Course Catalogue

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This course is designed to help participants develop an integrated approach to financial analysis and equity valuation. To become a skilled investment and valuation professional, it is crucial to develop knowledge and skills that enable you to identify, extract, read, understand, interpret, and synthesise financial information; synthesise these analyses into forecasts of value drivers; and develop and justify accurate company valuations. The course will have broad appeal to individuals interested in equity valuation and so its natural target audience would be those aspiring to work in asset management, equity research and investment banking. The course should also be of interest to those interested in pursuing the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) qualification.

Synchronous learning activities: Workshops (2 hours x 11 weeks)

Asynchronous learning activities will consist of pre-recorded lectures as well as a range of Moodle activities.

Normally a grade D3 or above in Finance 2 and Financial Accounting 1.

Financial Statement Analysis and Valuation (ACCFIN4013)

None.

The assessment of the course will be based on an individual research report (100%). The research report assignment will require students to 'walk through' the entire process of financial statement analysis and equity valuation of a chosen listed company, and they will also need to prepare a review report on a draft version of a peer's research report. The report will encompass all topic areas covered in the course.

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. Where, exceptionally, reassessment on Honours courses is required to satisfy professional/accreditation requirements, only the overall course grade achieved at the first attempt will contribute to the Honours classification. For non-Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below. 

The aims of this course are to:

■ Develop students' critical understanding of the functioning of the market for information and investment advice, as well as interdependencies and practices of key players in this field (i.e., sell-side analysts and professional investors).

■ Cultivate analytical 'investigative' skills and technical competencies that will enable students to conduct independent analysis of a company's business and financial performance, and to generate well-grounded forecasts and intrinsic valuations of the company.

■ Foster students' ability to think critically when evaluating various assumptions and justify their judgment calls, which should serve as the foundation for their operationalization of company analysis and valuation.

■ Provide students with opportunities to practice analytical writing skills by engaging in the production of a professional sell-side analyst-style company valuation research report.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

1. Identify, evaluate, and utilise financial statement and other relevant information to analyse a company's business and financial performance in its historical and peer/sector/industry context.

2. Carry out fundamental analysis of a company's value/performance drivers and develop well-justified forecasts of relevant financial statement line items and valuation model inputs.

3. Develop a critical understanding of different valuation approaches and use different valuation methods to develop intrinsic valuations of companies.

4. Critically evaluate facets/challenges/alternatives of financial/valuation analysis, and prepare a 'practitioner style' comprehensive analytical equity valuation research report.

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.