95624 - Fundamentals of Corporate Finance

Learning outcomes

The aim of this course is to provide students with a set of analytical tools to understand how corporations structured and managed financial decisions. Companies face two broad financial questions: What investments should the firm make? And how should a firm raise money to finance those investments? At the end of the course, students can: (a) make investment decisions based on the net present value rule; (b) understand how much should the firm borrow; (c) calculate the opportunity cost of capital in a framework of the risk and return market model.

Course contents

1. Introduction to the Course, Financial System and Financial Statement Basics, Financial Ratios
2. Time Value of Money – the mathematics of Finance
3. Present Value calculations and Bond and Stock Pricing
4. The Role of Net Present Value (NPV) to make Investment Decision
   
5. Introduction to Risk and Return, Review of Statistics Concepts
6. CAPM: Capital Asset Pricing Model
7. Capital Budgeting, Project Discount Rate, Free Cash Flow
8. Derivatives and Risk Management
9. Options and Option Pricing
10. Debt Policy and Capital Structure
11. Financing and Valuation methods

Readings/Bibliography

Brealey, Richard, A., and Stewart C. Myers, Sandro Sandri, Principles of Corporate Finance, latest edition, Irwin McGraw-Hill.

Office hours

See the website of Massimiliano Marzo