Laurentian_Bakeries

CORPORATE FINANCE ACCELERATED PROGRAMME COURSE ASSESSMENT 1 The final date for submission of this assessment without penalty is 9TH May Assessment will be accepted 14 days prior to the due date The cut off date for this assignment is 24th May Late Penalty System Please refer to Student/Programme Handbook This module is being delivered through the Manchester Blackboard virtual learning environment. All assessments must be submitted through Blackboard at: http://blackboard.manchester.ac.uk/. If you have any technical difficulties using blackboard, please visit our support pages at: http://www.studentnet.manchester.ac.uk/blackboard Submitting your Assessment 1. Assignments should be typed, 10 or 11 point font size (Times Roman or similar if possible) double spaced with a 4 cm margin on the right side of the page with the page size specified as UK A4. All pages must be numbered. 2. MBS Worldwide uses MS Office 2003, therefore any submission from a newer system should be saved using an appropriate format. 3. No more than 3 files may form part of any assignment submission. 4. Assignments may be uploaded once only; substitutions are not permitted and students should therefore ensure that the version uploaded is their final submission. 5. Please ensure you include your student number and the assignment reference in all submitted assignments and that assignments are paginated. Failure to do this may lead either to a grade not being assigned or being wrongly assigned IMPORTANT: ALWAYS RETAIN A COPY OF YOUR ASSIGNMENT WARNING: Once submitted no substitute assignments will be allowed Assignment MBS Global MBA (Finance-Accelerated) Corporate Finance The course will be assessed through an assignment. The assignment has two questions. The first relates to your general understanding of capital budgeting techniques and the other relates to the actual process of appraising a project. This second part of the assignment will be based on a case study on ‘Laurentian Bakeries’. Specifically, your assignment should answer the following two questions Question 1: Explain the theoretical rationale for the NPV approach to investment appraisal and compare the strengths and weaknesses of the NPV approach to two other commonly used approaches. (30 marks) After reading the ‘Laurentian Bakeries’ case study, answer the following question: Question 2: Appraise Laurentian Bakeries’ expansion into the US frozen pizza market. (70 marks) You should answer Question 1 of this assignment in no more than 1000 words. The examiner would expect to see a detailed discussion of the theoretical rationale for the NPV rule. Note that describing the properties of NPV does not count as an explanation of the theoretical rationale. For Question 2, the examiner would be keen to find out if you have a clear understanding of the case study and the technique for calculating the NPV of a project. On the next page is a copy of the assessment sheet the examiner will use in order to arrive at a mark. You should answer Question 2 in no more than 1500 words. Assessed coursework: feedback and marking sheet Laurentian Bakeries This sheet indicates your performance against key criteria. Your final mark represents an assessment of the overall quality of your coursework, taking into account these criteria, but not according to any set formula. 70 Assignment Reference CFAP/Jan11/1 Please ensure that your name, student number and the above reference number are detailed on your submitted assignment.