Interpreting Financial and Accounting Information Assignment Question 2026 | MAICSA

Interpreting Financial and Accounting Information Assignment Question

General Instructions

The following are assignment questions to be completed by IFAI students as a requirement under coursework which contributes 30% of the marks for their course. The balance 70% will be from the final examination.

Additional Requirements

The answers to the assignment should be typed using the Times New Roman, font size 12 with an inch margin on all sides. The line and paragraph spacing should be 1.5. The paragraph should be set to 2.0. Each page of the completed assignments should have clearly printed page numbers, and the studentship number should appear in the header of every page. No names should be printed on the assignments files.

Students will be given approximately 30 days, from the date of release of the assignment questions, to submit their completed work to MAICSA via LMS. No extension to the submission deadline will be granted except under very special circumstances. Students must therefore plan their assignment work well to avoid any delay in meeting the submission deadline.

The word count for each IFAI assignment can be between 1,000 to 3,000 words, depending on the questions set. Quantitative questions may require a smaller number of words but instead more calculations. Calculations that are produced must be presented in a suitable manner, preferably in a table format showing details such as formulas (where applicable) and the figures used in the calculations and the results obtained. In equations computed, the total for the numerator and the total for the denominator must be shown. No marks will be awarded for answers which show the figures added or subtracted but not the final total.

It is important for students to prepare a separate table showing the computations for the numerator and denominator of ratio equations as illustrated below: 

When submitting the documents, the candidate must ensure all the required documents are only in one merged PDF format. Please follow the answer template that can be downloaded in the Learning Management System.

All completed assignment(s) must be uploaded to Dropbox in the Learning Management System on or before the 30^th April 2026 by 11:59 p.m. Any further inquiries please contact examinations@maicsa.org.my.

The IFAI assignment question is based on two corporate organisations, namely Malayan Flour Mills Berhad and PPB Group Berhad both of whom are involved in flour milling and related businesses.

Malayan Flour Mills Berhad – An Overview

Malayan Flour Mills Berhad is a Malaysia-based company, which is principally engaged in the business of milling and selling wheat flour, and trading in grain and other allied products. It is a Kuala Lumpur based company which was established in 1961 and listed on Bursa Malaysia in 1968. The company operates, primarily, in two businesses: flour and poultry. The former involves milling and sales of wheat flour, trading in grains and other related products, whereas the latter segment involves manufacturing and sale of animal feeds, farming, processing and sale of poultry products. Flour and poultry make up roughly 68% and 32% of its revenue, respectively.

Malayan Flour Mills is the second largest flour miller in the country, behind Federal Flour Mills of the PPB Group. Its flour products are sold in both industrial and retail/household packs. Currently, the company has milling operations in Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia. The company is also the third largest broiler producer in Malaysia, behind Leong Hup. Its poultry product range consists of dressed chicken, marinated chicken and further processed products. The bulk of the chicken is sold for domestic consumption. The company’s poultry farm practices closed house integration and is located in Manjung, Perak. In June 2017, the company added 7 fish feed production lines to its business. The newly set up aquatic feed mills can utilise the by-products from flour milling and poultry processing. The company also engages in hedging and trading of raw materials for flour and animal feeds.

PPB Group Berhad – An Overview

PPB Group Berhad is a Malaysian diversified conglomerate which engages in food production, agriculture, waste management, film distribution, property investment and development. PPB is also the single largest shareholder of Wilmar International, one of the leading palm oil producers and agribusiness companies in the world. The company was founded in 1968 as Perlis Plantations Berhad to cultivate and mill sugar cane in the state of Perlis. The company was listed in 1972 and since then has ventured into other industries. It exited the sugar business in 2009. Today, its main business is the supply of flour to downstream food producers.

Question  1(a)

Calculate 20 ratios mentioned in the study text under the following five categories for the two years in the financial statements for Malayan Flour Mills Berhad and PPB Group Berhad:Profitability Ratios (5 ratios):

(i) Return on Capital Employed
(ii) Return on Shareholders’ Equity
(iii) Operating Profit Margin
(iv) Gross Profit Margin
(v) Net Profit Margin

Asset Efficiency or Turnover Ratios (6 ratios):

(i) Total Asset Turnover
(ii) Non-current asset turnover
(iii) Rate of inventories turnover
(iv) Rate of inventories turnover
(v) Rate of collection of trade receivables
(vi) Rate of payment of trade payables

Liquidity or Solvency Ratios (2 ratios):

(i) Current ratio
(ii) Quick Ratio

Gearing or Debt Ratios (4 ratios):

(i) Equity gearing
(ii) Total capital gearing
(iii) Interest gearing
(iv) Interest cover

Investment or Market Value Ratios (3 ratios):

(i) Earnings per share
(ii) Price/Earnings
(iii) Dividend payout

Mark – 36%

Note: Answers to ratio questions must follow the sequence in the lists presented in the question. Students must label the ratios according to the names given for each of them and the ratio figures derived from the respective formulas as either per cent, times, days, etc.When the required information is not available in the provided financial statements, students may refer to the respective company’s annual reports. These reports can typically be accessed through the company’s official website.

Students should also review the “Notes to the Financial Statements” as necessary, as these sections often contain more detailed disclosures and explanations relevant to the analysis.

If some of the necessary information for a particular ratio is unavailable, the ratio may be left uncalculated. However, students must clearly state which specific information is lacking that prevents the calculation of the concerned ratio.

Marks for Q1(a) shall be based on correct calculation of the ratios. Formulas for the ratios as per the study text and given in the appendix to the assignment question must be shown and used in the calculation. 20 pairs of ratios are expected for each organisation. Each correct ratio would earn 0.45 marks. Correct labelling of the ratios is important. Accuracy of calculation according to the formula given and the resulting ratios would be relevant in the award of marks. Where the ratios produced have decimal places, they should be limited to just two decimal places only.

Question 1(b)

Write a report, from an analyst point of view, comparing the financial performance and financial health of Malayan Flour Mills Berhad and PPB Group Berhad for the years 2024 and 2023. The assessment report should strictly cover four areas only and they are: (1) profitability, (2) liquidity, (3) efficiency, and (4) gearing.As regards ratios, only eight sets of ratios should be selected for the comparison, and they are:

Profitability:

(1) Return on Capital Employed
(2) Return on Shareholders’ Equity

Liquidity:

(1) Current Ratio
(2) Quick Ratio

Efficiency:

(1) Total Asset Turnover Ratio
(2) Non-current Asset Turnover Ratio

Gearing:

(1) Capital Gearing
(2) Equity Gearing

The discussion should follow the sequence set out in the question. Thus, general information such as revenue and assets can be portrayed first and compared to identify trends and size differential where appropriate. This can then be followed by discussion first of profitability, second liquidity, third efficiency and fourth gearing.

Word Length: The report should be concise and not exceed 800 words.

Marks –  24%

Answer

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