Regulated Sources of Information

IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) US GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) International Organisation of Securities Commissions IOSCO’s comprehensive set of Objectives and Principles of Securities Regulation is updated as required and is recognised as an international benchmark for all markets. The principles of securities regulation are based upon three core objectives: IOSCO’s principles are grouped into 10…

Scope of Financial Statement Analysis

The role of financial statement analysis is to use financial reports prepared by companies, combined with other information, to evaluate the past, current, and potential performance and financial position of a company for the purpose of making investment, credit, and other economic decisions. In evaluating financial reports, analysts typically have a specific economic decision in…

Financial Statement Analysis Framework

Financial Statement Analysis Framework Phase Sources of Information Output Articulate the purpose and context of the analysis. The nature of the analyst’s function, such as evaluating an equity or debt investment or issuing a credit rating.Communication with client or supervisor on specific needs and concerns.Institutional guidelines related to developing specific work product. Statement of the…

Implied Return and Growth

Implied Return for Fixed-Income Instruments Fixed-income instruments are characterised by contractual interest and principal cash flows. If we observe the present value (or price) and assume that all future cash flows occur as promised, then the discount rate (r) or yield-to-maturity (YTM) is a measure of implied return under these assumptions for the cash flow…

Measures of Dispersion

Dispersion is the variability around the central tendency. Absolute dispersion is the amount of variability present without comparison to any reference point or benchmark. The Range The range is the difference between the maximum and minimum values in a dataset: Range = Maximum value – Minimum value Mean Absolute Deviation (MAD) where X‾\bar{X} is the…

Measures of Shape of a Distribution

Normal distribution, this symmetrical, bell-shaped distribution plays a central role in the mean-variance model of portfolio selection; it is also used extensively in financial risk management. The normal distribution has the following charactristics: Skewness A distribution that is not symmetrical is termed skewed. A return distribution with positive skew has frequent small losses and a…