late: submitted after Thursday 11:59pm and before Friday 11:59pm– 5% penalty.
 2 days late: submitted after Friday 11:59pm and before Saturday 11:59pm – 10% penalty.
 3 days late: submitted after Saturday 11:59pm and before Sunday 11:59pm – 15% penalty.
 4 days late: submitted after Sunday 11:59pm and before Monday 11:59pm – 20% penalty.
 5 days late: submitted after Monday 11:59pm and before Tuesday 11:59pm – 25% penalty.
 6 days late: submitted after Tuesday 11:59pm and before Wednesday 11:59pm – 30% penalty.
 7 days late: submitted after Wednesday 11:59pm and before Thursday 11:59pm – 35% penalty.

The Dropbox closes the Thursday after 11:59pm AEST/AEDT time.

Support
The Division of Student Life provides a range of Study Support resources and services, available throughout
the academic year, including Writing Mentor and Maths Mentor online drop ins and the SmartThinking 24
hour writing feedback service at this link. If you would prefer some more in depth and tailored support,
make an appointment online with a Language and Learning Adviser.

Referencing and Academic Integrity

Deakin takes academic integrity very seriously. It is important that you (and if a group task, your group)
complete your own work in every assessment task Any material used in this assignment that is not your
original work must be acknowledged as such and appropriately referenced. You can find information about
referencing (and avoiding breaching academic integrity) and other study support resources at the following
website: http://www.deakin.edu.au/students/study-support

Your rights and responsibilities as a student

As a student you have both rights and responsibilities. Please refer to the document Your rights and
responsibilities as a student in the Unit Guide & Information section in the Content area in the CloudDeakin
unit site.

[Rubric is added on the following page]

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 T2 2024 MPA702 Assignment 2 - Parts A&B Rubric- Group Business Report and Teamwork Review and Group Self-Evaluation
Performance
N (0-29)% N (30-49)% P (50-59)% C (60-69)% D (70-79)% HD (80-100)%
Levels/Criteria
Use financial Extracts the most Extracts the most Extracts the most Extracts the most Extracts the most Accurately and in full
ratios to relevant financial relevant financial relevant financial relevant financial relevant financial extracts the most relevant
information from a information from a information from a information from a information from a financial information from
determine
company’s annual company’s annual company’s annual company’s annual company’s annual a company’s annual
financial health of reports with reports with reports with some reports with minimal reports with minor reports.
a company. numerous and significant errors. errors. errors. errors. Correctly and in full
significant errors. Identifies and Identifies and Identifies and Identifies and identifies and categorises
Identifies and categorises data categorises data with categorises data with categorises data with data.
categorises data with with significant some minimal minor Uses correct formulas to
ULO1 and GLO1 significant and errors/omissions. errors/omissions. errors/omissions. errors/omissions. calculate 4 sets of ratios (a
numerous Uses incorrect Uses correct Uses correct Uses correct formulas company’s three years’
(5 marks) errors/omissions. formulas to formulas to calculate formulas to calculate to calculate 4 sets of profitability, operating
Uses incorrect calculate 4 sets of 4 sets of ratios (a 4 sets of ratios (a ratios (a company’s efficiency, liquidity,
formulas to calculate ratios (a company’s company’s three company’s three three years’ profitability, solvency and market
4 sets of ratios (a three years’ years’ profitability, years’ profitability, operating efficiency, performance) resulting in
company’s three years’ profitability, operating efficiency, operating efficiency, liquidity, solvency and an accurate evaluation
profitability, operating operating efficiency, liquidity, solvency and liquidity, solvency and market performance) of a company's financial
efficiency, liquidity, liquidity, solvency market performance) market performance) resulting in an accurate health.
solvency and market and market resulting in an resulting in an evaluation of a
performance) resulting performance) accurate evaluation accurate evaluation company's financial
in an inaccurate resulting in an of a company's of a company's health.
evaluation of a inaccurate financial health. financial health.
company's financial evaluation of a
health. company's
financial health.
Synthesise Conducts a limited Conducts a limited Conducts a fair but Conducts an Conducts a Conducts a
gathered financial analysis of each analysis of each inconsistent adequate analysis of
comprehensive comprehensive,
individual ratio. individual ratio. analysis of each each individual ratio.
analysis of each insightful and thorough
information and
Current/future trends Inconsistently individual ratio. Adequately individual ratio. analysis of each individual
produce a are not synthesises financial Fairly but synthesises financial
Comprehensively ratio.
balanced analysis identified/explained. data to identify inconsistently data to identify current
synthesises financial Comprehensively and
of the evidence. current and future synthesises financial and future trends as
data to identify current insightfully synthesises
trends as well as data to identify current well as their directions,
and future trends as well financial data to identify
their directions, and future trends as effects, as their directions, current and future trends
effects, well as their directions, implications/impact.
effects, as well as their directions,
ULO1 and GLO1 implications/impact. effects, Integrates key implications/impact. effects,
Fails to integrate any implications/impact. relevant Provides implications/impact.
(10 marks) relevant Integrates some theories/frameworks/
comprehensively Provides
theories/frameworks/ relevant concepts from a range
rationalised and comprehensively
concepts to theories/frameworks/ of business/non- slightly biased rationalised and
substantiate concepts from a range business disciplines.
professional unbiased professional
current/future of business/non- Considers key judgement by judgement by
trends. business disciplines. relevant external integrating a sufficient seamlessly integrating a
Considers some and internal factors
range of relevant wide range of relevant
relevant external that play/will play a
theories/frameworks/con theories/frameworks/conce
and internal factors role in the identified
cepts from a range of pts from a range of
that play/will play a current and future business/non-business business/non-business
role in the identified trends. disciplines. disciplines.
current and future Considers most Considers all relevant
trends. relevant external and external and internal
internal factors that factors that play/will play
play/will play a role in a role in the identified
the identified current current and future trends.
and future trends.
Develop, The report is poorly Writing lacks Presents a fair but Presents an adequate Presents a Presents a
structure, and structured/incoherent structure, sometimes report with coherent comprehensive and comprehensive, concise
communicate a . coherence and inconsistent report and consistent concise global report and insightful report with
logic. with some errors in structure, content, tone with coherent and coherent and audience-
Group Business Multiple errors in the structure, content, tone and formatting. audience appropriate appropriate structure,
Report. use of language, Multiple errors in and formatting. structure, content, tone content, tone and
presenting visuals (if the use of language, Minimal errors in the and consistent consistent formatting.
included) and presenting visuals (if Some errors in the use use of language and formatting.
formatting. included) and of language and presenting visuals (if Demonstrates persuasive
(5 marks)
formatting. presenting visuals ((if included). Fluent use of language and fluent use of language
No/very limited included). Uses a and minor errors in and impactful use of
adherence to Harvard V Includes limited or limited range of Sources are referenced presenting visuals. visuals.
referencing standards. out of date industry
sources, and references with minimal errors
and academic
are dated or from less using Harvard-style. Uses multiple credible Uses a wide range of
evidence (over- Some references are industry and academic credible, relevant and

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 reliance on social credible sources. dated or from less sources. Sources are recent industry and
media sources). credible sources referenced with minor academic sources. All
Demonstrates limited Sources are referenced errors using Harvard- sources are accurately
adherence to with some errors style. referenced using Harvard-
Harvard referencing using Harvard-style. style.
standards.
Use interpersonal Hardly interacted with Interaction with team Overall, treated team Most of the time Consistently treated Consistently treated team
skills and team members and no members was scarce. members respectfully treated team members team members members respectfully and
behaviours to plausible reason was and empathetically by respectfully and respectfully and empathetically by being
provided. Poor diversity being polite and empathetically by being empathetically by being polite and constructive in all
foster awareness. constructive in all team polite and constructive polite and constructive in team interactions.
collaboration and
interactions. in all team interactions. all team interactions.
team cohesion. Failed to prevent or Consistently demonstrated
address major Sometimes Regularly Consistently positive attitude about the
impasses or conflicts. demonstrated positive demonstrated positive demonstrated positive team and its work, eg using
ULO3 and GLO7
attitude about the team attitude about the team attitude about the team positive vocal/written tone,
(5 marks) and its work, eg using and its work, eg using and its work, eg using facial expressions, and/or
positive vocal or written positive vocal or written positive vocal/written body language, appreciating
tone, facial expressions, tone, facial expressions, tone, facial expressions, and recognising team
and/or body language, and/or body language, and/or body language, members, taking full control
appreciating and appreciating and appreciating and of how responses were
recognising team recognising team recognising team handled, etc.
members, taking full members, taking full members, taking full
control of how control of how control of how responses Consistently employed a
responses were handled, responses were handled, were handled, etc. range of effective active
etc. etc. communication
Consistently employed strategies with all team-
Overall, respectfully Employed some of a range of effective members, eg: paying
communicated and effective active active communication attention, deferring
listened to all team- listening strategies strategies with all judgement, providing
members’ perspectives. with most team team-members, eg: feedback, considering other
members, e.g.: paying paying attention, team members’ perspectives
attention, deferring deferring judgement, and showing engagement.
judgement, providing providing feedback, Proactively prevented
feedback, considering considering other team and/or constructively
other team members’ members’ perspectives addressed team conflicts in
perspectives and and showing engagement. a timely manner.
showing engagement. Constructively
Used some conflict addressed team conflicts Proactively and
resolution strategies. in a timely manner. consistently contributed to
team processes, eg setting
team goals, setting and
achieving project

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 milestones, fair workload
sharing and team
productivity.
Overall N N P C D HD
25 marks 0 or above% 30 or above% 50 or above% 60 or above% 70 or above% 80 or above%

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