INSTRUCTIONS TO STUDENTS
Controlled assessment timeline
Phase 1. Reading week:
Information on the format of the Assessment (A business report) will be made available in
the reading week of the module.
Phase 2. Reading week:
The case study for the report will be made available in the Reading week. You can begin to
work on the assessment from that date onwards. You should expect to complete this work
by the end of the term.
Phase 3. On January 9, 2015 at 09.00 – Release of Supplementary Information:
Further information and the specific question requirements will be placed on the VLE (in the
assessment section) at 09.00 on the morning of January 9, 2015 (Greenwich Mean Time
(GMT) or Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) +0 known as UT0).
We recommend you take at least 15 minutes to read this information and the requirements
which you will then need to apply to your report. You are expected to then take 3 hours in
which to complete your report with the new information included.
It is recommended you have a calculator and the notes (electronic or paper) you have done
for this assessment since phase 2 with you for this part of the assessment.
Please note that you can undertake this phase of the assessment from any location, you do
not need to be attending the business school, you only need to be online. Please contact the
module leader by the end of teaching week 7 if you need to use business school IT facilities
to complete this assessment on January 9, 2015.
Phase 4. On January 9, 2015 at 16.00 – Submission Deadline:
Your completed assessment will need to be submitted via TurnitIn by 16.00 (GMT or UT0).
The Turnitin link will also be available in the assessment section of the VLE.
A Student Training video on how to use Turnitin may be found at the following URL:

http://turnitin.com/en_us/training/student-training/submitting-a-paper

A guidance document on submitting to Turnitin is available in the assessment section of the
VLE.
It is strongly suggested that you submit your completed report by 14.00 so as to avoid any
technical problems that could occur at the last moment. Late submissions will not be
accepted.
Please ensure your submission is in Microsoft Word and not pdf. It must be submitted in
one document, not multiple documents.
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Understanding Financial Statements – Assessment
You must remember to include the declaration form which acts as your signed declaration (a
copy of which is provided in the assessment section of the VLE).
Here you are reminded that you must not write your name anywhere on your submission.
(particularly note this when creating an author for this report – see below)
You must confirm that you have read and fully understood the rules governing plagiarism
when you formally submit this piece of work for marking. Please refer to the General
Academic Regulations and Manual of Policies and Procedures which are available on
Blackboard within Regulatory Framework of the ‘Academic Registry’ tab.
Once loaded to this Turnitin site, you are not permitted to amend your
submission. You have one option to submit so please be 100% sure in your mind that
what you submit to Turnitin is what you intend to submit.
It remains your responsibility to ensure you submit a cohesive piece of work which adheres
to all the rules and regulations as outlined by BPP.
Phase 1 – Controlled assessment brief
The 1500 word assessment requires you to compile a report in a professional style which will
interpret and explain a company’s financial statement to someone who may not have a good
level of financial understanding.
A professional report is expected to include a number of key aspects including
1. To, From, Date and Subject: a report should always make clear who is the recipient and
who is the author (though in this case of the author you will need to put a false name
rather than your own for anonymity purposes). A report should be dated and have a
subject title.
2. Introduction: this section should set out the purpose of the report and what will be
covered subsequently.
3. Executive summary: it is often the LAST section of the report to be written because it
consolidates all the information set out in the report. It is usually at the front of the report
and sets out the most important points raised.
A suggested reporting format is provided for you in Phase 2.
The specific question requirements are released at phase 3 of this assessment, but these
requirements will sit under 5 main areas:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Purpose and key features of the organisation’s annual report
Auditing and Corporate Governance
Interpretation of the Income Statement
Interpretation of the Statement of Financial Position and Statement of Cash Flows
Putting your report in a professional business format
An indication of some of the written requirements (including mark allocation) above will be
given in phase 2 to aid preparation and analysis.
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Understanding Financial Statements – Assessment
Pass mark
The pass mark for this assessment is 40%. If this is not your first attempt at this assessment
the maximum mark you can obtain is 40%.
Overall contribution to your final mark
This assessment contributes 100% to your overall final mark in this module.
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Phase 2 – Case Study
Case-Study Information
The Case Study has been made available from the reading week of your course. You can
begin to work on the assessment from that date onwards. At 09.00 on the morning of the
controlled assessment (January 9, 2015) further information regarding this case (including
all the specific question requirements) will be made available.
You are expected to consider this supplementary information and to include it in your final
submission. The completed assessment must be uploaded onto Turnitin by 16.00 on the day
of the controlled assessment.
Explanation of the assessment criteria and how the marking scheme works
Your assignment will be marked according to the Level Assessment Criteria for Level 4. The
criteria are designed to test your knowledge of concepts i.e. your understanding of relevant
financial terms, ideas, theories, notions and principles and your ability to apply those
concepts in a practical situation. You will also need to show your understanding of what
elements should be included in a professional report.
Word count policy
The maximum word count for the report is 1500 words (excluding headings, references and
appendices). The examiner will stop marking your submission at the point it reaches this
word count. Candidates should show how many words they have used on the front of their
assignment
It is best to allocate your word count in direct proportion to the weighting of the marks – so for
example, if one section has 30% of the marks allocated and as such you should aim to
allocate 30% of your word count to this section, i.e. approximately 450 words.
Referencing and the Harvard system
During the course of writing an essay, a report or an assignment, you would normally
support your points and your arguments by referring to the published works of others. The
nature of this assessment means that it is expected you will have minimal or no
referencing.
If you are going to reference the work of others, for the purposes of this assessment these
references may be from work presented in journal or newspaper articles, government
reports, books or specific chapters of books, or material from credible sources on the
Internet (Wikipedia is not a credible academic source).
Giving a reference is the practice of referring to the work of other authors in the text of your
own piece of work. Within your assignment, each time you use the work of others it needs to
be referenced back to the ‘Bibliography’ at the end of the work; this gives the full details of
the source item and should enable it to be traced. Referring accurately to such source
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Understanding Financial Statements – Assessment
materials is part of sound academic practice and a skill that should be mastered – it’s
important to give credit to others whose ideas you have used.
The Harvard referencing (Author, date, title) is the mandatory approach and a full
explanation as to how this system works is available in the Assessment section of the VLE.
Advice on plagiarism and collusion
Copying material i.e. plagiarism, from a third party source is a serious offence and may
result in your work not being accepted. Plagiarism involves presenting work as though it
were your own or using ideas of another author without acknowledging the fact.
Collusion takes place when two or more students submit work that is too similar i.e. similar in
words, content and style, such as might be put down to coincidence. Make sure that the
work you submit is your own or is appropriately referenced. If in doubt you should speak to
your tutor or the module leader.
Writing your report
The report should be presented in a professional manner. The writing should be clear,
concise and persuasive. The report should be well structured and the tone used should be
business-like.
Please use Headings and Sub-Headings throughout the report to provide the reader with a
logical flow of content. You may use presentation aids such as colour and diagrams to
support the text where appropriate.
Candidates are advised to use a professional format for their work e.g. Ariel font type, font
size 11 or 12 and 1.5 line spacing to provide an overall proportion of 25% white space.
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Understanding Financial Statements – Assessment
Indicative requirements
The format of your assessment is as follows.
Question 1 will cover the purpose and key features of Sandell Arnold’s financial statements,
it will be split into 3 sub-requirements labelled ‘a to c’ which will total 12 marks, which will be
released at phase 3.
Questions 2-5 are set out below (but will also be released again at phase 3 along with
question 1 to provide you with the full set of requirements).
2. Auditing and Corporate Governance (14 marks)
Consider the comments made by Sandell’s external auditors and the Non-executive
Director in Exhibit four in Sandell’s governance arrangements.
a. Explain what type of modified (Not-so-Clean) audit report, the external auditors would
give Sandell if the accounting treatment of the £30 million damages remains
unresolved.
(2 marks)
b. If Sandell revised their financial statements for the £30 million damages in line with
Exhibit 5, the external auditors would give Sandell an unmodified (Clean) audit
report.
i. Explain why the external auditors have changed their opinion on Sandell’s
financial statements when compared with part 2(a).
ii. Describe ONE reason why companies prefer receiving clean audit reports.
(4 Marks)
c. Review the narrative in Exhibit 4 from the Non-Executive Director relating to the
decision to increase director’s remuneration by 50%.
i. Identify and explain TWO corporate governance deficiencies demonstrated by the
board’s decision to approve this remuneration increase.
ii. Describe TWO pieces of corporate governance good practice which Sandell
could put in place to make better quality decisions about director’s remuneration
going forward.
(8 marks)
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Understanding Financial Statements – Assessment
3. Interpretation of the Income Statement (35 marks)
a. Use the case study information to analyse and comment on FIVE movements in
Sandell’s Income Statement (financial performance) during the year 2013 compared
to 2012.
Use the additional financial information in Exhibit 2 and the relevant ratios shown in
Exhibit 3 to enhance the quality of your analysis.
For each item you select to analyse and comment upon
i.
ii.
iii.
Ensure you use an appropriate financial technique (Ratio, Trend analysis)
to ascertain the movement between 2013 compared to 2012;
Reflect and comment upon whether the movement is having a positive or
negative impact on Sandell’s financial performance; and
Use the case study to identify and explain at least ONE reason why the
movement in part 3a(i) has happened.
(25 marks)
b. Using the revised financial statements set out in Exhibit 5: (You cannot answer all
of this question until Phase 3)
i.
ii.
iii.
Calculate a revised net margin ratio (show your workings via a separate
Appendix to your report);
Explain how the net margin ratio helps assess a company’s financial
performance; and
Compare your calculation in 3b(i) with the present net margin ratio
(Exhibit 3) and discuss whether the Chief Executive’s statement that the
company has managed to improve its profitability since 2012 remains
valid.
(10 marks)
4. Interpretation of the Statement of Financial Position and Statement of Cash Flows
(35 marks)
a. One of the main reasons that £22 million of operating profit earned by Sandell is only
producing £2 million of operating cashflow is due to how the company is managing its
working capital.
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
Identify which parts of the Statement of Cashflow show how working capital is
being managed;
Identify and use appropriate working capital ratios to illustrate movements in
working capital for 2013 as compared to 2012;
Use the ratio’s in 4a(ii) above to calculate the Operating Cash Cycle (OCC)
for 2012 and 2013;
Comment on whether the movement in the OCC calculated in 4a(iii) is having
a positive or negative impact on Sandell’s cashflow; and
Use the case study to identify and explain at least TWO reasons why the
OCC movement (in part 4a(iii)) has occurred.
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Understanding Financial Statements – Assessment
(15 marks)
b.
Consider this quote from the sector briefing in Exhibit 4:
“This is a considerable expansion of the company’s operations and therefore Sandell
has been required to seek external finance to support this investment, they have
managed to raise some equity funding from the AIM market, some debt funding
through bank loans but it is generally known that the funding secured has not
been sufficient to cover this total investment.”
Identify and describe how Sandell’s Statement of Cash Flow supports the part of the
quote highlighted and demonstrates that the investment in Western Europe has not
been fully supported by external financing.
(5 marks)
c. Using the revised financial statements set out in Exhibit 5: (You cannot answer all
of this question until Phase 3)
i.
ii.
iii.
Calculate revised interest cover and gearing ratios (show your workings via a
separate Appendix to your report);
Explain how the interest cover and gearing ratios help assess a company’s
long-term financial condition; and
Compare your calculation in 4c(i) with the present interest cover and gearing
ratios (Exhibit 3) and discuss what impact losing this court case (and paying
£30 million damages) will have on the company’s solvency.
(15 Marks)
5. Professional report format (4 marks)
Marks are allocated for setting out your answer in the format of a professional business
report.
(4 Marks)
TOTAL: 100 MARKS
The report should be no longer than 1500 words (excluding headings, references and
appendices), a suggested format in which to incorporate your answer is set out below.
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Understanding Financial Statements – Assessment
Suggested report format
To: Parveen Rostom
From: Made up name (not your own)
Date: Assessment Day
Title: To complete
Introduction: To complete
Executive summary: To complete
Main Report:
Include Subsections/Paragraphs etc for each of the 4 main areas listed below
Part one – Purpose and key features of Sandell’s Financial Statements
Part two – Auditing and Corporate Governance
Part three – Interpretation of the Income Statement
Part four – Interpretation of the Statement of Financial Position and Statement of
Cash Flows
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Understanding Financial Statements – Assessment
CASE STUDY – SANDELL ARNOLD PLC
Background – Sandell Arnold plc
A friend of yours, Parveen Rostom, has approached you seeking some advice. She has
been offered the position of Sales Director within a company called Sandell Arnold (referred
to from now on as Sandell)
Sandell is a building merchant, which has been trading for more than 40 years supplying a
range of materials to the building and construction industry. This includes ironmongery,
plumbing and heating, landscaping materials, timber and sheet materials, painting and
decorating, dry lining and insulation, doors and joinery, and hand and power tools.
A few years back, in 2011, Sandell become a plc and is listed on the UK’s Alternative
Investment Market (AIM), which seeks to raise capital for smaller but fast growing
companies.
The growth which Sandell desired has not yet happened and therefore Parveen has been
offered a very generous remuneration package to implement a new aggressive sales
strategy to support Sandell’s expansion into new Western European markets. However
Parveen has been with her current employer for six years and wants to ensure her future
would be secure.
Your role
Though Parveen is a friend, she has approached you because you are a Financial Analyst
who is a specialist in the building and construction industry.
You have agreed to analyse the financial performance and position of Sandell and produce
a report for Parveen which sets out your findings and makes a recommendation as to
whether she should accept or reject the offer to become Sandell’s Sales Director.
To assist you with this task you have put together a pack of information as follows:
Exhibit 1:
Extracts from Sandell Arnold’s Financial Statements for 2013, including the
Income Statement, Statement of Financial Position and Statement of
Cashflows.
Exhibit 2:
Additional Financial information which supports the Financial Statements in
Exhibit One.
Exhibit 3:
Key ratio analysis for 2012 and 2013 of Sandell Arnold’s financial statements.
In addition to this pack, you have
Exhibit 4:
Your Notes from various document reviews and industry discussions.
One further exhibit will also be provided at phase 3.
Exhibit 5:
Revised financial statements which reflect the impact of losing the case for
damages.
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Understanding Financial Statements – Assessment
Exhibit 1:
Extracts from Sandell Arnold’s Financial Statements for 2013
Financial Statements
Sandell Arnold plc Income Statement for the year ended 31/12/13
Revenue
Cost of Sales
Gross Profit
Other operating income
Overheads
Administration expenses
Distribution costs
Operating Profit/(Loss)
Finance costs
Profit/(Loss) before Tax
Income Tax expense
Profit/(Loss) for the period
2013
£’m
252
(203)
49
7
2012
£’m
248
(223)
25
0
(16)
(18)
22
(12)
10
(2)
8
(11)
(13)
1
(8)
(7)
(1)
(8)
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Understanding Financial Statements – Assessment
Sandell Arnold plc Statement of Financial Position as at 31/12/13
2013
£’m
ASSETS
Non-current Assets
Property, Plant and Equipment
278
Current Assets
Inventories
Trade and other receivables
Cash and cash equivalents
2012
£’m
198
53
36
0
89
44
24
6
74
Total Assets
367
272
EQUITY AND LIABILITIES
Equity
Share Capital
Retained Earnings
Total Equity
60
109
169
45
103
148
111
111
91
91
Total Liabilities
48
39
87
198
33
0
33
124
Total Equity and Liabilities
367
272
Non-current Liabilities
Long-term borrowings
Current Liabilities
Trade payables
Bank overdraft
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Understanding Financial Statements – Assessment
Sandell Arnold plc Statement of Cashflows for the year ended 31/12/13
2013
£’m
Cashflows from operating activities
Operating Profit
Adjustments for:
Depreciation
(Increase)/Decrease in inventories
(Increase)/Decrease in trade and other receivables
Increase/(Decrease) in trade payables
Cash generated from operations
Interest paid
Income tax paid
Dividend paid
22
2
24
(9)
(12)
15
18
(12)
(2)
(2)
Net cashflow from operating activities
Cashflows from investing activities
Purchase of Property, Plant and Equipment
2
(82)
Net cashflow from investing activities
Cashflows from financing activities
Proceeds from issue of share capital
Proceeds from long-term borrowings
£’m
(82)
15
20
Net cashflow from financing activities
35
Net increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents at the start of year
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of year
(45)
6
(39)
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Understanding Financial Statements – Assessment
Exhibit 2:
Additional Financial information which supports the Financial
Statements (set out in Exhibit one)
Sandell Arnold plc Supporting Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ending 31/12/13
Note 1 – Extract of supporting notes for the Income Statement
Administration expenses
Employee expenses
Directors remuneration
Bad Debt charges
Utility costs
Legal and Professional fees
Depreciation charges
Sundries
Distribution costs
Distribution & Transport costs
Marketing & Advertising costs
Other distribution costs
2013
£’m
6.2
1.4
1.2
1.3
1.1
2.0
2.8
16.0
2012
£’m
4.5
0.9
0.1
1.2
0.5
1.5
2.3
11.0
12.4
5.3
0.3
7.2
5.3
0.5
18.0
13.0
Note 2 – Extract of supporting notes for the Statement of Financial Position
Statement of changes in Equity (Extract)
Retained earnings column only
Opening balance
Retainsed Earnings
2013
2012
£’m
£’m
103
111
Profit for the year
8
(8)
Dividend Paid
(2)
0
Closing balance
109
103
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Understanding Financial Statements – Assessment
Exhibit 3:
Key ratio analysis for 2012 and 2013
2013
2012
Profitability
ROCE
Profit b Tax/Int
Equity + Debt*
169
22
+
x 100 =
6.90%
150
148
1
+
x 100 =
0.42%
91
* Includes bank overdraft
Gross Margin
Gross Profit
Revenue
49
252
x 100 =
19.44%
25
248
x 100 =
10.08%
Net (Operating) Margin
Operating profit
Revenue
22
252
x 100 =
8.73%
1
248
x 100 =
0.40%
89
87
=
1.02
74
33
=
2.24
=
0.41
=
0.91
Liquidity
Current Ratio
Current Assets
Current Liabilities
Quick Ratio
CA – Inventories
Current Liabilities
89
87
53
74
33
44
Inventory Days
Inventories
Cost of Sales
53
203
x 365 =
95.30
44
223
x 365 =
72.02
Receivable Days
Receivables
Revenue
36
252
x 365 =
52.14
24
248
x 365 =
35.32
Payable Days
Trade payables
Cost of Sales
48
203
x 365 =
86.31
33
223
x 365 =
54.01
x 100 =
47.02%
x 100 =
38.08%
=
0.13
Solvency
Gearing
Debt*
Debt + Equity
* Includes the bank overdraft
Interest cover
Profit b Tax/Int
Finance costs
150
150
+
22
12
169
91
=
1.83
91
+
1
8
148
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Understanding Financial Statements – Assessment
Exhibit 4:
Your Notes from various document reviews and industry discussions.
As a financial analyst in the construction industry you have various contacts across the
sector both inside and outside the company with whom you have been able to hold various
discussions and from whom you have been able to obtain various document.
The extracts from these have been set out below.
Review of Sandell’s annual report – Chief Executive’s review
The Chief Executive’s report was very positive in both reviewing the 2013 year and looking
to 2014 onwards, the following statements were specifically of interest to me:
•
In 2013 the company had a focus on improving profitability, which it managed to achieve
through securing new supplier relationships that year.
•
It meant that the company was able to declare and pay a dividend to shareholders for
the first time since the global financial crisis occurred in 2008.
•
Now that profitability issues have been fixed, the focus of the company in 2014 onwards
is growth and the expansion of the company into new markets in Western Europe, the
infrastructure for which has been put in place during 2013.
Discussion with Sandell’s operations manager about the new supplier relationships
put in place in 2013.
Key points from that discussion are set out below:
•
With the issues around the company’s financial performance (in particularly its
profitability) we sought to retender the supply of timber and ironmongery materials to us,
which are two of our main product lines making up around 60% of our revenue across
the last 10 years.
•
It was a very competitive tendering process, which a supplier called Ashwell won due to
the low price they were offering to supply goods to us. This was on average 10% lower
than our previous suppliers of these materials.
•
However since the Ashwell contract commenced in January 2013 we have had various
problems with it including:
o
An issue with quality which has meant we have been provided with a higher
proportion of faulty goods, this has included split timber and ironmongery of
incorrect dimensions.
o
These quality issues have resulted in two business issues, firstly unhappy
customers, who when receiving faulty goods are disputing the invoices that follow
and are either slow in paying the invoice or are not paying the invoice at all,
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Understanding Financial Statements – Assessment
which we then have to write off as bad debt.
o
Secondly, because the goods are faulty it means we have to pick up the items
from the customer sites and deliver new product so effectively we are having to
make a number of deliveries twice.
•
We do have penalty clauses in the contract with Ashwell which are linked to quality and
because of these issues they have had to pay us around £7 million in compensation
during 2013.
Review of a construction industry sector briefing covering Sandell.
The briefing focused on Sandell’s expansion plans into Western Europe, the key points of
interest are listed below:
•
Sandell has an established presence in the UK construction industry (with 10 distribution
centres) and has now identified Western Europe as a potential new market to access
and obtain growth from.
•
During 2013, Sandell focused on putting infrastructure in place across this new market
from which it will then seek create sales, this infrastructure included:
o
4 new distribution warehouses in Rouen (France), Koln (Germany), Utrecht
(Netherlands) and Bern (Switzerland)
o
A fleet of Lorries to enable distribution to each new warehouse.
o
Additional employees to staff the above functions, taking the company’s
workforce from 100 to 130 employees.
o
Purchasing inventory to ensure various product lines are available at each new
site.
•
This is a considerable expansion of the company’s operations and therefore Sandell has
been required to seek external finance to support this investment, they have managed to
raise some equity funding from the AIM market, some debt funding through bank loans
but it is generally known that the funding secured has not been sufficient to cover this
total investment.
•
To date this investment has resulted in minimal return (around £4 million of sales in
2013) but the scope for growth from this new market is considerable (pessimistic
estimates put potential annual sales from these markets at around £80-100 million per
year). Therefore an aggressive and effective sales strategy is needed to benefit from this
opportunity.
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Understanding Financial Statements – Assessment
•
Sandell has been seeking to put a Sales director in place to since the middle of 2013 to
develop this strategy and are hoping to make an appointment shortly.
Notes from discussion with Sandell’s external auditors regarding the 2013 financial
statements.
The audit is near to completion, the key points are set out
•
We have one remaining audit issue which is in regard to the accounting treatment of a
claim from one of Sandell’s main customers. The background for which is set out below.
•
A major customer, a House Builder, is suing Sandell, claiming that it has supplied faulty
goods. The customer had to rectify some of its building work when investigations
discovered that a building material, recently supplied by Sandell was found to contain a
hazardous substance.
•
Sandell’s legal team has stated that Sandell is very likely to lose this case, though the
timing of payment and the amount of damages to pay is presently uncertain, a reasonable
estimate has put the likely amount at around £30 million.
•
Presently Sandell’s directors have not made any disclosure of this in the financial
statements on the basis that it is uncertain and that they feel confident that they would be
able to seek damages from Ashwell (who supplied the original materials).
•
The external auditors think that Sandell should make a provision in their financial
statements for this £30 million of potential damages.
•
The external auditors consider this matter to be material and therefore are considering
issuing a modified audit opinion (known as a ‘not so clean’ audit report from the syllabus)
if the matter remains unresolved.
•
Sandell’s finance team are keen to obtain a ‘clean’ audit report and therefore are
presently producing amended financial statements (which will be provided in exhibit 5) to
reflect this £30 million provision.
Notes from discussion with a Sandell Non-Executive Director (NED) regarding
Directors Remuneration
Sandell’s board voted to increase directors’ remuneration in 2013, the decision for which this
NED had some concerns. Key points from this discussion set out below:
•
Sandell have been seeking to put in place a Sales Director since the middle of 2013, as
this position has been deemed a key factor in establishing the company in new markets
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Understanding Financial Statements – Assessment
in Western Europe.
•
At present the company’s board is made of 5 executive directors and 1 non-executive
(NED).
•
The other directors were aware as to how generous the remuneration package was for
this new post (50% higher than other directors) as the company were keen to secure
someone with the talent and experience to fill this post.
•
Because the level of remuneration was higher, it was felt that the remaining directors
needed their remuneration packages increased to bring them in line with