Undergraduate Course: Principles of Finance (BUST08003)
Course Outline
| School | Business School |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 8 (Year 2 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | The course aims to develop in students an understanding of the basic principles of finance. It builds on the introduction to finance provided in Foundations of Business. The course has a quantitative slant, and is designed to give a theoretical introduction to financial markets and company finance policies. It is a prerequisite for finance Honours courses. |
| Course description |
The course looks at the way assets are valued in financial markets. It considers interest rates and the pricing of fixed-income bonds; stock market prices and returns; stock market risk and the influence of risk on the pricing of shares; and the characteristics and pricing of financial futures and options. The course also covers some aspects of company finance theory. These include business investment decisions, sources of finance, the cost of capital, the financial structure decision and the dividend decision.
Outline Content
Prices and Returns in Financial Markets -
- Financial decision making;
- Price of a stream of cash flows;
- Bond prices;
- Stock prices;
- Option prices;
- Risk and return.
Company Financial Decisions -
- Introduction to corporate finance;
- The capital budgeting decision;
- Sources of finance;
- Cost of capital;
- Capital structure;
- Dividend policy.
Student Learning Experience
The students are introduced to the topics in lectures. The topics are then related to particular situations in tutorials, thereby showing how principles apply in practice. The coursework assignment requires students to analyse and discuss a particular issue using their own judgement where relevant.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students must have at least 1 introductory level Business Studies course at grade B or above for entry to this course. We will only consider University/College level courses. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Academic year 2024/25, Available to all students (SV1)
|
Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 20,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 8,
Summative Assessment Hours 3,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
165 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
80 %,
Coursework
20 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
80% Written Exam (Individual) - 2 hours
20% Coursework (Individual) - 1200 words
|
| Feedback |
Formative: Feedback will be provided throughout the course.
Summative: Feedback will be provided on assessments within agreed deadlines. |
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
|
| Main Exam Diet S1 (December) | | 2:00 | | | Resit Exam Diet (August) | | 2:00 | |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Describe the main financial assets and how they may be valued.
- Describe the key aspects of company finance theory.
- Discuss critically the contribution of finance theory to financial practice.
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Reading List
Recommended reference book
Jonathan Berk and Peter DeMarzo, Corporate finance, 3rd edition (Global edition), 2013, Pearson
Additional reference books
Glen Arnold, Essentials of corporate financial management, 2007, Financial Times/Prentice Hall
Peter Moles, Robert Parrino, and David Kidwell, Corporate finance, (European edition), 2011, John Wiley & Sons
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Cognitive Skills
After completing this course, students should be able to:
Be self-motivated; curious; show initiative; set, achieve and surpass goals; as well as demonstrating adaptability, capable of handling complexity and ambiguity, with a willingness to learn; as well as being able to
demonstrate the use digital and other tools to carry out tasks effectively, productively, and with attention to quality.
Knowledge and Understanding
After completing this course, students should be able to:
Demonstrate a thorough knowledge and understanding of contemporary organisational disciplines; comprehend the role of business within the contemporary world; and critically evaluate and synthesise primary
and secondary research and sources of evidence in order to make, and present, well informed and transparent organisation-related decisions, which have a positive global impact.
Identify, define and analyse theoretical and applied business and management problems, and develop approaches, informed by an understanding of appropriate quantitative and/or qualitative techniques, to explore
and solve them responsibly.
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| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Ms Yue Liu
Tel: (0131 6)50 4309
Email: Yue.Liu@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mr Scott Fitzsimmons
Tel:
Email: sfitzsim@ed.ac.uk |
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