Compare competitor of financial ratios for financial year

Question

You are a Graduate Trainee Investment Analyst at a renowned fund management company. After six (6) months of joining the company, you are asked by your superior to produce a comprehensive report on a publicly listed company on the New Zealand Stock Exchange Limited (NZX) (Meridian Energy) or Australian Stock Exchange Limited (ASX). This assignment is important in determining your confirmation as a permanent employee of the company.

The intended audiences for your report are potential institutional investors who are existing clients of the company. Your report should be at least 2,000 words. As a guide, your report should comprise at least the following:-

1. Executive Summary
2. Introduction - Purpose and Objectives
3. General Company Description - Shareholders and Management Team
4. Products and/or Services
5. Industry/Sectoral Analysis
6. SWOT (Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) Analysis
7. Porter's Five Forces Analysis
8. Financial Ratio Analysis
9. Competitors Analysis
10. Scenario Analysis (Good / Average / Poor)
11. Conclusions and Recommendations
12. Appendices
13. References

Hints:

1. Limit the executive summary to one page, in point form of between 8 and 10 points only. It summarizes the whole report for a busy reader who only wants to know the salient points of your report.
2. Be specific on the purpose of your report. Provide some objectives that you think are very relevant and important. A good report will also include scope and limitations.
3. On the company's description, a copy and paste from the latest annual report will not deserve an A. Be resourceful by including major shareholder changes, director changes, or corporate moves that are pertinent to the company.
4. Point (3) above applies to products and/or services of the company too.
5. Provide a review and development of only the principal business activity of the company.
6. No need for a lengthy elaboration in SWOT Analysis.
7. Same goes for Porter's Five Forces Analysis (please refer to Chapter 17). This is a finance paper, not management. The SWOT and Porter analyses are only there so that students have an idea of what should be there in a complete 'Company Analysis'.
8. Perform a financial ratio analysis (please refer to Chapter 19) for the two (2) subsequent latest years. For any annual report of a public-listed company, there will be financial reports for the current year and the previous year. Thus, you only need to get the latest annual report of the company. Provide comments on the trend of the ratios.
9. Select a competitor from the same industry with your company and compare their financial ratios for the latest financial year only. If you just provide the figures, your report will not deserve an A. Provide your comments by comparing the ratios of your company and the competitor.
10. Perform a scenario analysis on three (3) conditions, good, average, and poor. Depending on your company, look at what would be a factor that will have the most significant impact on the profitability of the company. For example, for New Zealand Oil & Gas Limited, it will be the price of crude oil. Forecast the net profit of the company for three (3) different levels of crude oil. Then, calculate the prospective earnings per share and prospective price earnings ratio.
11. Summarize your analyses in the conclusions and provide your stock recommendations. It can be Strong Buy, Buy, Accumulate, Buy on Weakness, Hold, Sell on Strength, Sell, or Strong Sell. Look at broker's reports for guidance.
12. Include important articles or write-up that you quote in the appendices. If you have many of them, prepare a table of appendices.