05. Financial Information

UK Publicly Traded Firms

5.1 Balance Sheet
5.2 Income Statement
5.3 Statement of Cash Flow
5.4 Key Financial Ratios
5.5 Stock Analysts’ Reports

Assess­ing the tar­get firm’s finances is cen­tral to under­stand­ing the com­pany.  With­out look­ing care­fully at a company’s finances one can get a very wrong impres­sion of its finan­cial con­di­tions by look­ing only at rev­enues or the value of its stock. Eval­u­at­ing a company’s finan­cial con­di­tion is also a pre­req­ui­site before con­sid­er­ing a cam­paign to deter­mine if the firm is finan­cially sound enough to with­stand an orga­niz­ing drive, or if the firm has such deep pock­ets that orga­niz­ing would be difficult. While corporate financial analysis may appear daunting for those who have no experience in this area, a basic understanding is quite possible in a relatively short period of time.

It is very easy to drown in corporate financial information. If you have no experience in reviewing financial documents, go first to our Financial Analysis for Union Researchers or one of the many guides to corporate finance online, such as the Merrill Lynch Guide to Understanding Financial Analysis. There are many places to access a company’s financial statement, but for the first-time user we would recommend getting your firm’s balance sheet, income statement, and statement of cash flow from Yahoo Finance, which provides the simplest version of these statements. As you become more familiar with them you can explore more detailed statements which are available in the company’s Annual Return.

In addition to the financial statements, financial analysts utilize financial ratios. This allows them to track the performance of a firm over time and to compare it to others in the industry.  For a basic introduction to financial ratios, go to our Financial Analysis for Union Researchers. 

There are many stock analysts reports online.

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