Principles of Financial Management: The Bank of Queensland

PRINCIPLES OF FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT 1
The Australian financial system: the bank of Queensland
Student’s name
Course
Instructor’s name
Institutional affiliation
City and state
Date

PRINCIPLES OF FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT 2
Industry description
Financial management can be defined as the process of undertaking strategic
planning, organizing, directing and controlling of the financial aspects within an
organization. It the process, therefore, includes the application management principles
and guidelines to financial securities and assets that are owned by an entity such as the
bank of Queensland. The financial industry within Australia is predominantly an
oligopolistic type of industry. Financial services and operations are mainly dominated by
around four major banks and insurers. The rest of the participants are simply small
financial services providers operating besides these major players. In the industry,
banks up to an e estimated 75% market share especially in the providing services such
as housing loans, small businesses, and so on (Jacobson,2018). The general insuring
firms within the industry cover-up to around 80% for creditors, reinsurance and travel
insurance among others. The small financial entities, however, have relative market
share, especially in the target markets. Therefore, this type of industry climate is an
explanation for the high levels of competition especially within the home loan markets,
consumer credits and home insurance among others. However, it is also notable that
such levels of competition are still below the desired. On the other hand, little
competition exists within the small business finance industry. These small businesses
that trade in assets such as the small business credit, lenders, pet insurance among
others have very limited completion within the industry. Regulation in the Australian
financial industry is carried out by around three bodies. These include the Australian
Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), The Australian Prudential Regulatory
Authority (APRA) and The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) (Australian Government,

PRINCIPLES OF FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT 3
2018). Similarly, the Australian securities exchange has also been identified as one of
the regulators of the Australian financial industry. Besides the regulators, The Council of
Financial Regulators (CFR) also assists in monitoring the financial activities within the
Australian financial market. This body is comprised of about four members and of which
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) is among (Reserve Bank of
Australia,2019).
Company description
The focus for this particular paper is the bank of Queensland. The bank of
Queensland is a business to a business universal entity. The main sources of business
for this bank include offering transaction accounts, savings and investments accounts,
general insurance, credit card protection, consumer credit insurances and so many
other services. It is through such activities that the bank of Queensland derives
business. The bank of Queensland is run on a decentralized system of a structure. The
bank has an executive chief officer, the board of directors and as the top managers. The
management of the bank further has chief financial officers as well as other officers
below the CFO (Bank of Queensland limited, 2019). The chain of authority within the
bank further continues up to the retail distribution centres. The ownership of the bank is
however comprised of a total of about 20 shareholders as it is a public listed company
on the Australian stock exchange (Bank of Queensland Group,2018). The bank of
Queensland plays various roles within the industry. Among such roles, the bank of
Queensland acts as an intermediary between the lenders and borrowers. For example,
lenders deposit money on their account such as the fixed deposit accounts and then the
bank lends out this money to other users at an interest. Through services such as

PRINCIPLES OF FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT 4
general insurance services, the bank of Queensland provides insurance cover to its
customers. Since the bank of Queensland is a public listed company, it, therefore, acts
as an investment opportunity for investors within and outside Australia. Such a role is
done through the process of issuing out shares on the stock market.
Financial instrument analysis
A financial asset or security refers to an investment that has its value derived
from a contractual agreement concerning what it holds. These financial assets are
mostly liquid since they are highly convertible to other forms such as cash in a short
period. These assets are also intangible and they include securities such as bonds,
stocks, bank deposits, and cash among others. Items such as fixed assets, land, plant
and property are not part of the financial assets of a business. This because such
assets are tangible and they are fixed in nature. It is a further noted that fixed assets
such as land are not highly convertible into cash. Therefore such assets are held by an
entity over a long period.
Bonds, for example, are those long term debt instruments that are issued out by
a company to raise capital. They normally attract very low interests and therefore
associated with very minimal risk.
From the 2018 annual report, the bank of Queensland is identified to be dealing
in financial assets such as loans and advances at amortized cost, assets that are held
for sale, shares in controlled entities, liabilities held for sale, the derivative financial
liabilities, issued capital, reserves, retained profits and so many other assets. An off-
balance sheet business is referred to as a situation through which assets and or

PRINCIPLES OF FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT 5
liabilities are not recorded on the company’s balance sheet. These assets are not
recorded in the balance sheet but they remain a company's assets. These off-balance
sheet items are usually obligations that an entity has to pay. For instance, if the bank of
Queensland obtained a loan and then decides to invest such a loan, and the debt is not
recorded anywhere among the bank liabilities. Such an example would be a clear
illustration of an off-balance sheet business. These items are vital aspects that
interested individuals need to have a clear understanding of bout. For example,
investors will use such items to come up with a representative picture of a company's
financial stability. Therefore the bank of Queensland does not deal in the off-balance
sheet business. The financial assets that are included in the off-balance sheet business
are accounts receivable, operating lease, leaseback contracts, among others. The Bank
of Queensland has had an estimated $16 million volume in an off-balance sheet volume
as compared to the estimated $250 million in the company’s asset portfolio (bank of
Queensland, 2018).
Financial structure analysis
Ratio analysis is a mathematical technique used to generate an in-depth analysis
concerning a company's state of liquidity, operational efficiency, and level of profitability
and so on. This type of analysis is conducted in comparison with similar information of
another entity in the same industry. The major aim of undertaking such a process is to
identify the most profitable company that is worth investing in. the alternative reason for
such a process is to assess the performance of the entity.

PRINCIPLES OF FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT 6
Therefore, several ratio analyses can be conducted under such a process. These
ratio analyses are, however, categorized into six major categories. These include the
profitability ratios such as operating profits, the return of equity, net profit, and the
earnings before deducting income and tax among others. The other categories of ratios
include the activity ratios, liquidity ratios, debt ratios and market ratios. However, each
financial participant in the financial industry has individual interests that have to be
fulfilled. The creditors, for instance, are more interested in assessing the ability of a
company's ability to pay off obligations whereas the shareholders are more interested in
receiving timely dividends from their investments in an organization. This is the reason
as to why the following ratios are provided for both the creditors and shareholders as
required.
The key ratios important to the creditors
The creditors of a business desire that a business or a debt is in a position to pay
off obligations in the shortest time possible. Therefore before they give out any credit,
they assess the creditworthiness of the debtor. The following are therefore among the
ratios effectively before they can give out credit. Creditors look at ratios such as the
liquidity ratios, solvency ratios, and the converge ratios. However, all these different
ratios are further broken down for further understanding of the aspect. For instance,
liquidity ratios include current ratios, quick ratios, and working capital ratios and so on.
The solvency ratios, on the other hand, include the dent-to equity ratio, debt-to-asset
ratio, and the interest current ratio. Coverage ratios are further subdivided into times
interest ratios. Debt –service coverage ratios among others (Management Study