REQUIRED:
Using the World Wide Web, select two companies that are approximately the same size and that are in the same industry [e.g., Bay & Sears].

http://www.thebay.com/

http://www.sears.com

Analyze their financial statements for the two most recent annual accounting periods. Your analysis should compare the companies to each other and between periods, indicating which company is in the best financial position.


The project will be marked considering the following (See figure 5.2 on page 214 of the text):
Company selection
Short-term liquidity analysis
Operating efficiency (Activity) analysis
Capital structure and long-term solvency (Leverage) analysis
Profitability analysis
Du Pont and market ratio analysis
Quality of financial reporting
Comparative analysis - should include discussion of whether the share price measures line up with your other assessments
Please include copies of the financial statements (attached as a file, if possible in .pdf format) or, alternatively, provide references to the corporate Web sites and be as specific as possible. Each analysis should have appropriate appendices showing your calculations and your work. Please ensure that your solution can be easily traced back to the original financial statements. Thus, your entire analysis should be no more than 2000 words, not including any attached appendices.