Finance Essentials in Today's Capital Markets

Course details

This course is designed to help you understand the essentials of finance that you will need to operate effectively in today's capital markets. We cover the big picture - the financial markets architecture, accounting, corporate finance and valuation and we go on to look at how to communicate a company's financial story effectively - all in an accessible way for non-finance specialists.

The course would suit company management teams, corporate communicators and investor relations officers as well as financial markets professionals.

Outcomes

• Understand the context for capital markets activities
• See how to build and retain access to capital
• Become fluent in the language of finance
• Understand financial statements
• Be able to use numbers to tell a company's story
• See how to present a company's story to attract investor support
• Understand how companies are valued and how best to valuation

What will I learn?

The Big Picture

• The financial markets architecture
• Raising money - bonds and shares
• Types of investor and their characteristics
• Sell side and buy side today » The role of ratings agencies The importance of managing expectations
• Overview of key regulations and governance

Corporate Finance Essentials

• Understanding shareholder value
• Characteristics of debt and equity funding
• The capital mix - implications
• DCF basics

Accounting Essentials

• The key financial statements
• The difference between profits and cash
• Depreciation, amortisation and EBITDA
• Goodwill and impairment
• Annual reports & earnings releases - how invesors, analysts and journalists use them

Profitability

• Headline numbers
• Analysing income statements
• Establishing a trend - analysts' adjustments
• Earnings per share and dividends
• Communicating earnings guidance

Balance Sheets & Funding

• Reviewing the balance sheet
• The impact of leverage
• Communicating balance sheet strength

Cash Flows

• How cash flows differ from profits
• Identifying cash generation
• Free cash flow and operating free cash flow
• Communicating cash generation

How companies are valued

• How listed companies are valued by markets
• Fundamental value - DCF
• The link with NPV and IRR
• Valuation using multiples
• Key valuation variables

How to tell your investment story

• Share price influences
• Anticipating market reaction
• Influencing fundamentals and sentiment
• Targeting the appropriate shareholder base
• KPIs for communicating shareholder value
• The importance of corporate responsibility
• Communicating to achieve fair value and attracting investor support

How will You Learn

• Through engaging, interactive case studies and exercises that guide you from what you know to more advanced finance and accounting
• By exercises designed to replicate situations you will encounter, with many drawn from real life examples
• Through vigorous discussion and debate that encourages attendees to engage financial language and helps solidify the learning
• Via practical applications of content - ensuring that you return to your desk to carry out your duties even more effectively