General provisions

Master's Programme in Accounting and Financial Management - specialisation Financial Management.

Entry requirements

A Bachelor's degree, equivalent to a Swedish Kandidatexamen, from an internationally recognised university. Also required is 90 credits in Business Studies and 15 credits in Statistics. Proficiency in English.

Learning outcomes

The purpose of this course is for course participants to learn equity valuation models correctly so that they understand their theoretical underpinnings and their practical usage.

After successful completion of the course, the student will be able to:

• Apply valuation models in a manner that is consistent with underlying theoretical conjectures.
• Value companies on the basis of the most commonly used valuation models.
• Use accounting information to analyse a company's ability to create value.
• Use accounting information to develop valuation models that are internally consistent.
• Produce forecasts of a company's future performance to be employed in valuation models.
• Critically scrutinise and evaluate others' forecasts of financial statements and others' valuation of firms.
• Write their own independent equity research reports.

Content

In the course, students learn how to practically apply valuation models in their own analyses of real-life companies. The focus is on fundamental valuation models to be employed in equity investment strategies. The course is designed so that a major part of the work is performed as a term paper project in which the students produce their own independent valuation analyses based on congruent valuation models.

In the process of performing company valuations, many specific problems exist and during the course, these problems are highlighted and discussed from theoretical and practical points of view. These problems include, for example, the assessment of historical performance, forecasts of future performance and capital cost estimations.

In practice, many different fundamental valuation models are used; such as the dividend, the free cash flow and the residual income models. An important part of the course is to help the student understand that all of these valuation models produce the same value estimate when the models are correctly designed.

Instruction

The teaching consists of lectures that address typical problems in company valuation. It also contains seminars in which students present and discuss their own company valuations. The course is taught in English.

Assessment

The student will get one single grade, equivalent to 7,5 credits.

Examination includes individual and group wise written hands ins and oral discussion assignments. Attendance is required on scheduled examination activities, and absence motivated by particular reasons requires complementing assignments to be handed in within two weeks after the complementing requirement has been given. The grade for the entire course is based on an assessment of all parts of the examination.

Grading criteria are presented in the study guide that applies to the course section. The following grades will be used: pass with distinction (VG), pass (G), and fail (U). Examinations handed in late will not be assessed except under special circumstances. Any remaining supplemental work must be completed and handed in by the deadline specified in the study guide. Otherwise the entire course (all examinations included) must be retaken during subsequent course sections.

If there are special reasons for doing so, an examiner may make an exception from the method of assessment indicated and allow a student to be assessed by another method. An example of special reasons might be a certificate regarding special pedagogical support from the University's disability coordinator.

Uppsala University does not accept cheating or plagiarism. Suspected incidents of cheating or plagiarism are reported to the Vice-Chancellor, which may issue a formal warning to the student or suspend the student from studies for a certain period.

NOTE: Only completed courses can count toward a degree.

Other directives

​The course substitutes/overlaps among other the courses Advanced Company Valuation 2FE961, 2FE621, 8FE621 and Advanced Company Valuation, Master Courser (Contract Education) 8FE856.