Provide a comparative analysis of the businesses and their financial performance

Question 1 (maximum 800 words – 20 marks)

KIER GROUP plc – www.kier.co.uk (2017 Annual Report)
KELLER GROUP plc – www.keller.com (2016 Annual Report)

You are required to examine in detail the latest available Annual Report of each company whose name and website address is given above, in order to:
• Calculate and comment on the Return On Capital Employed (for both years shown)

• Provide a comparative analysis of the businesses and their financial performance with regard to EITHER:
o Pricing and cost management OR
o Capital structure
Your submission should use relevant key financial ratios to analyse the following financial statements in the Annual Reports:

• Consolidated/Group Balance Sheet (or Statement of Financial Position)
• Consolidated/Group Income Statement (or Profit and Loss Account)

The behaviour of the ratios that you calculate for both years covered by the latest annual report should be explained using appropriate references to:

i. Relevant Notes to the Accounts where appropriate

ii. Board Members reports* e.g.:
• Chairman’s statement
• Chief Executive Officers Review
• Financial Directors Report / Financial review
• Business review or equivalent

with specific attention being given to demonstrating your ability to relate the financial analysis to the characteristics of the two companies, their industry and market conditions and the ability to draw concise and meaningful conclusions from the analysis. All quotes from these reports must be clearly referenced.
Advised structure of your answer to Q1:

• Brief introduction to the objectives of the analysis and the companies’ activities

• Selection and calculation of for both years of ratios relevant to question set

• Comparison of performance for both years and both companies with proposed explanations based on relevant information found in the Annual Reports

• Conclusion summarizing main findings

Please note:
i. All calculations must be shown and should be incorporated into the main body of the analysis
ii. Any figures used in your analysis which are not shown on the face of the main financial statements must be clearly referenced.
iii. Occasionally some of the ratios may already be included in the annual report – you must still prepare your own calculation and comment on your own results.

You do not need to submit copies of the statements from Annual Report