Unit Eight: Final Assignment - Lookers Plc Financial Analysis Report

This report presents a comprehensive strategic financial analysis of Lookers Plc, focusing on the external and internal contexts affecting the company. It begins with a PEST (Political, Economic, Social, Technological) analysis, examining how external factors impact Lookers Plc's operations and financial performance. The report then delves into an internal SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis, evaluating the company's competitive position within the automotive retail sector. The analysis uses data from the 2018 Annual Report of Lookers Plc. The report aims to provide insights and recommendations for a client, specifically focusing on the role of an operations director. This includes strategic financial analysis of Lookers Plc and advice to a specific client.

INTRODUCTION
External context
PEST analysis of Lookers Plc
Political factors- These factors relates with the political stability and government rules and
regulations that has a great influence on the survival of the company in the long run. As this
enterprise is operating worldwide so it is exposed to several kinds of political system and
environment. Instability of the government impacts the corporate negatively as it results in
frequent changes in the trade regulations and the tariffs in terms of the customer service. On the
other hand stable government reflects a positive influence as risk of changes in the policies and
procedures of the government reduces.
Economic factors- Inflation rate, interest rate, currency exchange rate and the saving rate comes
under the purview of economic factors. High inflation in the country affects the purchasing
power of the people as it results in low disposable income which in turn impacts negatively the
revenue of the Lookers Plc. However, high disposable income and strong currency value
increases the sales of the organization positively. By facilitating the high employment
opportunities, company can contribute t the economic development of the country and this leads
to a positive relations with the government. This helps the entity in a stable growth in the
sustainable future.
Social Factors- Culture of the society and the way of operating the things influences the culture
of the enterprise in a social environment. Shared values, attitudes and the beliefs of population
play a crucial role for the marketer of the Lookers Plc in understanding the needs and the desire
of its target customers. Functioning the business keeping in mind the culture of all the countries
across the globe is complex task as different countries pursue different cultures any default in
interpreting the culture effectively impacts the reputation of the entity negatively. While, on
another state, Effective marketing strategy influence the profitability and enables the company in
reaching the large customer base.
Technological factors- It involves the analysis of technological developments adopted by the
competitors of the Lookers Plc, technological diffusion rate, and technological up-gradation.
Matching with the advancements in the technology involves the high investment and huge cost
for recruiting the highly skilled employees and also training to the existing workers. Moreover,
trending and going with the latest technology infuses favorable outcomes for the organization as
it leads to economies of scale and larger production and the higher market share can be
ascertained.
INTERNAL CONTEXT

SWOT analysis-
Strengths- Lookers Plc has the strong and reliable distribution network all over the world by
which large potential customers can be reached within the global market. Company can
overcome the bottlenecks in the supply chain as it has a strong and wide base of the raw material
supplier. With the upcoming years, Lookers Plc has built its brand portfolio strongly to create
expansion into the new range of products. The marketing strategy of the company has been
resulted as highly successful and profitable in relation to its products. Automation of the
activities has bought up consistency in the quality of its product and this assist the enterprise in
meeting the demands of its customers. It has the good relationship building with its customers
and has achieved the greater level of satisfaction of its target audience. Lookers Plc has attain the
high succeed in implementing its new projects which resulted in better returns on its capital
expenditure by developing the new streams for generating greater revenue.
Weaknesses- The inventory days of the lookers Plc is high as compared to its competitors which
can negatively impact the growth of the enterprise in the long term. Investment in the research
and development is very low than the other leading players in overall market worldwide.
Competition in context of the innovation cannot be met by the Lookers Plc in industry.
Requirement of investment in the new technologies is more for integrating the processes at the
larger pace across the globe.
Opportunities- Decline in the production cost is the great opportunity for the enterprise low price
has to be bear by the Lookers Plc for shipping its products which facilitate a opportunity of
boosting their profitability and enhancing the market share. Adaptation of new technology builds
an opportunity for the enterprise in developing the differentiated strategy of pricing.
Threats- Lack of the skilled workforce and the changing trends of the market and the behavior of
the customers stated as big threat to the Lookers Plc.