04521 - Corporate Finance

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the student acquires the issues related to investment decisions and corporate financing. Decisions are developed with a view to creating value for shareholders. Maximizing the value of share capital is assumed to be the fundamental goal of management; the main reference is to companies listed on official markets, which tend to be large. The fundamental objective of the course is to lead students to answer two fundamental questions in the management of a company: - What investments should a company make? - How should it get the money to finance such investments? All preceded by the acquisition of the necessary basic skills relating to the calculation of interest on loans, the discounting of the financial flows generated by investment projects, the construction of the repayment plan for bond loans.

Course contents

Module 1

Main financial regimes

Present value and cash flows

Evaluation of annuities

Valuation of bonds and stocks

Module 2

Investment selection criteria Investment decisions

Risk – return relationship

The Capital Asset Pricing Model

Risk and cost of capital

Efficient markets

Forms of financing Dividend policy

The financial structure

How much debt should a company borrow?

Fundamentals of business valuation

Readings/Bibliography

R. A. Brealey, S. C. Myers, F. Allen, S. Sandri, Principi di finanza aziendale, McGraw Hill Italia, ottava edizione, 2020,

Additional reading could be assigned during the course in order to deepen topics of particular relevance.

Teaching methods

Lectures and exercises

Assessment methods

There are two methods for verifying learning: Option A) two written tests to be taken during and at the end of the course (so-called "partial"), which will have the same structure. The final evaluation will be the average of the marks obtained in the two tests, which will have the same weight. Option B) written test on the entire course program to be taken on one of the official dates. Please note: in this case to pass the exam you must obtain at least 18 both in the part relating to the first module and in that relating to the second. Note: to pass the total exam it is necessary to take at least 18 in both modules in the same appeal. In this case, the final vote is a weighted average of the votes of the two modules, with weights of 25% and 75%, first and second and second module respectively. The tests are closed-book. It will be possible to renounce the vote and repeat the exam in the official sessions established according to the school rules. The exam will be remote or face-to-face on the basis of the rules that will be established at the school and university level. The grading of the mark expresses the following judgment: - <18: insufficient - 18-23: sufficient - 24-27: good - 28-30: excellent - 30 and 30L: excellent

IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO TAKE ANY TEST WITHOUT REGISTRATION IN AlmaEsami (no exceptions are allowed for any reason).

Teaching tools

Slides and exercises

Office hours

See the website of Gian Luca Tassinari

See the website of Francesco Baldi