Group Assignment

Due date: Week 5, Friday 5 April 2024 @ 11:59pm

Weighting: 20%

Group formation

.    For on-campus students, it is a group assignment and the group means 4 students per group.

.    For distant learning students, a group assignment is optional but encouraged.

The task

.    This assignment consists of six calculation and theory questions.

.    Calculations  require data  from the “FINC20018 Data Generator” available on Moodle. The data generator requires you to enter the digits of your student number where shown.

.    Once your  student number is inserted a unique data set will be generated for you that is used in solving the questions.

.    A marking template is available on Moodle. Marks will be awarded for accuracy and you should show working. The quality of models developed in Excel to solve the questions will be implicitly graded within the accuracy of the result.

.    On-campus  students  as you are working in a group, the  student whose family name occurs first alphabetically should insert the student number and use his/her unique data to find the solution. No marks will be awarded for using incorrect data.

.    Group  members will not necessarily be  awarded equal marks and the group work diary will be considered in allocating the marks.

.    There  is no  strict requirement for the writing format, however, consider using heading and sub- heading to indicate each question. In-text citations and references are essential in supporting the discussion for theory questions.

.    All  sources  should  be  cited  using  standard  APA  referencing  style.  All  text  adopted  from  other sources should be placed in quotes with citations to sources. The Academic Learning Centre (ALC) is available to all student for assistance with academic writing and referencing.

Submission method

.    This online submission includes a word document of your attempt, a spreadsheet showing your data and calculations, and a group work diary. PDF submissions will not be accepted.

.    The student whose family name occurs first alphabetically should submit the assignment and the file should contain all students’ names in the group. Other students in the group should not submit the assignment file and marks will be deducted if duplicate files are submitted.

.    For on-campus students this is a group assignment, only one member of the group will submit the assignment online by uploading to the Moodle (DO NOT use turnitin to check similarity for the draft work, and the other person in the group submit the final assignment - this will result in a very high similarity score and penalty will apply).

Issues that will affect your marks include:

.    This is a group assignment for on-campus students, the group means 4 students per group, marks will be deducted if the requirement is not addressed.

.    The word limit is approximate, 5% leeway above or below is acceptable, if you  exceed the word limit significantly marks will be deducted.

.    Turnitin will be used to check percentage similarity. Do not copy the questions from the assignment instruction, as this will increase your percentage similarity.

.    Where copying  from other sources results in high percentage similarity, marks will be deducted. Therefore, proper use of in-text referencing is important. Avoid direct quotes.

.    Do not include any scanned picture files of your answers or those of other students as this will be considered a plagiarism offense.

.    Only provide images, pictures, figures or tables sourced from references that you are unable to adapt or modify in MS-word for the purposes of your assessment. Make sure you reference the sources of any images correctly.

.    If percentage  similarity  exceeds  20%,  marks  will  be  deducted  based  on  a  progressive  scale  as determined by the course co-ordinator.

.    Under extreme circumstances where high % similarity indicates copying from written works of other students in CQU, other universities or any other institutions world-wide, the assignment will be reviewed by the academic misconduct board.

.    Penalty for the late submission is 5% per calendar day including Saturday and Sunday.

Calculation and theory questions (20 marks)

Question 1 (4 marks)

Your project manager heard that you are studying finance this term.   He  has  asked your advice on how much he needs to save to meet the retirement needs. You have considered your manager’s situation, he has just celebrated his 40th  birthday  and plans to retire in 20 years. He wants to be able to withdraw the amount of money shown in row 1 of the data table, at the end of each year from an account throughout his retirement. After the retirement, he  expects to  live  for the number  of years  shown  in  row  2  of the  data  table.  The  first withdrawal will occur on his 61st  birthday.  Assume all savings earn an annual rate of return shown in row 6 of the data table.

a)  What is the present value of the retirement needs at today?

b)  What equal, annual, end-of-year amount must your manager save for each year in the next 20 years to meet the retirement needs?

c)   Suppose your manager  intends to achieve financial independence and retire early, what would be your financial advice to your manager?

Question 2 (3 marks)

Your aunt has agreed to loan you some money so you can sign up a medical training course today.  The  loan  amount  is provided  in  row  14  of the  data  table.    Because  you  are her favourite nephew, she has agreed to loan you the money at a below market interest rate shown in row 7 of the data table.   She has also agreed to a grace period of 2 years during which time no payments will be due.  Your first payment is due exactly 3 years from today and you will have to make payments at the end of each year to repay the loan.  The payments are all equal.

a)  What is the future value of the loan at the end of 3 years?

b)  Assume a repayment period is given in row 17 of the data table, what is the size of each instalment to repay your aunt’s loan?

c)  Explain to your aunt the concept of time value of money and give three examples on how this concept has been used in assisting the financial decision-making process.

Question 3 (3 marks)

Mr & Mrs Smith, the owners of Hobart Yachts Ltd, have decided that it is time to acquire a manufacturing facility with an initial cost shown in row 8. They are now ready to meet with Christie, the loan officer from Westpac.

Christie begins the meeting by discussing a thirty-year mortgage. The loan would be repaid in equal monthly instalments. There would be no establishment costs for the loan. The annual interest rate of the thirty-year mortgage is provided in row 5. Christie says that the bank also offers an interest-only loan with a term of ten years and the annual interest rate is shown in row 3. The company would be responsible for making interest payments each month. At the end of the ten-year term, the company would repay the principal.

Mr & Mrs Smith are unsure of which loan they should choose, and they have asked you to answer the following questions:

a)  What are the monthly payments for the thirty-year mortgage?

b)  What are the monthly payments for the interest-only loan?

c)   Explain which option you would recommend to Mr & Mrs Smith and why.

Question 4 (3 marks)

Suppose you have invested in Rio Tinto Group listed on ASX and the number of shares held is shown in row 9 of the data table. In Mar 2023, the company paid a dividend per share in row 10 of the data table. The dividend you received was fully franked given that Australia has a dividend imputation system. The company tax rate was 30% at that time, and your marginal tax rate is shown in row 11 of the data table.

a)  How much tax do you need to pay for the total dividend received?

b)  Would your answer to part a) be different if a classical taxation system is applied? Show calculations.

c)  Why franking credits are particularly preferred by self-funded retiree investors?

Question 5 (3 marks)

You are considering investing in Henderson Engineers Ltd. The book value of shareholders’ equity is shown in row 13 of the data table. The firm has made a net profit in row 16 for the  year ending 30 June 2023. The earnings per share is shown in row 15 of the data table. You  also find the PE ratio for firms similar to Henderson in row 18 of the data table.

a)  What is the book value per share for Henderson Engineers Ltd?

b)  What price would you expect Henderson shares to sell for?

c)  Explain would you invest in this share and why.

Question 6 (4 marks)

You are also considering investing in other two shares Woolworths and Village Roadshow. Woolworths is a leading retail company in Australia and Village Roadshow is an Australian film producer and distributor. Further information associated with the two shares is shown in the below:

In addition, you will find the market-risk premium in row 4 of the data table and the risk-free rate in row 12 of the data table.

a)   Calculate the total risk and systematic risk for Woolworths.

b)  Calculate the total risk and systematic risk for Village Roadshow.

c)  Which share is actually the ‘riskier’ share? Which share would you invest in and why.