Assessment #1 Financial Statements at a Glance

Assessment #1 Getting Started

AMALGAMATED HOLINGS LIMITED

Step #1;

Set up Moodle Profile and listed Blog via blogger.com

My blogs address is found at 

http://amalgamatedholdings.blogspot.com/

Step #2;

AMALGAMATED HOLDINGS LIMITED

ASX CODE: AHD (listed 1962)

My company Amalgamated Holdings Limited AHL is an Australian run organisation which has diversified itself into hospitality, entertainment and leisure organisation.

Established in 1910, its pioneers had a vision to ‘create a business dedicated to the art of moving pictures’. In 1913 Union Theaters was formed which the developed into the well-known Greater Union in the 1930’s.

After a successful company was imprinted into Australia’s entertainment industry Amalgamated Holdings Limited strives to continue to grow. It was branched into other Cinema complexes such as Birch, Carroll and Coyle, Cinestar (operations in throughout the world), as well as investment into moving art picture technology which has also contributed to its financial success. Its movement didn’t stop here and since has established quite a successful portfolio of hospitality venues and hotels, including the 4 and 5 star Hotel Chain The Rydges (which was my initial employer when I left school and a great stepping stone into my hospitality career), QT hotels and Resorts and the Atura Hotels. This was the followed by the Leisure sector of the business which includes one of Australia’s premier ski fields, The Thredbo Alpine Ski Resort, and until recently (sold in 2013) Featherdale Wild Life park, which to me was a place of school excursions when I was in primary school.

AHL has since widened its boarders with investment properties in leasing office and retail spaces as well as other investments in listed and non-listed companies.

It is clear that my company has been under the supervision of strong management which has enabled such successful performance to span over 100 years. Its operations have attracted growth and allowed a shareholder base of over 500.

I am very happy to be given such a company that I can relate to with prior experience within the industry, however doing requisitions for stock, managing rosters and maintaining key relationships with staff, customers and suppliers seems to be a world away from the nitty-gritty business of the management and their Financial Statements.

  

KCQ of AHL Financial Statements

After reading through the annual Financial Statements for the past three year I suddenly felt inadequate with what I was reading and felt lost trying to comprehend, leaving me with some serious questions regarding the Key Concepts and the terminology used. This type of terminology is extremely foreign to me and I have had to get definitions for the following:

Statements of Movements In Equity;  

Shows the various changes in shareholders’ equity

• Movements in shareholders' equity over an accounting period comprises the following elements:
• Net profit or loss during the accounting period attributable to shareholders
•  Increase or decrease in share capital reserves
•  Dividend payments to shareholders
• Gains and losses recognized directly in equity
• Effect of changes in accounting policies
• Effect of correction of prior period error

Statement of changes in equity helps users of the financial statement to identify the factors that cause a change in the owners' equity over the accounting periods. Whereas movement in shareholder reserves can be observed from the balance sheet, statement of changes in equity discloses significant information about equity reserves that is not presented separately elsewhere in the financial statements which may be useful in understanding the nature of change in equity reserves. Examples of such information include share capital issue and redemption during the period, the effects of changes in accounting policies and correction of prior period errors, gains and losses recognized outside income statement, dividends declared and bonus shares issued during the period.

Comprehensive Income;

The change in a company's net assets from non-owner sources over a specified period of time. Comprehensive income is a statement of all income and expenses recognized during that period. The statement includes revenue, finance costs, tax expenses, discontinued operations, profit share and profit/loss.

Cash Flow Hedges;

A Cash Flow Hedge is used when an entity is looking to eliminate or reduce the exposure that arises from changes in the cash flows of a financial asset or liability (or other eligible exposure) due to changes in a particular risk, such as interest rate risk on a floating rate debt instrument.

Reserves and Capital Reserves;

In financial accounting, reserve is any part of shareholders' equity, except for basic share capital.

A reserve is profits that have been appropriated for a particular purpose. Reserves are sometimes set up to purchase fixed assets, pay an expected legal settlement, pay bonuses, pay off debt, pay for repairs and maintenance and other relating matters

Share Capital Reserves;

Share capital is the money invested in a company by the shareholders. Share capital is a long-term source of finance. In return for their investment, shareholders gain a share of the ownership of the company. Such reserves would the allocated funds to be put aside for future investments.

Balance Sheet;

A firm’s representation of its financial position at a particular period- this outlines Assets, Liabilities, Revenue, Expenses and Owners Equity.

The fundamental algebraic expression to find the Owner’s Equity is

A+E=OE+R+L

Intangible Assets and Goodwill;

Intangible assets are assets like trademarks, copyrights, patents, formulas, franchises, goodwill, ect.

Goodwill; Goodwill is a special type of intangible asset that represents that portion of the entire business value that cannot be attributed to other income producing business assets, tangible or intangible

Deferred Taxes;

An account on a company's balance sheet that is a result of temporary differences between the company's accounting and tax carrying values, the anticipated and enacted income tax rate, and estimated taxes payable for the current year

Provisions;

Is an account which records a present liability of the entity. The recording of the liability in the entity's balance sheet is matched to an appropriate expense account in the entity's income statement.

Income statement;

The Income statement identifies how the various activities have changed the Owners Equity

Diluted Earnings;

A performance metric used to gauge the quality of a company's earnings per share (EPS) if all convertible securities were exercised. Convertible securities refers to all outstanding convertible preferred shares, convertible debentures, stock options (primarily employee based) and warrants.

Step #3;

I have input my financial statements into the excel sheet for the past 3 financial years

Step #4;

Study Guide KCQ

The study guides have been a great learning tool, however I thought at first it was highly impractical to have a subject of (especially) accounting to not have a textbook which lead me to believe that I was destined for failure. This however changed my perception once I got my head around the navigation and utilization of the Moodle website and all of the components included in them.

Since I completed Accounting Fundamentals in Sydney for my bridging course into university after a change of career I have found the first chapter a pleasant refresher for me, however this course was, along with statistics was not my strong point.

The history of Accounting has drawn me deeper into its subject to realise that the first forms of accounting principles, along with most history in general. There had been findings of records of detailed expenditures and goods traded and received dating back to Mesopotamia which was an ancient area of the Greeks, (nowadays Iraq-Syria) more than 7000 years ago. This developed further through the times through the various empires including Eculids ‘Elements’ written around 300BC. In 1299-1300 the Double Entry method was surfaced by a company known as Giovanno Farolfi & Company. In 1494 when the ‘godfather of accounting’ Italian Luca Pacioli’s publish a 27 page manifest on bookkeeping incorporating various parts of the Giovanno Farolfi & Company methods that it used including that of Double Entry Accounting. This was a great insight to the depth and time that such vital studies have evolved.

Accounting has allowed me to look at businesses as a model and description of the life span of a business, one that must be looked at as a business with an ongoing and continuous life span. It allows us to measure performance of specific time frames and then being able to access its performances with other periods of time. Such collaborated details are for the use of managers to not only access but to predict and allow budgets, as well as the operations of key fundamentals of the business itself since a business is continuously in a process of exchange often referred to as being static

A business is any organisation that aims to provide good or services to the public in exchange for benefits most commonly goods of monetary value, if not money. This is broken up into sole traders, partner ships and corporations. The principles of businesses are set out by legislation drafted in and throughout the world’s legal systems.

Accountants use 5 key elements when drafting a company’s Financial Reports

1. Assets
2. Liabilities
3. Equity
4. Revenue
5. Expenses

Of these 5 elements we have now been introduced to 3 statements;

• Balance Sheet
• Income Statements
• Changes in Equity

Balance Sheets is a firms representation of its Financial position on a single day (usually done at specified dates, monthly, quarterly and or annually).

A Balance Sheet details the balance of each of the 5 elements, and the health of the economic entity including Assets, Liabilities, Revenue, Expenses and Owners Equity.

Income Statements show how the firms economic status has changed overtime ( again done at specified intervals) and how such change has effected the stakeholders, of creditors which is known as Owners Equity. To calculate the companies economic status it is a desire to find out the companies income which is calculated by Expenses – Revenue = Income

Next which I have found the most challenging, and foreign is the changes in equity statement.

The reason for this is due to the worded descriptions and unfamiliar terminologies. Another reason behind this difficulty is that although the expenses are detailed, it is not mandatory to list the total of expenses a company has paid, is this true?

Previously I have studied the Australian Wheat Board scandal, which saw kickbacks being paid to the Iraq regime, which at the time was Saddam Hussein- which to me not disclosing all expenses and choosing how a business presents its statements and reports ‘undermining’ people and authorities. Forgive me if I’m wrong but I do believe that doing something in the best interest of money generally creates greed- and this we have seen create some devastating events throughout history.

Also mentioned in Chapter 3 is ratios. Again in my previous accounting course I had to implement these and was for the final exam (closed book) tested for each of them- which I didn't know which was which and I believe that having such demands on my memory is one way to fail- I am sure that accountants if need be can look into books an methods if needed, so why should we if we still implement the correct values and methods.

I hope I have answered through by little reflection the difficulties I have and probably will continue to face (until I can get a grip), I do not find much boring due to the charities I have submerged myself in whilst living in Bali as I see such poverty I really do not take w whole lot for granted any more, especially the opportunity to be educated, and although it may not be exciting as me going for a surf I do quite like learning new concepts in deeper context

Key Challenges and Strategies

The challenges for the last financial year (LFY) was the decrease of 8.4% in Net Profit (NP) after tax. Such a significant drop in NP was due to the sale of Featherdale Wildlife Park and investment property in Melbourne leasing office space in the prior FY.

This however was counteracted with a fair value gain of $4.9 million of the acquisition of the remaining interest in a joint venture operation. To me the management of AHL have dealt with the economic and other external environments very effectively, as they are having consistent increments in building a stronger organisation and adjusting to the current environments and demands of the marketplace.

The breakdown of its portfolios show that the entertainment (Australia, New Zealand and Germany in positive growth as well as its Hospitality and Leisure sector with the exception of Thredbo Alpine Ski Resort. The strategies to counteract this problem has been outlined in the directors report to consist of

• continuing to ensure the popularity, high-quality and ambiance of the winter-time resort facility;
• continuing to improve snow making capability to mitigate risk in poor snow seasons;
• increasing the number and quality of sporting and cultural events to increase visitation outside of the snow season;
• expanding the mountain bike trail network to appeal to a broader range of riders; and
• ensuring that the environmental integrity of the Resort is maintained and, where possible, improved.

Other strategies that will be considered (in relation to the external environments including economic, political and industrial trends) and executed involve identifying the evolving customer needs and demands by investing in additional attractive opportunities and focusing on enhancing customer experience.

Step #5-

I have provided adequate feedback to the peers assigned to me.

Media and Related publishes

Latest Profit ALH soars! Click here

ASX Performance (4/2/15) click here

$78,563,000 Net Profit for 2014 Financial Year

The AHL has amounted some serious investments which all seem to be running effectively.

The NET PROFIT for 2014 (after tax) was $78,563,000.
Although this is down 8.4% from the previous year, the Directors Report stated that such a significant downturn on 2013 was due to the 2013 sale of Featherdale Wild Life Park and a Melbourne Investment Property which attributed to this

Principle Activities, Including AHL's Key Challenges and Implemented Strategies

The major financial activities of Amalgamated Holdings Limited as of 2014 include

Thredbo Alpine Ski Resort

Hotels, Restaurants and Bar operations (Rydges, QT and Atura)

Cinemas, Drive In's and Exhibitions







Amalgamated Holdings also pursued

• Investment Properties ( office and retail)
• Supply of Entertainment Equipment 
• Property Developments
• Investment of shares in listed and non listed companies

Key Challenges and Strategies

The challenges for the last financial year (LFY) was the decrease of 8.4% in Net Profit (NP) after tax. Such a significant drop in NP was due to the sale of Featherdale Wildlife Park and investment property in Melbourne leasing office space in the prior FY.

This however was counteracted with a fair value gain of $4.9 million of the acquisition of the remaining interest in a joint venture operation. To me the management of AHL have dealt with the economic and other external environments very effectively, as they are having consistent increments in building a stronger organisation and adjusting to the current environments and demands of the marketplace. (This can be seen below and throughout their financial statements)

The breakdown of its portfolios show that the entertainment (Australia, New Zealand and Germany in positive growth as well as its Hospitality and Leisure sector with the exception of Thredbo Alpine Ski Resort. The strategies to counteract this problem has been outlined in the directors report to consist of

• continuing to ensure the popularity, high-quality and ambience of the winter-time resort facility;

• continuing to improve snow making capability to mitigate risk in poor snow seasons;

• increasing the number and quality of sporting and cultural events to increase visitation outside of the snow season;

• expanding the mountain bike trail network to appeal to a broader range of riders; and

• ensuring that the environmental integrity of the Resort is maintained and, where possible, improved.

Other strategies that will be considered (in relation to the external environments including economic, political and industrial trends) and executed involve identifying the evolving customer needs and demands by investing in additional attractive oppurtunities and focusing on enhancing customer experience.

Board Of Directors and Biographies. Finnancial Year 2014 (30June2013- 01July 2014)

SUMMARY

Name	Age	Since	Current Position

Alan Rydge

61

2002

Non-Executive Chairman of the Board

David Seargeant

63

2002

Chief Executive Officer, Managing Director, Executive Director

Gregory Dean

2002

Company Secretary, Director of Finance and Accounting

Tamsyn Alley

2012

Director of Marketing

Norman Arundel

2013

Director of Operations - AHL Hospitality and Leisure

Matthew Duff

2006

Director - Commercial

Hans Eberstaller

Managing Director - AHL Strategic Investments of The Greater Union Organisation Pty Ltd

David Stone

2012

Company Secretary

Peter Coates

68

2013

Lead Independent Non-Executive Director

Kenneth Chapman

51

2010

Independent Non-Executive Director

Valerie Davies

62

2011

Independent Non-Executive Director

David Grant

2013

Independent Non-Executive Director

Patria Mann

2013

Non-Executive Independent Director

Richard Newton

53

2008

Independent Non-Executive Director

» Insider Trading

BIOGRAPHIES

Name	Description

Alan Rydge

Mr. Alan G. Rydge has been Non-Executive Chairman of the Board of Amalgamated Holdings Ltd since January 1, 2002. He is a Board member since 1978 and Chairman of the Board since 1980. He is also a member of the Audit, Nomination and Remuneration Committees. He is a company director with 40-plus years experience in the film, hospitality, leisure and tourism industries. He joined the Greater Union group in 1971 and was formerly the Group Managing Director. Mr. Rydge is also a director of the listed company, Carlton Investments Limited (appointed 1980, chairman since 1980). In addition, Mr. Rydge is chairman of Alphoeb Pty Limited and Enbeear Pty Limited.

David Seargeant

Mr. David C. Seargeant has been Chief Executive Officer, Managing Director and Executive Director of Amalgamated Holdings Ltd since January 2002. He has been Board Member since 2001. He is a Managing Director with 30-plus years experience in the hospitality and leisure industries. Former managing director of the Rydges Hotels group (1988-2002) and the Greater Union group (2000-2002). Mr Seargeant is also a director of Tourism Training Australia.

Gregory Dean

Mr. Gregory (Greg) C. Dean, CA, ACIS, is Company Secretary and Director of Finance and Accounting of Amalgamated Holdings Ltd. He was appointed to his position in December 2002. He was Accounting Manager for the Company (2001 – 2002) and was previously employed by an international mining corporation and a regional accounting practice. He is a Chartered Accountant and a member of Chartered Secretaries Australia.

Tamsyn Alley

Norman Arundel

Matthew Duff

Mr. Mathew R. Duff is Director - Commercial of Amalgamated Holdings Ltd. Prior to the appointment, he held a senior finance position within The Greater Union Organisation Pty Limited.

Hans Eberstaller

David Stone

Mr. David I. Stone is Company Secretary of Amalgamated Holdings Ltd. He was appointed to his position on February 23, 2012. Prior to this appointment, he was an audit senior manager at KPMG. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and is undertaking Chartered Secretaries Australia's Graduate Diploma in Applied Corporate Governance.

Peter Coates

Mr. Peter Roland Coates, AO, is Lead Independent Non-Executive Director of Amalgamated Holdings Ltd effective November 26, 2013. He was first appointed to the Board on July 10, 2009. He is member of the Audit and Chairman of the Nomination and Remuneration Committees. He is a company director with 40-plus years senior executive experience in the mining and commodities industries. Mr. Coates' experience includes exposure to domestic and international business practices, mergers and acquisitions and the development of workplace reporting and governance standards for numerous joint venture partnerships and companies listed in Australia and the United Kingdom. He is a former Non-Executive Chairman of Xstrata Australia Pty Limited and Chief Executive of Xstrata Coal. Directorships of other listed companies, held during the last three years, comprise: Minara Resources Limited (appointed director and chairman 2008 and resigned 2011); Santos Limited (appointed director 2008 and chairman 2009, retired as chairman 9 May 2013); Glencore International plc (appointed 2011 and resigned 2 May 2013); Glencore Xstrata plc (appointed executive director 12 June 2013); and Sphere Minerals Limited (appointed 24 May 2013). Mr Coates was past chairman of the Minerals Council of Australia, the NSW Minerals Council and the Australian Coal Association.

Kenneth Chapman

Mr. Kenneth (Ken) George Chapman, MB,BS, FAICD, FAIM, AFRACMA, has been Independent Non-Executive Director of Amalgamated Holdings Ltd since February 18, 2010. He is a company director with 20-plus years senior executive experience in the tourism area. Currently, he is the Chief Executive Officer of Skyrail-ITM and Executive Director of the Chapman group of companies. He has also held the following positions during the last three years: Chairman of Far North Queensland Hospital Foundation; Chairman of Far North Queensland Ports Corporation Limited (resigned 2012); Chairman of Skyrail Rainforest Foundation Limited; Director of GFB Fisheries Limited; and Director of various entities associated with the privately held Chapman group of companies.

Valerie Davies

Ms. Valerie Anne Davies, FAICD, has been Independent Non-Executive Director of Amalgamated Holdings Ltd since April 20, 2011. She is a company director with 20-plus years accounting and finance related experience. Mr Grant is a Chartered Accountant and previously held roles with Goodman Fielder Limited, Consolidated Rutile Limited and Iluka Resources Limited. Mr Grant was also a founding director of New Zealand-based Trans-Tasman Resources Ltd. Mr Grant is a director and Chairman of the Audit and Risk Committee of iiNet Limited.

David Grant

Mr. David C. Grant has been Independent Non-Executive Director of Amalgamated Holdings Ltd since July 25, 2013. He is a Chartered Accountant and a director and chairman of the Audit and Risk Committee of iiNet Limited, and was a founding director of New Zealand-based Trans-Tasman Resources Ltd. Mr. Grant’s corporate experience also includes roles with Goodman Fielder Limited, Consolidated Rutile Limited and Iluka Resources Limited. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce and is a Graduate of Ausralian Institute of Company Directors. Mr. Grant has been appointed to the Audit Committee and Nomination and Remuneration Committee and will Chair the Audit Committee.

Patria Mann

Richard Newton

Mr. Richard Gordon Newton, BBus (Marketing), FAICD, has been Independent Non-Executive Director of Amalgamated Holdings Ltd since February 29, 2008. He is a company director with 20-plus years senior executive experience in property investment and development, specifically in hotel operations. Mr Newton held the following positions during the last three years: chairman of Capricorn Village Joint Venture, WA; director of Carlton Football Club; and director of Selpam (Australia) Pty Limited (chairman since 2007) and a director of various companies wholly owned by Selpam (Australia) Pty Limited.

Amalgamated Holdings Limited, Company Overview

AMALGAMATED Holdings Limited (AHL) is Australia's premier entertainment, Hospitality and Leisure Company. Established in 1910, its pioneers had a vision: To create a business dedicated to the art of moving pictures, Which in 1913 formed Union Theaters and moving onto Greater Union in 1930.

Today AHL has diversified into 

• Entertainment & Entertainment Technologies -Greater Union, Birch, Carroll & Coyle, Cinestar
• Hospitality- Rydges Hotels, Qt Hotels and Resorts, Atura Hotels
• Leisure- Thredbo Alpine Resort
• Property and other Investments 

The portfolio of AHL restains a solid diversity allowing optimal performance enabling its operations to span over 100 years of business. Its operations have attractive add-on's and growth opportunities, with strong management and supportive shareholders which currently stand at over 5000

AHL was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) in 1962 under the ASX code AHD.

Welcome to Amalgamated Holdings Limited (AHL) Personal Profile

11059 Using Accounting For Decision Making- Central Queensland University, by James Sidoti

Profile:
I am currently studying via distance education in Bali, Indonesia.
Originally from Sydney, I have relocated with my partner as she is on a 2 year contract for her work.
Apart from my studies with Central Queensland University, I am involved in the Canggu Rotary, operating the Nippers/ Life Saving Program at Canggu Beach to help local kids (10-18) get involved with water safety and awareness as well as development in water sports.
I am also involved with the Stella Children's Foundation, which has been set up by an American Company ( now internationally operated) to help local Balinese children create and retain job prospects to enable them to make a living and set up a life away from the orphanage they are currently in.
To allow me breathing space from my studies and work I am an avid surfer, swimmer and also trainer for Muay Thai Kick Boxing.