ELE 3750 Financial analysis and valuation

ELE 3750 Financial analysis and valuation

Course code: 
ELE 3750
Department: 
Accounting and Operations Management
Credits: 
7.5
Course coordinator: 
Ignacio Garcia de Olalla Lopez
Course name in Norwegian: 
Finansiell analyse og verdsettelse
Product category: 
Bachelor
Portfolio: 
Bachelor - Electives
Semester: 
2021 Autumn
Active status: 
Active
Level of study: 
Bachelor
Teaching language: 
English
Course type: 
One semester
Introduction

All corporations have to prepare annual financial statements and companies listed at a stock exchange have to prepare company annual reports which contain more comprehensive information. The main purpose of the company annual report is to provide shareholders and potential investors with decision-relevant information so that they can make up their mind about:

  1. The value creation during the financial year and the financial situation at the end of the financial year (the control motive)
  2. Likely future cash flows generation capabilities (valuation and credit analysis motives)

However, there are many conditions that have an impact on the numbers as well as the information that are presented in the corporate annual report. Many of these conditions might cause the financial statements to present an incomplete picture of the company's underlying economic reality. The chance that financial information might be surrounded by "noise" makes it even more important to critically assess the quality of financial information before used.

Valuations are commonly made in relation to transactions as mergers, acquisitions, demergers, transitions to next generation, IPO's, in relation to asset pricing or in relation to supervision of the value creation in companies.

Both credit analysis and valuations are based on prognosis for the company's likely future economic development and financial condition (prognosis for future income statement items, balance sheet items and cash flow items). Such prognosis are usually, to a great extent, based on historic profit figures (time series analysis) and on other economic information about the company.

Learning outcomes - Knowledge

After completing the course, students will have:

  • Acquired an understanding of the financial information that a company produces in an annual report, which is relevant for the analysis and valuation of the company.
  • Knowledge of what drives a company's development and a better understanding of accounting from a user perspective.
Learning outcomes - Skills

After completing the course, students will be able to:

  • Extract relevant information from the annual report for the purpose of analyzing a company's economic development and / or valuing a company's stock.
  • Make an opinion of the extent to which the company's financial information gives a good indication of the underlying economic reality of the company.

 

General Competence

The course will help the students to establish an understanding of the motives that underlie accounting fraud. Furthermore, the course will help students get a healthy ethical attitude to what is financial reporting quality.

Course content
  1. The Corporate Annual Report - Content and Relevance
  2. Accounting Standards
  3. Main Accounting Issues important for Financial statement Analysis
  4. Accounting Quality Analysis
  5. Analysis of Historic Financial Results
  6. Forecasts
  7. Valuation
Teaching and learning activities

The course consists of 45 lecture hours incl. review of assignments. During the semester, there will be given an assignment over three (3) weeks. One of the lectures will be used to review and explain the elements of the assignment.

The students are supposed to use a spreadsheet program (i.e. Excel) and to have access to the internet. 

 

E-learning
In course delivery as online courses, the lecturer will, in collaboration with the student administration, organize an appropriate course implementation, combining different learning activities and digital elements on the learning platform. Online students are also offered a study guide that will contribute to progression and overview. The total recommended time spent for completing the course also applies here.

Teaching language Norwegian.

Software tools
Software defined under the section "Teaching and learning activities".
Additional information

For electives re-sit is normally offered at the next scheduled course. If an elective is discontinued or is not initiated in the semester it is offered, re-sit will be offered in the electives ordinary semester.

This course is taught in English, but is taught in Norwegian upon completion of BI Online Studies. (Autumn).

Qualifications

Higher Education Entrance Qualification

Covid-19

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there may be deviations in teaching and learning activities as well as exams, compared with what is described in this course description.

Teaching

Information about what is taught on campus and other digital forms will be presented with the lecture plan before the start of the course each semester.

Required prerequisite knowledge

Recommended prerequisites are an introduction course in finance, BØK 1121 or BØK 3423 or equivalent.

Assessments
Assessments
Exam category: 
Submission
Form of assessment: 
Written submission
Weight: 
100
Grouping: 
Group/Individual (1 - 3)
Duration: 
3 Week(s)
Comment: 
The paper is not to exceed 18 to 20 pages, in which a given company should be analyzed and valued.
Exam code: 
ELE37501
Grading scale: 
ECTS
Resit: 
Examination when next scheduled course
Type of Assessment: 
Ordinary examination
Total weight: 
100
Student workload
ActivityDurationComment
Teaching
45 Hour(s)
Lectures, work-shops, group work with feed back.
Prepare for teaching
75 Hour(s)
Working with the text books, exercises and preparing for next lecture.
Feedback activities and counselling
40 Hour(s)
The students will get a project to work with during 3 weeks. Then, a full lecture will be used to discuss the project and help the students.
Examination
40 Hour(s)
Sum workload: 
200

A course of 1 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of 26-30 hours. Therefore a course of 7,5 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of at least 200 hours.