You have learnt about the financial statements
(Income Statement and Balance Sheet) of
companies. Basically, these are summarised
financial reports which provide the operating results
and financial position of companies, and the detailed
information contained therein is useful for assessing
the operational efficiency and financial soundness
of a company. This requires proper analysis and
interpretation of such information for which a
number of techniques (tools) have been developed
by financial experts. In this chapter we will have an
overview of these techniques.
4.1 Meaning of Analysis of Financial Statements
The process of critical evaluation of the financial
information contained in the financial statements in
order to understand and make decisions regarding
the operations of the firm is called ‘Financial
Statement Analysis’. It is basically a study of
relationship among various financial facts and
figures as given in a set of financial statements, and
the interpretation thereof to gain an insight into the
profitability and operational efficiency of the firm to
assess its financial health and future prospects.
The term ‘financial analysis’ includes both
‘analysis and interpretation’. The term analysis
means simplification of financial data by methodical
classification given in the financial statements.
Interpretation means explaining the meaning and
significance of the data. These two are
complimentary to each other. Analysis is useless
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After studying this chapter,
you will be able to :
• explain the nature and
significance of financial
analysis;
• identify the objectives of
financial analysis;
• describe the various tools
of financial analysis;
• state the limitations of
financial analysis;
• prepare comparative and
commonsize statements
and interpret the data
given therein; and
• calculate the trend
percentages and interpret
them.
Analysis of Financial Statements
4
without interpretation, and interpretation without analysis is difficult or even
impossible.
Box
Financial statement analy