Course 2012-2013 a.y.

Go to class group/s: 31

CLMG (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/07) - M (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/07) - IM (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/07) - MM (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/07) - AFC (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/07) - CLAPI (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/07) - CLEFIN-FINANCE (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/07) - CLELI (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/07) - ACME (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/07) - DES-ESS (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/07) - EMIT (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/07)

Course Director:
NICOLA PECCHIARI

Course Objectives

The course major educational objective is the analysis of financial statement interpretation issues from the perspective of professional analysts in an international context.
Successful completion of this course should enable students to use financial analysis formats and ratios in the perspective of:

• industry and competitor analysis perspective,
• credit analysis,
• equity analysis,
• audit analysis.

Particular relevance is given to analysis and discussion of problems and case studies, in order to develop students' skills in identifying critical financial statement areas; each case study contains financial statement information and a set of specific questions pertaining to financial accounting issues. The financial statement information is used to infer and interpret the economic events underlying the numbers.

Course Content Summary

• Analysis of Income Statement: reformulations and related ratios
• Analysis of Balance Sheet: reformulations and related ratios
• Profitability analysis
• Analysis of Cash Flow Statement: reformulations and related ratios
• Persistence of Operating Results: connection between RONA (ROCE, ROIC, ROA), EVA and DCF
• Analysis of non-recurring items (or unusual items)
• Trend analysis: relevant techniques
• The influence of accounting principles (IFRS vs. local GAAP) on the size and sustainability of results and on the degree of managerial judgment
• Analysis of groups performance by means of consolidated financial statements
• Fraudulent financial reporting: some warnings for the analyst
• Industry analysis: a framework for analysts

Detailed Description of Assessment Methods

A written exam and an optional group assignment (for which up to 2 additional points are awarded).

Textbooks

Lecture notes, slides and case studies are available on the course website.

Exam textbooks & Online Articles (check availability at the Library)

Prerequisites

Compulsory: Basic financial accounting (bookkeeping; accounting standards; basic financial statement analysis); Corporate Finance and Business Valuation.

Recommended: IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards).

Last change 20/06/2012 10:06