General provisions

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

Entry requirements

Strategy and Contemporary Issues, 15 credits. A Bachelor's degree, equivalent to a Swedish Kandidatexamen, from an internationally recognised university. Also required is 90 credits in business studies. Proficiency in English equivalent to the Swedish upper secondary course English 6. As all teaching takes place in English, very good language skills in English are a necessity to be able to partake in the course.

Learning outcomes

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

• understand the most important foundations and theories used in valuation of companies,
• understand behavioral explanations for why fundamental valuation might differ from market prices,
• perform a financial analysis and valuation of a real company based on accounting information (IFRS). This includes to a) use accounting information to analyse a company's ability to create value, b) produce forecasts of a company's future performance to be employed in valuation models and c) perform a valuation of a company using the free cash flow model,
• make an own independent equity research report.

Content

The content of the course concerns a theoretical and practical understanding of financial analysis and valuation separated into two parts. Initially, there is a series of lectures to give the students theoretical knowledge of valuation. Examples of topics dealt with in the first part includes:

• The foundations of financial analysis and valuation
• Asset pricing and Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM)
• Capital structure theories
• Selected behavioral finance theories

In the second part students apply financial analysis and valuation on a real-life company. The focus is on free cash flow valuation and multiples. 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 financial analysis and valuation, materialised in an equity research report.

Instruction

This course is delivered through a combination of lectures and seminars. The seminars involve group work. The course is taught in English.

Assessment

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

The examination includes group wise written hand-ins and oral discussion assignments. Attendance is required on examination activities. 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 regulations

The course substitutes/overlaps Advanced Company Valuation, Master Course 2FE856.