Main themes

This financial analysis course aims to develop a view on an enterprise's financial situation on the basis of external information. The breadth of the analysis, and the ways that the analysis is carried out, will be determined by the objective pursued (e.g. the granting of a bank loan or of public aid, or the evaluation of a financial asset at the point of purchase or sale). It follows that financial analysis is not so much a special discipline, as the final synthesis of a series of closely collected disciplines or approaches (i.e. mainly the enterprise's finances and strategy).

Content and teaching methods

Content
The first part of the course is given over to a detailed examination of the theory of the financial market, whose fundamental concepts have been introduced in the basic "Financial management" course, and to learning about the methods that make it possible to put different kinds of company evaluation models into practice in a concrete way.
The second part of the course focuses on an analysis of statements, which is then re-examined against a backdrop of the preceding developments. This involves carrying out a detailed examination in which ways of analysing financial flows are developed, and a renewed perspective in which financial information is seen as an information system aimed at different people working in the enterprise.
Using specific models and approaches, the third part establishes links between the two approaches referred to above, and a strategic analysis designed to produce an overall judgement on an enterprise's performance.
Methodology
This lecture course will be supported by a reading programme, and will be complemented by exercise sessions focusing on the following two themes:
- the implementation of models for evaluating financial assets;
- a financial and strategic diagnosis of the company based on published statements and stock exchange information.

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