MGT565: ECA (End-of-Course Assessment) – Accounting for Business Decisions, SUSS, Singapore

Section A

Question 1

Banyan Tree Holdings Limited (BTH) is a multi-brand hospitality group operating hotels, spas and residences across 22 countries under 12 brands.

Like many hospitality chains, it was impacted by the travel restriction in place as a result of the public health emergency of international concern declared by the World Health Organization in response to the coronavirus outbreak commonly referred to as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Question 1a

Read and appraise the independent auditors’ report found in the BTH 2023 annual report. Name the firm that carried out the audit and explain the auditor’s opinion of the financial report of the company. Based on the report, is there any potential cause for alarm to investors and potential investors?

Question 1b

Calculate financial ratios covered in this course to evaluate and compare the profitability of BTH in the years before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic up to the present day.

Identify the years with bad performance and years of significant improvement. Look a bit deeper into the financial reports and propose possible causes and reasons why the company performance was strong or weak for that year.

Question 1c

What additional information might be provided by BTH to help you evaluate their profitability better? Discuss the format this information might be presented and how it can help you in your analysis.

Question 2

Download and review the Sustainability Report published by BTH for the year 2023 and any prior year you feel necessary. Based on your understanding of the company and its industry, pick one environmental topic from the SGX Core ESG Metrics which you think has the greatest impact for BTH. Explain why you pick that topic. Critique the disclosures provided by BTH in that topic.

Include in your analysis the following points:
(a) Why do you think that topic has the greatest impact for BTH?
(b) Do you think that the disclosures by BTH are sufficient?
(c) Do you think BTH’s performance on this topic is satisfactory?
(d) What additional reasonable disclosures do you think BTH can provide that will help stakeholders’ analysis of this topic? Why do you think it is useful?