1.

Assignment task
You are required to write a report analysing the trends in financial performance of the Broome Port Authority
over the last five years. To complete this task you must conduct ratio analysis of the financial data provided the
organisations annual reports for 2010 to 2014.You are required to use the tools within EXCEL to prepare your
calculations, charts and/or tables. You will then write a report in which you will comment on the results of
your ratio calculations with consideration of the internal and external influences on the operations of the
organisation.
The annual reports for the Broome Port Authority are available on MyLO and the organisations website see
http://www.broomeport.wa.gov.au/.
Calculating your ratios
To analyse the financial statements you should use the following ratios only:
1. Return on shareholders equity
2. Return on total assets
3. Profit margin
4. Current ratio
5. Cash flows from operations
6. Debt
7. Interest cover
8. Debt cover

Remember that some figures may be found in the notes to the financial statements rather than in
the actual statements themselves.
You are required to use the formulas and functions within Excel to calculate the ratios and produce charts and
tables to be included in your report. You are required to submit your Excel workbook and your submission
should include:

a worksheet for calculations and

a second worksheet showing charts produced from the calculations.

You will be assessed on your use of formulas and functions and the presentation of information in graphs or
tables. Please note, generally ratios would not be graphed individually, but grouped together logically to provide
useful information. For example, if your company experienced liquidity problems then the liquidity ratios could
be shown in one graph indicating the trend you will be identifying in your report. Please ensure any graphs or
tables included in the report are correctly labelled.

2. Writing your Report

Your report should be presented as a business report. Asuggested format is providedin the following section.
Your report should look as professional as possible, so please take care with the format and presentation of the
information in your report. All tables and charts should be suitably labelled. You may use sub-headings and dot
points in the report if you wish, but make sure you always use complete sentences and do not rely on headings to
link the flow of the discussion.
You will need to research information about the organisation, the industry and the economic environment.Please
note as a university student you are expected to acknowledge the source of all the information used in your
report.If you are not familiar with the Harvard Referencing Method, then the following link provides information
about how to correctly reference in your assignment:
The word limit for this report is a maximum. You should not exceed 1500 words. Your word limit will not
include your title page, contents page, calculations, graphs, appendices or reference list.
NB The report must be submitted with an assignment coversheet available at:

3. Report Format
The following headings do not represent all of the information expected in a professional business report. These
headings have been selected as being the most appropriate to your level of study and the report that you need to
write. Your report should include the following:
Title page should include the name of the organisation, Student name and ID number, tutorial group/time and
the date of submission.
Executive summary- summarises the purpose and findings of the report (approximately 200-300 words)
Table of Contents helps the reader locate sections within the report
Introduction provide background information on the topic of the report to engage the readers interest in the
topic. The introduction should also include a Statement of Purpose which will familiarise the reader with the
structure and purpose of what they are about to read.
Discussion - In the body of report you should use headings and sub headings. The information you should cover
in the discussion includes:
a. An overview of the organisation and any influences on its operations over the period of time under review.
For example have there been any major events or circumstances affecting the company over the period
being examined?Or are there any economic or other factors affecting the industry in which the company
operates? (e.g. exchange rate fluctuations, drought affecting production etc).
b. Analysis of the ratios for each group of ratios Profitability, Liquidity and Capital Structure you are
required to provide the following:
o

Suitably labelled and formatted charts or tables to illustrate your results

Discussion on each ratio in turn, indicating what the trend is showing over the five years.
Your discussion should relate to any identified influencing factors.
2

Having considered each ratio under this heading you should conclude how the company is
faring in terms of the overall ratio grouping.

Conclusionand summary Provide an overall summary of the performance of the company as revealed by your
analysis over the period being examined.Remind the reader of the main point(s) of the report and create the
feeling of closing or rounding off the discussion. (You do not have to reach any overall conclusions about the
organisation).
Reference List this is a list of all the sources of information used in your report. Make sure your references are
correctly formatted (see the link to Harvard referencing style below).

Appendicesshould include a summary table of all the results of your calculations.

4.

Resources
There are many sources of information about how to interpret ratios and how to provide an analysis of an
organisation. Your textbook (the first reference below) provides a commentary on analysis and interpretation.
The second reference below is a good guide as to how to properly structure a report of this nature. The MLM
Toolkit provides general information about preparing assignments.
Birt, J, Chalmers, K, Byrne, S, Brooks, A, Byrne, S & Oliver, J 2012, Accounting business reporting for decision
making, 4th edition, Wiley, Melbourne.
Fleet, W., Summers, J., and Smith, B., 2004, Communication Skills Handbook for Accounting, John Wiley and
Sons Australia, Milton.
Maritime Logistics Management Tool Kit
https://www.amc.edu.au/alt/mlm/toolbox/01gettingstarted/accessingresources.html
5. Assessment
An assessment rubric accompanies this assignment brief. You need to read this rubric carefully as it indicates
how you will be assessed and what marks are allocated to each part of the assignment.
6. Submitting your assignment
You are required to submit two files:
a. A word file (your report on the organisation)
b. An Excel file (your ratios calculations and charts)