Instructions
on Assessment:
This assessment is made up of an academic essay of 1500
words supported by 3 blog appendices (700 words each).
Academic Essay
– The creation of shareholder value – The Impact of the Global Covid-19
Pandemic on Corporate Finance.
(1,500 words excluding Blogs)
The
following are extracts from the financial press:
Income
investors wondering how fast their dividends might recover from the pandemic
may not have to wait much longer for good news. The rate of decline in UK
payouts fell in the three months to March to its lowest quarterly rate since
Covid-19 first struck, according to Link Group, an investor services company.
The headline figure — a 26.7 per cent drop — hardly looks reassuring. But the
rate of decline has been shrinking quarter by quarter since the 48.2 per cent
plunge in the dire days of April to June last year. Link forecasts increases
from now on, predicting a 5.6 per cent rise in underlying dividends, excluding
special payouts, over 2021. Over the 12 months to March,
covering the period since the pandemic hit the UK, dividends dropped 41.6 per
cent, as two-thirds of companies cancelled or reduced payouts. Investors
altogether lost £44.8bn, Link said, with 30 per cent coming from oil groups.
But even in tough conditions, there were some dividend winners. Food retailers
raised payouts 22 per cent, led by Tesco. Consumer basics, headed by Unilever
and Reckitt Benckiser, also posted dividend increases over April 2020 to March
2021. “The outlook is brightening,” Link said. “Banking dividends are
returning, though at low levels and there are positive signs from miners,
insurance and media companies.” David Smith, fund manager of Henderson High
Income Trust, agreed. “While the last year has been painful for income
investors, we can now look forward to aggregate dividends growing from their
lowered base,” he said.
(FT.com ‘Glimmer
of hope in U.K Dividend drought’, April 28th 2021)
Panasonic is paying $7.1bn to acquire US
supply chain software company Blue Yonder in a deal that highlights the
changing global business environment of the pandemic and a resurgence of
overseas acquisitions by Japanese companies. Under the agreement announced on
Friday, Panasonic will build on the 20 per cent stake it acquired in Blue
Yonder last year. It will buy the remainder of the company from private equity
groups Blackstone and New Mountain Capital in a deal that, including debt,
values the target at $8.5bn. The US group’s enterprise value has jumped from
$5.5bn a year ago as supply chain disruptions during the pandemic boosted
demand for software that helps companies manage logistics and shipping. Earlier
this month, Blue Yonder revealed that it was preparing to go public after
filing paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For Panasonic,
the deal will allow it to combine Blue Yonder’s software with its traditional
business of selling hardware such as security cameras. It will be the group’s
biggest overseas acquisition and the first under its new chief executive Yuki
Kusumi, who took up the post this month… The pandemic, which limited
international travel and made hands-on due diligence more difficult, caused a
sharp slowdown in outbound deals in 2020. But in the first quarter of 2021,
said Bank of America analysts in a note this week, Japan’s overseas dealmaking
staged a surprise resurgence. Companies collectively undertook $29bn in cross
border M&A, the highest January to March figure of recent years, involving
a near-record high of 110 deals.
(FT.com
Panasonic to pay $7.1bn for supply chain software Blue Yonder, April 23rd 2021)
Requirement
You are, in an
academic essay format (70% of marks), required to answer one of
the following two tasks.
Task 1: You are to critically evaluate the literature on Dividends and
Dividend Policy and using examples from the financial press, assess the impact
of the Covid-19 pandemic on the dividend decision of companies throughout the different
phases of the pandemic. You are to reach a conclusion as to whether dividend
policy has a substantive impact in the creation or destruction of shareholder
wealth.
Task 2: You are to come to conclusion, supported by the academic literature,
as to the ability of managers to value companies in the context of the global
Covid-19 pandemic and to create shareholder value by engaging in merger and
acquisition activity. You should make reference to current examples of merger
and acquisition activity from the financial press.
Guidance Notes:
o You are expected to use strong and reputable business news sources such
as the Financial Times and Bloomberg to read around and develop your
understanding of the cases you use.
o You may use the companies mentioned in the above extracts as a starting
point, but you should widen your research to include other examples to support
your arguments. You are not limited to the U.K for examples.
o Your answers should focus specifically on the impact of the covid-19
pandemic on companies. This theme runs through the assessment. Therefore you
should use the academic literature to support your arguments but should not
expect to gain information about the global pandemic from the literature. You are
strongly encouraged to use real-world examples from different phases of the
pandemic.
Your answers should specifically be
written in an academic essay format and not
in the format of a business report. Essays specifically should not include
headings, section headings, etc. Your essay should concentrate particularly
ensure that there is considerable flow and cohesion between the paragraphs. It
is advised that you make good use of the writing support materials on the
Blackboard site. Specifically all students will benefit from reading through
https://students.unimelb.edu.au/academic-skills/resources/essay-writing/six-top-tips-for-writing-a-great-essay
Blog Appendices
(30% of Marks; 10 marks per blog)
This essay is to be
supported by three blog appendices.
Students should write blogs to cover topics related to each of three out of the four syllabus areas covered in the module (creating
value, core concepts of corporate finance, financial investment, financial
ethics). Students will receive a
maximum of 10 marks for each Blog
post submitted (30 marks total).
Blog posts do not have to be about the pandemic and can be on any
contemporary issue. Students are encouraged to complete blogs throughout
the semester although these are submitted during the assessment period.
2. Each of the
three Blog posts should reflect on a
real-world contemporary issue
(please ensure your blogs are current). Students should demonstrate their
ability to apply theory to real world cases and reflect on what they are being taught in seminars, lectures and
through the directed reading relates to the real world which they are
discussing. Good Blog posts would be in-depth, considered, and displaying a
mature ability to analyse, disseminate and discuss. Poor Blog posts are
descriptive in nature and display only a surface appreciation of the issues. The maximum word length is 700 words per
blog.
It is advised that students use a
free Blog service like Google’s Blogger.
Students are not restricted to Blogger and may use any blogging service.
Students may design
their Blog how they wish, however it is requested that they both refrain
from links to unsuitable websites and that they remember the university’s internet usage policy when
posting and designing their blogs.
5.
Be creative and don’t
view this as a chore or requirement. Try and take time rather than rushing
this. The Blog is marked on depth of reflection and consideration. Remember
that deep and considered blog posts will allow you to evidence more and
maximise your “critically assess” and “critically analyse”
6.
Bring in contemporary issues or things
happening that week in the news. Use the Blog to display what you’ve been
reading about. Perhaps before blogging have a search through the Financial
Times for that week or have a read of what other top business journalists are
talking. Try and make your blog posts as contemporary and timely as possible to
maximise marks. Don’t Blog about something what happened last year, Blog about
things happening now, and things you may want to talk about in interviews with
future employers.
Late
submission of work
Coursework submitted
more than 1 day (24 hours) after the published hand-in deadline without
approval will be marked as zero but will be eligible for referral. The
reassessment, should where appropriate, and as determined by the Module Leader,
be the same method (e.g. essay) but maybe with a different task (e.g. different
essay title)
or with the same task (e.g. the same essay title) as indicated in the Module
handbook.
In
modules where there is more than one assessment component, Students are not
required to complete all assessment components if an overall Pass Mark (40% UG,
50% PGT) has been achieved. The only permitted exception will be in cases where
the University is prevented from doing so by a PSRB requirement.
In
the case of PSRB requirements, a variation order will be required from the
regulations.
In
modules, where there is more than one assessment component and an overall pass
mark has not been achieved, Students will be eligible for a referral* in the
individual failed module and/or not attempted component(s) of assessment.
These provisions apply to all assessments, including those assessed on a
Pass/Fail basis.
The full policy can be found here.
Word
limits and penalties
If the assignment is within +10% of the
stated word limit no penalty will apply.
The
word count is to be declared on the front page of your assignment and the
assignment cover sheet. The word count
does not include:
· Title and
Contents page
· Reference
list
· Appendices
· Appropriate
tables, figures and illustrations
· Glossary
· Bibliography
· Quotes
from interviews and focus groups.
Please
note, in text citations [e.g. (Smith, 2011)] and direct secondary quotations
[e.g. “dib-dab nonsense analysis”
(Smith, 2011 p.123)] are INCLUDED in the word count.
