Reference no: EM13488561

Refer to the Marks and Spencer Group financial statements and the accompanying notes to answer the following questions. The financial statements of M&S can be accessed at: https://corporate.marksandspencer.com/documents/publications/2010/annual_report_2010

Module 1

1) What cash outflow obligations related to the repayment of long-term debt does M&S have over the next 5 years?
2) M&S indicates that it believes it has the ability to meet business requirements in the foreseeable future. Prepare an assessment of its liquidity, solvency, and financial flexibility using ratio analysis.
3) What is the par or stated value of M&S's preference shares?
4) What is the par or stated value of M&S's ordinary shares?
5) What percentage of M&S's authorized ordinary shares was issued at April 3, 2010?

6) How many ordinary shares were outstanding at April 3, 2010, and March 28, 2009?

Module 2

Under M&S's share-based compensation plan, share options are granted annually to key managers and directors.
1) How many options were granted during 2010 under the plan?
2) How many options were exercisable on March 29, 2010? 3) What number of diluted weighted-average shares outstanding was used by M&S in computing
earnings per share for 2009 and 2010? What were M&S's diluted earnings per share in 2009 and 2010?
4) What other share-based compensation plans does M&S have?
5) What investments does M&S report in 2010 and where are these investments reported in its financial statements?
6) How are M&S's investments valued? How does M&S determine fair value?
7) How does M&S use derivative financial instruments?

Module 3

1) What amounts relative to income taxes does M&S report in its:
a. 2010 income statement?
b. 29 March 2010 balance sheet?
c. 2010 statement of cash flows?
2) M&S's provision for income taxes in 2009 and 2010 was computed at what effective tax rates? (See the notes to the financial statements.)
3) How much of M&S's 2010 total provision for income taxes was current tax expense, and how much was deferred tax expense?
4) What did M&S report as the significant components (the details) of its 29 March, 2010 deferred tax assets and liabilities?

Module 4

1) What kind of pension plan does M&S provide its employees?
2) What was M&S's pension expense for 2009 and 2010?
3) What is the impact of M&S's 2010 pension plans on its financial statements?
4) What information does M&S provide on the target allocation of its pension assets? How do the allocations relate to the expected returns on these assets?

Module 5

1) What types of leases are used by M&S?
2) What amount of finance leases was reported by M&S in total and for less than one year?

Module 6

1) Were there changes in accounting policies reported by M&S during the two years covered by its income statements (2009-2010)? If so, describe the nature of the change and the year of change.
2) What types of estimates did M&S discuss in 2010?

Module 7

1) Which method of computing net cash provided by operating activities does M&S use? What were the amounts of net cash provided by operating activities for the years 2009 and 2010? Which two items were most responsible for the increase in net cash provided by operating activities in 2010?

2) What was the most significant item in the cash flows used for investing activities section in 2010?

3) What was the most significant item in the cash flows used for financing activities section in 2010?

4) Where is "deferred income taxes" reported in M&S's statement of cash flows? Why does it appear in that section of the statement of cash flows?

5) Where is depreciation reported in M&S's statement of cash flows? Why is depreciation added to net income in the statement of cash flows?

Module 8

1) What specific items does M&S discuss in its Note 1-Summary of Significant Accounting Policies? (List the headings only.)
2) For what segments did M&S report segmented information? Which segment is the largest? Who is M&S's largest customer?
3) What interim information was reported by M&S?