Ac F100 shareprice report 1819 PDF

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ACF 100 INTRODUCTION TO ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE Lent / Summer Term 2019: Share Price Analysis – Group Report and Presentation tasks

This outline provides information about: (1) The group written report (Task 1); (2) The group presentations (Task 2) and (3) Working in a group (Appendix). These tasks must be carried out in your allocated project group. The project groups will mainly be as allocated in the previous term (See Moodle for group lists). Please note that there have been some minor amendments – it is your responsibility to check which group you are in. Each group is required to produce a written report and accompanying presentation on their allocated project company as detailed below. The main project company will be allocated to your group.

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TASK 1: THE GROUP WRITTEN REPORT A. AIMS OF THE WRITTEN REPORT: The aim of the report is to describe your allocated company, at least two competitor companies (from the FTSE 100) and the industry (or industries) in which they operate. In addition to this you will outline the share price movements for the company, competitor(s) and FTSE 100 index over the study period and in relation to a particular event. The study period is from 1 st February 2018 – 31st January 2019. The report should be a maximum of 2,000 words long (excluding plots and references). This is worth 5% of the AcF100 coursework. The deadline is specified in Part D. The report will include: a. b. c. d. e.

A title page containing name of report and name of all team members A contents page An executive summary A brief introduction outlining the topic coverage of your report Company analysis: section explaining about share price movements and news for your allocated company (see below for details). f. Competitor analysis: section explaining about the share price movements and news for your two competitor companies, making comparisons to the main company and its industry (see below for details). g. Event analysis: section detailing share price movements in response to a company-specific event (see below for details). h. A conclusion which summarises your findings i. A reference list j. An appendix containing the group contribution sheet and group coursework declaration sheet (the contribution and declaration sheets are required in hard copy only) You may also decide to include further data within your Appendix. PLEASE NOTE: You may include quotations in this report and all ideas/knowledge should be acknowledged by citations, as appropriate. Please remember to also include the full reference in the reference list. COMPANY ANALYSIS Group Task: The group should describe the allocated company and the industry in which they operate. You should then collect share prices for the main company and the FTSE 100 index over the study period. The study period is from 1st February 2018 – 31st January 2019. The group should also research news related to the company and industry. Summary of FTSE 100: http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/prices-andmarkets/stocks/indices/summary/summary-indices.html?index=UKX The company analysis section of the report should include a plot of your main project company share price over the study period using Microsoft Excel (including relevant titles etc) relative to the movements in the FTSE 100 index. In the discussion for this section of the report, you should relate the plot as far as possible to important economic or other events over that period. This discussion should be related to relevant research from the financial press (e.g. newspapers) and movements in the FTSE 100 index. For help on using Nexis to search UK newspapers, FAME to search company 2

financial information and Marketline to search company profiles and news articles, see the Help Guide slides available on ACF100 Moodle. For the purpose of plotting movements relative to the FTSE 100 index, the group should determine the most appropriate method of showing this comparison. You should however note that showing both a share price for a company of 300p and a FTSE figure of 7,000 on the same graph may restrict the ability of the group to observe fluctuations effectively. COMPETITOR ANALYSIS Group Task: The group should collect share prices for the two comparator companies (guidance on choosing appropriate comparators is below). The group should also research press coverage for the comparator companies. In the competitor analysis section of the report, you should include a plot of the share price of the competitor(s) over the study period relative to movements in the FTSE 100 index (guidelines on choosing competitor companies are provided below) using Microsoft Excel (including relevant titles etc). You should outline why you chose the competitor companies and explain in what sense your chosen companies are close competitors and in what sense they are not close competitors. In addition, you should assess major economic and other events that have affected these competitors and their share price over the project period (from 1st February 2018 – 31st January 2019). You may wish to discuss factors which have affected the sector as a whole. You should compare and contrast these events and share price movements in your comparator companies with what has happened to the project company over the project period and movements in the FTSE 100 index, as appropriate. In addition you should consider why there are differences/similarities in share price movements in the project company and comparator companies’ share prices over the study period. For the purpose of plotting movements relative to the FTSE 100 index, the group should determine the most appropriate method of showing this comparison. You should however note that showing both a share price for a company of 300p and a FTSE figure of 7,000 on the same graph may restrict the ability of the group to observe fluctuations effectively.

EVENT ANALYSIS Group Task: The group should decide on an event (guidelines on choosing an event are provided below) for further analysis. You should collect share price data for main company, comparators and FTSE 100 index for 10 working days before and 10 working days after the event. For the event analysis section of the report, there should be a single major event discussed. Using Microsoft Excel (including relevant titles etc), plot the daily share price for 10 working days either side of the announcement (i.e. 10 working days before and 10 working days after). The plot should be re-based as demonstrated in lectures [It is important to obtain the first date such an announcement appears in the press, since any market reaction is likely to occur at that time.] A similar plot should also be done for the close competitors and for the FTSE 100 index for the same 20 days on the same chart. In the discussion, assess the nature of and possible reasons for the stock market reaction / nonreaction to your selected major event (a non-reaction might also be significant if you had expected 3

some reaction). Relate your assessment to any press coverage at that time, and contrast company specific share price reaction with overall market (FTSE 100 index) movements over the same days and also with share price movements of the competitor. [The latter comparisons are to try to isolate firm specific effects from overall market movements.

B. GUIDELINES FOR CHOOSING COMPETITOR COMPANIES Group Task: From the information obtained about the sector of the allocated project company from newspapers, FAME and Marketline (Help on using FAME and Marketline is available from Moodle), the group should decide on two comparator companies. The group should consider in what sense the comparators are similar to your main company, and in what sense they are different (e.g. products, geographical operations, strategy etc). The comparator companies must be listed and quoted on the London Stock Exchange and MUST be a member of the FTSE 100 Index. You must be able to get stock prices from the London Stock Exchange for the companies chosen. Note: You can check this on FAME – your company should be ‘public quoted’ (plc). If your company is smaller than any potential competitor company this does not matter as you will still be able to collect the necessary information for both companies. You will still be able to compare and contrast events and share price movements with what has happened to the project company over the project period. Your group should select two competitor competitors before your week 3 Lent Term Workshop. You will be asked by your tutor in the week 3 workshop to identify your competitors. Please come and see me during my office consultation hours or contact me by email ([email protected]) if you are having problems identifying relevant competitors for your main company.

C. GUIDELINES FOR CHOOSING AN EVENT Group Task: Select a single major event at any date between from 1st February 2018 – 31st January 2019 affecting your project company. The event should not be one that primarily affects the economy as a whole. The major event must therefore be specific to your project company such as a press release of interim or annual earnings, or of say a major report affecting the particular project company industry, or announcement of a take-over bid. Please note these are just examples, other types of event may be equally relevant. For this event, you should collect the daily share prices for your main company for 10 working days either side of the announcement of the event. Please note: It is important to obtain the first date such an announcement appears in the press, since any market reaction is likely to occur at that time. Therefore the group should take care to search a number of sources to ensure it identifies the correct date. Your group should also collect share price data for your comparative companies and the FTSE 100 index for the same 20 days. In addition, the group should identify any relevant newspaper articles relating to the event and refer to these as necessary in the main report. You must agree as a group your single major event with your tutor before week 18 (week 8 of the Lent term). 4

D. DEADLINE FOR GROUP REPORT This report must be word processed in Microsoft Word and submitted in both soft and hard copy. The deadline for all soft copies (i.e. electronic submission via the AcF100 Moodle site) is Wednesday 1st May 2019 1:00PM. Please note: late mark penalties will be applied if the soft copy of your group’s piece is not submitted by this deadline. The hard copy of your report should be submitted in your workshop class during week 2 of Summer term (week commencing 29th April 2019). The hard copy must contain a signed group coursework declaration sheet which is signed by all members and the group contribution sheet. Please ensure the names of all team members are included on the hard and soft copy of your report. Week 2 of Summer term is actually the first week back after the Easter vacation. Therefore if your group does not manage to submit their report prior to the Easter vacation, it is up to the group to make appropriate arrangements to work together as appropriate during the vacation to ensure that the report is finished and submitted by the deadline. Please note: The Department reserves the right to adjust coursework marks after coursework has been returned to students in order to ensure that the coursework marks have an appropriate distribution.

E. USEFUL RESOURCES FOR REPORT 

Web-based resources: The group could collect daily share price data from the Financial Times or from a web source such as www.yahoo.co.uk for the study period. The share prices should be saved in Microsoft Excel.

 Electronic Databases: Two on-line databases may be of use to you for the project – Marketline and Fame. These can be accessed from the library’s OneSearch system. Helpguides for FAME and Marketline are available from AcF100 Moodle. Marketline

Marketline contains profiles of 10,000 companies and 2,500 industries in over 50 countries. It also has access to newspaper stories, industry analysis.

FAME

FAME contains financial statement data and comparative company data for UK companies (public and private).

 Newspapers: The group should access FT.com [using the library website], Nexis [Accessible via OneSearch] and other electronic newspapers to collect relevant newspaper clippings about your company and its sector. The group should keep notes on its findings and take particular care to ensure it keeps accurate records of the references of material found for the report/presentation. Help guides for Nexis and FT.com are available from AcF100.

F.

GUIDANCE ON REFERENCING 5

You should also use good referencing practice throughout your piece by using citations throughout to acknowledge the source of your knowledge. Also all share price charts in your piece should include an acknowledgement of the data source used. The LUMS reference guide is attached on Moodle and should be the initial source for referencing questions as it contains examples for referencing all potential types of material, both in the reference list and in text citations. A reference list should be provided at the end of your report, which refers only to those sources, books, articles and website addresses you have actually used in writing your report. The reference list is not included in the word count. The Department of Accounting and Finance has adopted the Harvard system of referencing. Please take care to ensure your material is referenced and remember all group members are jointly responsible for ensuring material is appropriately acknowledged in your group work submitted.

G. GUIDANCE ON FORMATTING YOUR REPORT Your report should be word-processed with 1.5 line spacing. An appropriate font size to use is Times New Roman size 12 (or similar) for the main body text. You may wish to enlarge the font size used for any headings/title of your report. To help the marker, you may also wish to leave a line between each paragraph and indent the start of each paragraph. The share price charts may be incorporated within the text or included as an appendix. Please ensure the charts are properly labelled and the sources of data are properly acknowledged. These charts should be drawn in Microsoft Excel, rather than ‘cut and pasted’ from internet sources. Your report should also include an executive summary, which summarises your main findings. This should be no more than 250 words long and is included in the word count. The sections/subsections of your report should be clearly titled. Please note: The reference list is not included in the word count, but citations within the text are included in the word count. There is no 10% allowance in the word count and if you go over the word limit, you will be penalised for this. Ensure all pages are correctly numbered and include a word count at the end of the document. Your report should have a title page which includes the names and student numbers of team members. You should also include a signed group coursework declaration sheet with your report in the hard copy version. In addition, the group should include a completed team contribution sheet in the hard copy version. You should include a table of contents (you may use your word-processing package to do this for you). A common mistake in reports is to report on everything. This is not necessary. It is important to focus on the key issues. Additional material should be placed in an appendix, but be selective. However, if you include material in an appendix, it is important to refer this in the main text of your report (Note: the appendix is not usually included within the word count, but it should not be seen as a dumping ground for material exceeding the word limit.).

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TASK 2: THE GROUP PRESENTATION TASK A. CONTENT OF PRESENTATION: Each project group is required to give an oral presentation of their work on the project to their tutor and class in the Week 2 workshop in the summer term. Week 2 of Summer term is actually the first week back after the Easter vacation. Therefore it is strongly recommended that you finish your presentation prior to the Easter vacation and make arrangements to meet up immediately upon your return. Please NOTE that your presentations will take place at a different time slot to your normal workshop. Therefore it is imperative that you check your allocated time slot on your timetable. Some of these sessions take place on Monday 29th April 2019. Therefore it is strongly recommended that you keep in contact with your group during the Easter vacation so you are well prepared to deliver your presentation when you return to university. Each group is allocated a 10 minute slot and it is advised that the group aims to talk for 8 minutes to leave 2 minutes for questions. It is important that you keep to your allocated time. This is worth 5% of the AcF100 coursework. As a brief guide the presentation should include the following issues:  Identify your main company and the competitor companies and the reasons for the choice of competitors  Consider the similarities and differences between the main and competitor companies (products produced/sold, strategy, size, markets operated in etc).  What has happened to the project company share price over the period, comparing it with what has happened to the competitors’ share prices and the stock market index in general. Such price movement should be broadly linked with economic and other events over the project period. Identify any unusual movements in the stock price  How the stock market has reacted to the event chosen in the Event Analysis section of the share price project report, with a brief discussion of how this links with relevant press coverage.  How the group process has operated in managing and tackling the project, and what the group members feel they have learnt from it. [This will need to have been discussed between group members to some extent before the presentation and can include reflections on how, with the experience gained, a similar project group might be organised differently if a similar task were performed in the future.]

B. PRACTICALITIES OF PRESENTATION In doing group presentations, please remember you will only have the facilities available in the workshop room, so you will need to check what is there in the room in advance of the presentation. Your tutor will bring along whiteboard pens, but you will need to arrange for any other materials which you wish to use for your presentation. Please bring along your slides on a pen-drive as there will not be time to login to your network area on the machine during the class. Please ensure you arrive on time at the start of the class for the group presentations. WARNING: It is at the discretion of the marker to award zero to groups which arrive late to the presentation class. 7

C. ORAL PRESENTATIONS GENERAL GUIDANCE Oral presentations should get easier the more you give them. A frequent reaction after giving your first presentation is 'that wasn't so bad but I'd make a better job if I gave it again'. This hints that the key to a good talk is preparation. Be well prepared, practise your talk beforehand. Transforming what you did or what you have found out into a presentation involves hard work. Preparation isn't just practice. Before you draft what you will say, remember:  Decide what you would like the audience to learn from your presentation.  Get the overall picture clear in your mind so you can decide on a logical order for the content  Distil from the mass of information you have accumulated, the points that need to be made at each stage The following points refer mainly to the mechanics of the presentation itself. 1. Plan the structure of your talk, preparing themes for your slides. 2. Make the content of your talk coherent. 3. Normally keep diagrams on slides to one per slide, making them as large as possible. Make the writing on the slides large enough to be completely clear from the back of the room. 4. It's not essential but it's a good idea to begin the presentation with a slide showing a clear title, the author(s) n...