Tui Acc 501

Merck & Co. Inc. and Novartis International AG - Two Pharmaceutial Companies

Merck & Co. Inc

Here's the homepage for Merck.

http://www.merck.com/index.html

Novartis International AG

Here's the homepage for Novartis.

http://www.us.novartis.com/

Required:

Go to each company’s website and review the most recent financial statements for each company and answer the following questions.

* What accounting standards are used?

* What auditing standards are used by the external auditors?

* Analyze and comment on the differences in the annual statements found on the companies' websites. Provide a few specific differences in content and format.

* How comparable are these financial statements?

Prepare a table for a period of three years showing some key financial information for the two companies. Include at least four items from the balance sheet, four items from the income statement, and four items from the statement of cash flow. Having reviwed and analyzed the financial information, please elaborate on the following three questions.

1. Which one of the two companies is the most profitable?

2. Compare growth of revenues versus income over time and between the two companies

3. How can you explain the difference in profitability between the two companies?

4. Indicate in detail the information you used to answer the above questions.

Modular Case Assignment Expectations

It is important to answer the questions as posed. The discussion should be from 3 to 5 pages and written in a clear and concise manner. Support your discussion with references in APA format. You are encouraged to use Excel or other compatible spreadsheet when computations are involved.

Click here for details of the rubric used to grade the submission.