Date: 3/9/2016 - 3/10/2016 Register

- Registration Form (PDF)

Finance Essentials for IR and Corporate Communications

March 9 - 10, 2016 in New York, NY

 

If you have already taken Finance 101 or if you have some financial knowledge already, this is a great next step.

We recap the key concepts and then take your knowledge to the next level, applying the principles to real situations across a range of sectors. We cover accounting and analysis and key corporate finance concepts - shareholder value, cost of capital, evaluating M&A, dividend and buy-back policy etc – everything you need to communicate your company’s financial story effectively and participate fully in C-suite discussions - all in an accessible way for non-finance specialists and designed specifically for corporation communicators. Breakfast at 8:30am
Seminar from 9:00am - 5:00pm
 

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Who Should Attend?

Learning Outcomes

• Understand the language and concepts of the C-suite
• Further develop your financial fluency and literacy and develop a comprehensive understanding of accounting concepts
• Be able to challenge and critique financial information with confidence
• See how analysts build models and how to provide effective guidance
• Understand company valuation and appreciate how M&A deals are evaluated
• Be able to develop and communicate a great investment story

Program

The Big Picture

• The financial markets architecture
• Sources of capital
• Understanding investors and what they want
• The role of the sell side
• Debt IR essentials and the role of ratings agencies
• The importance of managing expectations
• Overview of key regulations and governance requirements

Accounting Essentials

• Reminder of accounting basics
• The FinanceTalking accounting game – cash flow edition 
• Jargon – GAAP and non-GAAP, EBITDA etc
• Goodwill and impairment
• How analysts and journalists use your financial information

Corporate Finance Essentials

• Creating shareholder value – recap
• The link to return on capital
• Evaluating growth potential - PESTLE, Porter, BCG and SWOT
• Cost of capital and the capital mix
• Changing the capital structure
• Dividend policy and share buy-backs
• DCF reminder

 

Capital structure and allocation

• Which balance sheet, which sector?
• Leverage for different sectors
• The optimum debt/equity mix
• Funding M&A
• Evaluating capex investment
• Working capital management
• Balance sheet conclusions

Profitability

• Headline numbers
• Performance review for different sectors
• Growth and margins, operational leverage
• Building a story using key performance indicators
• Preparing for earnings
• Forecasting case study

Cash Generation

• Why are cash flows different from profit?
• Profits to cash flows reconciliation
• Investment and financing cash flows
• Key concepts – free cash flow and NOPAT

Financial Analysis

• Building a story using KPIs
• Inputs to analysts’ models and the role of guidance
• Measures used by ratings agencies
• Media and analyst conference case studies

Valuation

• Analyst perspectives and sources of information
• Valuing a company using DCF
• Valuing a company using multiples
• Understanding price targets and recommendations
• Which sector, which valuation methodology?
• Valuation in IPOs and M&A situations
• Understanding the assumptions in consensus
• Using communications to influence valuation
• M&A case study

How to Tell your Investment Story

• Management’s task
• Telling the story in terms of what really matters
• Targeting the appropriate shareholder base
• Lessons for corporate communications

Summary and conclusion

• Where to go from here