M plc is an IT company that bids for large contracts to sell computer systems and also to service existing systems. M plc's senior management has always set budgets which are hard to achieve and have made no allowances for the recession.
The economy has improved and M plc's senior managers have made the budget even more optimistic. The budgeted sales target has been increased by 40%.
In the past, sales staff have not tried to achieve the budget sales because it was generally believed that the targets were impossible to reach.
M plc has recently appointed a new Sales Director who has decided that sales staff will be dismissed if they fail to meet sales targets for three successive months. He is also looking for higher sales margins than were achieved before.
What are the likely consequences of the new Sales Director's policy?

K is a manufacturing company. It has sourced new equipment from the US to equip a new production facility.
It has to make a payment of USD1,000,000 in 3 months' time.
K's production manager needs to know whether it is cheaper to use a forward contract or a money market hedge.
Current spot and forward exchange rates are as follows:
Current mid-point money market rates (annual) are as follows:
Ignoring taxation, which of the following statements is correct?

D has decided to invest in a new factory at a cost of $6,000,000. The discount rate of the project is 22% and the PV of tax shield is $80,000.
What is the IRR?
Give your answer to two decimal places.

K plc is a large listed company in the retail industry. It has recently appointed T as a non-executive director. T has never had any previous involvement with K plc but is well known to K's Chief Executive P because T is the Managing Director of K plc's largest supplier.
K has recently expanded into Asi
a. Doubts about the wisdom of the move have been expressed in the financial press with some journalists commenting that it has exposed K plc to higher degrees of risk than previously. The move had been approved by the Risk Committee which consists of four Non-Executive Directors (NEDs) all of whom have significant experience in business.
K plc does not have a Nominations Committee. Nominations to the Board are usually proposed by P and generally agreed by the other directors.
In relation to the above scenario which of the following comments is valid?

B uses a balanced scorecard to monitor the performance of its divisions.
Classify each of the following decisions taken by a division's management team as either commercially sound or dysfunctional.