Postgraduate Course: Financial Analysis (CMSE11108)
Course Outline
| School | Business School |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 15 |
ECTS Credits | 7.5 |
| Summary | Financial Analysis is an important skill for all those in management positions who deal with financial statements as part of their understanding of a business. This includes those outside the business such as investment analysts and those responsible within the business for financial analysis and for relations with outside stakeholders including investors and banks. Financial statements do not exist in a vacuum but are a reflection of business activity. To understand financial statements it is necessary to understand business activity and vice versa. The course therefore is as much about business as it is about accounting.
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| Course description |
The course contrasts traditional accounting ratio techniques rooted in old economy perspectives of fixed asset utilisation and cost control, with financial analysis as a tool for assessing the performance and development of intangibles. This new economy perspective is particularly appropriate for knowledge companies in areas such as pharmaceuticals, consultancies, and software. Case studies are drawn from these industries and the Enron case is also covered as company which transformed from the old to the new economy.The course enables the participant to assess corporate financial health and performance through an understanding of strategy and business opportunity gained through published financial statements as the entry point for the participants engagement with the corporation.
Syllabus:
Understanding corporate performance
Strategy and business model analysis
Advanced ratio analysis
Modelling corporate sensitivity analysis
Valuation: Theory & Models
Valuation: Implementation
Security Analysis & Investment Analysts
Mergers & Acquisitions
Student Learning Experience:
The course builds upon the techniques of financial statement interpretation. It contrasts these core skills developed for the old economy with techniques appropriate to the knowledge economy, and then illustrates both old and new economy perspectives through a series of case studies. These cover a variety of different types of business, including those which are in the new (knowledge) economy.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | For Business School PG students only, or by special permission of the School. Please contact the course secretary. |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2015/16, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
150
(
Lecture Hours 19,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 8,
Formative Assessment Hours 2,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 3,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
116 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
70 %,
Coursework
0 %,
Practical Exam
30 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
30% is given to a group project, which dependent on student numbers on the course, will be either a group presentation or a group written report.
70% is given to an unseen written examination which takes the form of an individual report analysing a business on the basis of excerpts from its annual report and accounts.
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| Feedback |
All students will be given at least one formative feedback or feedforward event for every course they undertake, provided during the semester in which the course is taken and in time to be useful in the completion of summative work on the course. Such feedback may be at course or programme level, but must include input of relevance to each course in the latter case.
Feedback deadlines
Feedback on formative assessed work will be provided within 15 working days of submission, or in time to be of use in subsequent assessments within the course, whichever is sooner. Summative marks will be returned on a published timetable, which has been made clear to students at the start of the academic year.
Students will gain feedback on their understanding of the material when they discuss their answers to the tutorial questions in the tutorials. Students may also ask questions in Lectures to assess their knowledge.
Feedback format:
Student case example
In class feedback to practice presentations
Written feedback within two weeks of assessed group reports hand in
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| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
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| Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May) | Financial Analysis | 2:00 | | | Main Exam Diet S1 (December)Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May)Resit Exam Diet (August)Outwith Standard Exam Diets JanuaryOutwith Standard Exam Diets FebruaryOutwith Standard Exam Diets MarchOutwith Standard Exam Diets AprilOutwith Standard Exam Diets MayOutwith Standard Exam Diets JuneOutwith Standard Exam Diets JulyOutwith Standard Exam Diets AugustOutwith Standard Exam Diets SeptemberOutwith Standard Exam Diets OctoberOutwith Standard Exam Diets NovemberOutwith Standard Exam Diets DecemberResit Exam Diet (April/May Sem 1 resits only) | Exam | : | |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Critically analyse a set of financial statements in conjunction with an annual report, identifying the key business issues.
- Advise either investors or management on the financial performance and prospects for the business.
- Critically compare traditional accounting ratio techniques rooted in old economy perspectives of fixed asset utilisation and cost control, with financial analysis as a tool for assessing the performance and development of intangibles.
- Critically assess corporate financial health and performance through an understanding of strategy and business opportunity
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Reading List
Krishna Palepu, Paul Healey and Erik Peek, Business Analysis and Valuation IFRS Edition, CENGAGE Learning, 3rd Edition, 2013.
Background reading strongly recommended:
John Kay, The Long and the Short of it, The Erasmus Press, 2009.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Cognitive Skills:
The course deepens and develops the numerical skills, analytical skills and skills of synthesis and presentation, the foundations of which are provided by core ideas in Accounting.
Subject Specific Skills:
On completion of the course, students should be able to give a presentation and/or written report on a company, based on its Annual Report and Accounts
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| Keywords | MGMT-FA |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Mr Tom Brown
Tel: (0131 6)50 8333
Email: T.Brown@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mr Peter Newcombe
Tel: (0131 6)51 3013
Email: Peter.Newcombe@ed.ac.uk |
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