Courses NonDegree Display 2020-2021

Course Description To PDF
Course title Financial Statement Analysis and Valuation
Course code EBC4039
ECTS credits 6,5
Assessment Whole/Half Grades
Period
Period Start End Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri
2 26-10-2020 11-12-2020 X X
Level Advanced
Coordinator Patrick Vorst
For more information: p.vorst@maastrichtuniversity.nl
Language of instruction English
Goals
analysing firms’ accounting choices, identifying distortions to the financial statements, and undoing such distortions
analysing financial statements in the context of firms’ stated goals and strategy
preparing prospective financial statements, assessing the value of firms, and understanding differences in the usefulness of various valuation methods
applying financial analysis tools in credit analyses and analyses of mergers and acquisitions
Description
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE INFORMATION ABOUT THE TEACHING AND ASSESSMENT METHOD(S) USED IN THIS COURSE IS WITH RESERVATION. THE INFORMATION PROVIDED HERE IS BASED ON THE COURSE SETUP PRIOR TO THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS. AS A CONSEQUENCE OF THE CRISIS, COURSE COORDINATORS MAY BE FORCED TO CHANGE THE TEACHING AND ASSESSMENT METHODS USED. THE MOST UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION ABOUT THE TEACHING/ASSESSMENT METHOD(S) WILL BE AVAILABLE IN THE COURSE SYLLABUS.

The objective of this course is to understand the relevance of financial statement information to investors, creditors, financial analysts, managers, and other parties with an interest in the firm. Financial statements contain valuable information for a wide range of decision-making contexts. Financial statements thus play a crucial role in the functioning of capital markets and the efficient allocation of resources in the economy. Financial statement analysis skills are, therefore, of crucial importance to read, compare, and interpret recorded financial data and determining the health and future prospects of a company. This course teaches you the language of financial analysis and firm valuation. You will learn how to evaluate the quality and usefulness of a firm’s financial statement information and you will learn how to undo distortions in low-quality financial statements, thereby creating financial statements that are more relevant. You will further learn how to use (the information in) the financial statements to critically evaluate the drivers of a firm’s financial performance, forecast future firm performance, and ultimately determine an expected value of the firm and/or the firm’s shares. In doing so, we will discuss various approaches to forecasting and valuation used by for example (sell-side) analysts and investment bankers. Finally, we will have a look at specific applications of financial statement analysis in for example an M&A setting.
Literature
Palepu, Healy & Peek – Business Analysis and Valuation – IFRS Edition (4th edition) Cengage 2016,

Prerequisites
“Students are expected to have sufficient knowledge of financial accounting (e.g., at the level of an intermediate accounting course). Further student should have a basic understanding of (corporate) finance. Exchange students need to have obtained a bachelor degree with a major in business.”

Teaching methods (indicative; course manual is definitive) PBL / Presentation / Lecture / Assignment / Groupwork
Assessment methods (indicative; course manual is definitive) Participation / Written Exam / Assignment / Presentation
Evaluation in previous academic year For the complete evaluation of this course please click "here"
This course belongs to the following programmes / specialisations
Master Business Research - No specialisation Year 1 Disc - IB Acc. and Bus. Inf. Tech.
Master Business Research - No specialisation Year 1 Disc - IB Accountancy
Master Business Research - No specialisation Year 1 Disc - IB Accounting and Control
Master Business Research - Operations Research Year 1 Elective Course(s)
Master Business Research - Operations Research Year 2 Elective Course(s)
Master International Business - Accounting and Business Information Technology Compulsory Course(s)
Master International Business - Entrepreneurship and Business Development Elective Course(s)
Master International Business - Managerial Decision-Making and Control Elective Course(s)
Master International Business - Accounting & Control (parttime/NL) Compulsory Course(s)
Master International Business - Information Management and Business Intelligence Elective Course(s)
Master International Business - Marketing-Finance Elective Course(s)
Master International Business - Organisation: Management, Change and Consultancy Elective Course(s)
Master International Business - Strategic Corporate Finance Elective Course(s)
Master International Business - Strategic Marketing Elective Course(s)
Master International Business - Strategy and Innovation Elective Course(s)
Master International Business - Supply Chain Management Elective Course(s)
Master International Business - Sustainable Finance Elective Course(s)
SBE Exchange Master Master Exchange Courses
SBE Non Degree Courses Master Courses