Financial Statement Analysis

AY2019/2020 Semester 1

This is a second year course for undergraduate business students specializing in banking and finance. It is mandatory for all banking and finance students except ACBS students specializing in banking and finance. It is optional for non-finance business students. The course aims to provide participants with an understanding of the use of financial statement information from a user perspective such as equity investor, debt holder, financial analyst and manager. The course examines the impact of different accounting choices on reported earnings, shareholders' equity, cash flow and various measures of corporate performance. Participants will develop skills in analysing financial statements for investment, credit and other business decisions. In view of the considerable similarities among US Financial Reporting Standards (US GAAP), International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and Financial Reporting Standards in Singapore (FRS) for most of the topics covered in this course, we will focus on FRS in this course. Main differences between FRS and IFRS (and/or US GAAP) will be highlighted where appropriate.