You are asked to choose four firms from the same industry in the same country. You can do this easily by visiting financial websites such as Reuters and clicking on the “industries” link. Download the financial accounts of four similarly sized companies from the same industry and prepare a table with the financial structure of each firm.
Based on that information answer the following 4 research questions:
Research Question 1: Calculate the relative proportions of debt and equity in each company’s capital structure. Are they similar? If not, can you explain why they are not similar?
Research Question 2: Explain how you dealt with securities that had debt and equity characteristics.
Research Question 3: What is the total book value of each company’s assets? What is the total book value of each company’s debt and equity?
Research Question 4: Find the market value of each company’s equity. How does this compare with the book value? Can you explain the difference?
Write a brief report following the indicated structure based on your findings for answering each one of the research questions above.
