What exactly is Finance?

Finance deals with all aspects of money management including:

 Investment banking - It involves advising companies on mergers & acquisitions,

debt financing, equity offerings, etc.

 Asset Wealth Management - This includes investment funds like a mutual fund or
hedge fund which invest in stocks, bonds, real estate, commodities, derivatives,
currencies, etc.

 Banking – The term ‘Banking’ refers to a wide range of activities that banks
perform such as lending, borrowing, investing, trading, asset securitization, credit
analysis, etc.

 Insurance – Insurers protect against risks associated with life events like death,
disability, unemployment, illness, accidents, natural disasters, etc.

 Accounting – Accountants prepare accounts for businesses so they can make

informed decisions about their finances. They also help them manage cash flow,
taxes, investments, etc. There are three main categories of accountancy; namely,
auditing, tax preparation, and bookkeeping.

2. Finance interests me for the following reasons:

1. It gives an insight into the workings of all the aspects of an enterprise

2. I am comfortable in working with numbers and am good at Excel.

3. It will enable me to be a part of the major decision-making process of the

enterprise such as distribution of profits, financing of capital requirements,
effective working capital management, evaluation of performance, and identifying
areas of concern and improvements, etc.

3.What does the inventory turnover ratio show?

The inventory turnover ratio is an efficiency ratio that shows how effectively inventory is
managed by comparing the cost of goods sold with average inventory for a period.
  What is the return on equity?
Return on equity (ROE) is a ratio that provides investors with insight into how efficiently
a company is managing the equity that shareholders have contributed to the company.
Return on equity measures a corporation's profitability by revealing how much profit a
company generates with the money shareholders have invested.

Return on Equity = Net Income – Pref. dividend (if, any) / Shareholder's Equity.

 What is the net worth of a company?

Net worth is the amount by which assets exceed liabilities. Net worth is a concept
applicable to individuals and businesses as a key measure of how much an entity is
worth. A consistent increase in net worth indicates good financial health.

 What is the operating cycle/Cash conversion cycle?

The operating cycle is also known as the cash conversion cycle. In the context of a
manufacturer, the operating cycle has been described as the amount of time that it takes
for a manufacturer's cash to be converted into products plus the time it takes for those
products to be sold and turned back into cash.

 What is the difference between EBIT and EBIDTA? Can EBIT be greater than
EBIDTA?
EBIT represents the approximate amount of operating income generated by a business,
while EBITDA roughly represents the cash flow generated by the operations of a
business.

Distinguish between Budgeting and Forecasting?

The difference between budgeting and forecasting are as follow:

1. Budgeting and financial forecasting are financial planning techniques that help a
business enterprise to achieve its desired levels of profits.
 2. Budgeting uses estimation to quantify the desired levels of revenues, profits, and
cash flow that a business wants to achieve for a future period, whereas financial
forecasting is used to estimate the amount of revenue that will in all likelihood be
achieved. Budgeting essentially is a plan for where a business wants to go,
whereas financial forecasting indicates where the business is actually headed
given the scenario.

3. Budgeting is essentially planning whereas forecasting is estimating on the basis

of the given indicators. Hence, forecasting would indicate whether budgets will be
achieved or not.

 What are SENSEX and NIFTY?

SENSEX:

1. Sensex also called the BSE 30, is a stock market index of 30 well-
established and financially sound companies listed on the Bombay Stock
Exchange (BSE).

2. 30 companies are selected on the basis of the free-float market

capitalization.

3. These are different companies from the different sectors representing a

sample of large, liquid, and representative companies.

4. The base year of Sensex is 1978-79 and the base value is 100.

5. It is an indicator of market movement.

1. If Sensex goes up, it means that most of the stocks in India went up during the
given period. If the Sensex goes down, this tells you that the stock price of most
of the major stocks on the BSE has gone down.

NIFTY:
 1. The NIFTY 50 index is the National Stock Exchange of India’s benchmark stock
market index for the Indian equity market. Nifty is owned and managed by India
Index Services and Products (IISL).

2. The base year is taken as 1995 and the base value is set to 1000.

3. Nifty is calculated on 50 stocks actively traded in the NSE

4. 50 top stocks are selected from 24 sectors.

What are EPS and diluted EPS?

EPS is the portion of a company's profit that is allocated to every individual share of the
stock. It is a term that is of much importance to investors and people who trade in the
stock market. The higher the earnings per share of a company, the better is its
profitability. EPS - PAT/ TOTAL NO. O/S SHARES

Diluted EPS takes into account what would happen if dilutive securities were exercised.
Dilutive securities are securities that are not common stock but can be converted to
common stock if the holder exercises that option. If converted, dilutive securities
effectively increase the weighted number of shares outstanding, and this, in turn,
decreases EPS, because the calculation for EPS uses a weighted number of shares in
the denominator.

 What is derivative
A derivative is a security with a price that is dependent upon or derived from one or more
underlying assets. The derivative itself is a contract between two or more parties based
upon the asset or assets.

Its value is determined by fluctuations in the underlying asset. The most common
underlying assets include stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies, interest rates, and
market indexes.
Derivatives can either be traded over-the-counter (OTC) or on an exchange. OTC
derivatives constitute the greater proportion of derivatives in existence and are
unregulated, whereas derivatives traded on exchanges are standardized. OTC
derivatives generally have a greater risk for the counterparty than do standardized
derivative

 What is options trading?

Options are a type of derivative security. They are a derivative because the price of an
option is intrinsically linked to the price of something else. Specifically, options are
contracts that grant the right, but not the obligation to buy or sell an underlying asset at
a set price on or before a certain date. The right to buy is called a call option and the
right to sell is a put option.

 Difference between call and put options

Call options - provide the holder the right (but not the obligation) to purchase an
underlying asset at a specified price (the strike price), for a certain period of time. If the
stock fails to meet the strike price before the expiration date, the option expires and
becomes worthless. Investors buy calls when they think the share price of the underlying
security will rise or sell a call if they think it will fall. Selling an option is also referred to
as 'writing' an option.

Put options - give the holder the right to sell an underlying asset at a specified price (the
strike price). The seller (or writer) of the put option is obligated to buy the stock at the
strike price. Put options can be exercised at any time before the option expires. Investors
buy puts if they think the share price of the underlying.

Stock will fall or sell one if they think it will rise. Put buyers - those who hold a "long" -
put are either speculative buyers looking for leverage or "insurance" buyers who want to
protect their long positions in a stock for the period of time covered by the option. Put
sellers hold a "short" expecting the market to move upward (or at least stay stable) A
worst-case scenario for a put seller is a downward market turn.
The maximum profit is limited to the put premium received and is achieved when the
price of the under layer is at or above the option's strike price at expiration. The maximum
loss is unlimited for an uncovered put writer.

 Explain Future and Forward Contract?

A forward contract is a customized contractual agreement where two private parties

agree to trade a particular asset with each other at an agreed specific price and time in
the future. Forward contracts are traded privately over-the-counter, not on an exchange.

A futures contract — often referred to as futures — is a standardized version of a forward

contract that is publicly traded on a futures exchange. Like a forward contract, a futures
contract includes an agreed-upon price and time in the future to buy or sell an asset —
usually stocks, bonds, or commodities, like gold.

 What are Swaps?

A swap is an agreement between two parties to exchange sequences of cash flows for
a set period of time. Usually, at the time the contract is initiated, at least one of these
series of cash flows is determined by a random or uncertain variable, such as an interest
rate, foreign exchange rate, equity price, or commodity price. Conceptually, one may
view a swap as either a portfolio of forwarding contracts or as a long position in one bond
coupled with a short position in another bond. This article will discuss the two most
common and most basic types of swaps: the plain vanilla interest rate and currency
swaps.

 Explain valuation and techniques

Valuation is the process of determining the current worth of an asset or a company; there
are many techniques used to determine value. An analyst placing a value on a company
looks at the company's management, the composition of its capital structure, the
prospect of future earnings, and the market value of assets.
Techniques:

1. Discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis.

2. Comparable transactions method.

3. Market valuation.

4. Book value
 What is financial risk management?

Financial risk management is the practice of economic value in a firm by using financial
instruments to manage exposure to risk: Operational risk, credit risk, and market risk,
foreign exchange risk, Shape risk, Volatility risk, Liquidity risk, Inflation risk, Business
risk, Legal risk, Reputational risk, Sector risk, etc. Similar to general risk management,
financial risk management requires identifying its sources, measuring it, and plans to
address them.

 What are SLR, CRR, REPO, Reverse Repo, and rates?

Repo rate is also known as the benchmark interest rate is the rate at which the RBI lends
money to the banks for a short term. When the repo rate increases, borrowing from RBI
becomes more expensive. If RBI wants to make it more expensive for the banks to
borrow money, it increases the repo rate similarly, if it wants to make it cheaper for banks
to borrow money it reduces the repo rate. The current repo rate is 6%

Reverse Repo rate is the short-term borrowing rate at which RBI borrows money from
banks. The Reserve bank uses this tool when it feels there is too much money floating
in the banking system. An increase in the reverse repo rate means that the banks will
get a higher rate of interest from RBI. As a result, banks prefer to lend their money to
RBI which is always safe instead of lending it to others (people, companies, etc.) which
are always risky. Rate - 6%

CRR - Cash Reserve Ratio - Banks in India are required to hold a certain proportion of
their deposits in the form of cash. However, banks don't hold these as cash with
themselves, they deposit such cash (aka currency chests) with the Reserve Bank of
India, which is considered equivalent to holding cash with themselves. This minimum
ratio (that is the part of the total deposits to be held as cash) is stipulated by the RBI and
is known as the CRR or Cash Reserve Ratio.

Rate - 4% SLR - Statutory Liquidity Ratio - Every bank is required to maintain at the close of
business every day, a minimum proportion of their Net Demand and Time Liabilities as liquid
assets in the form of cash, gold and un-encumbered approved securities. The ratio of liquid
assets to demand and time liabilities is known as the Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR). Rate –
19.5%

 Difference between broad money and narrow money

Narrow money is a category of money supply that includes all physical money like coins
and currency along with demand deposits and other liquid assets held by the central
bank. In the United States, narrow money is classified as M1 (M0 + demand accounts).

Broad money is the most inclusive method of calculating a given country's money supply.
The money supply is the totality of assets that households and businesses can use to
make payments or to hold as short-term investments, such as currency, funds in bank
accounts, and anything of value resembling money

 Explain dividend models

Dividend Growth Model:

The Gordon growth model is used to determine the intrinsic value of a stock based on a
future series of dividends that grow at a constant rate. Given a dividend per share that is
payable in one year, and the assumption the dividend grows at a constant rate in
perpetuity, the model solves for the present value of the infinite series of future dividends.

Dividend Discount Model:

The dividend discount model (DDM) is a procedure for valuing the price of a stock by
using the predicted dividends and discounting them back to the present value. If the
value obtained from the DDM is higher than what the shares are currently trading at, then
the stock is undervalued.

 What is sin tax?

A sin tax is an excise tax specifically levied on certain goods deemed harmful to society,
for example, alcohol and tobacco, candies, drugs, soft drinks, fast foods, coffee, sugar,
gambling, and pornography. Two claimed purposes are usually used to argue for such
taxes.

 What is STT?

STT is levied on every purchase or sale of securities that are listed on the Indian stock
exchanges. This would include shares, derivatives or equity-oriented mutual funds units.

 What are deferred tax liability and assets?

Deferred tax asset is an accounting term that refers to a situation where a business has
overpaid taxes or taxes paid in advance on its balance sheet. These taxes are eventually
returned to the business in the form of tax relief, and the over-payment is, therefore, an
asset for the company.

Deferred tax liability is an account on a company's balance sheet that is a result of

temporary differences between the company's accounting and tax carrying values, the
anticipated and enacted income tax rate, and estimated taxes payable for the current
year. This liability may be realized during any given year, which makes the deferred
status appropriate.

 Explain cash equivalents?

Cash and cash equivalents refer to the line item on the balance sheet that reports the
value of a company's assets that are cash or can be converted into cash immediately.
These include bank accounts, marketable securities, commercial paper, Treasury bills
and short-term government bonds with a maturity date of three months or less.
Marketable securities and money market holdings are considered cash equivalents
because they are liquid and not subject to material fluctuations in value.

 Difference between Depreciation, Depletion, and Amortization

Depletion refers to the allocation of the cost of natural resources over time. For example,
an oil well has a finite life before all of the oil is pumped out. Therefore, the oil well's
setup costs are spread out over the predicted life of the oil well.

Depreciation is an accounting method of allocating the cost of a tangible asset over its
useful life. Businesses depreciate long-term assets for both tax and accounting
purposes.

Amortization is an accounting term that refers to the process of allocating the cost of an
intangible asset over a period of time. It also refers to the repayment of loan principal
over time.

 What is accumulated depreciation?

Accumulated depreciation is the total depreciation for a fixed asset that has been
charged to expense since that asset was acquired and made available for use.

 What are free cash flows?

FCF is an assessment of the amount of cash a company generates after accounting for
all capital expenditures, such as buildings or property, plants, and equipment. The
excess cash is used to expand production, develop new products, make acquisitions,
pay dividends and reduce debt.
FCF - EBIT (1-tax rate) + (depreciation) + (amortization) - (change in net working capital)
- (capital expenditure).

 Profitability and valuation ratios

Profitability Ratio

1. Gross Profit

2. Net profit

3. Return on equity

4. Return on assets
Valuation Ratios

1. P/E ratios

2. EPS

3. Price/Book value

 Difference between solvency and liquidity

Solvency is defined as the firm’s potential to carry on business activities in the

foreseeable future, so as to expand and grow. It is the measure of the company’s
capability to fulfill its long-term financial obligations when they fall due for payment.

Liquidity is the firm’s ability to fulfill its obligations in the short run, normally one year. It
is the near-term solvency of the firm, i.e. to pay its current liabilities.

 Difference between an operating lease and a financial lease

Finance lease is often used to buy equipment for the major part of its useful life. The
goods are financed ex GST and have a balloon at the end of the term. Here, at the end
of the lease term, the lessee will obtain ownership of the equipment upon a successful
'offer to buy' the equipment. Traditionally this 'offer' is the balloon amount.

An operating lease agreement to finance equipment for less than its useful life and the
lessee can return equipment to the lessor at the end of the lease period without any
further obligation.

 What is asset acquisition?

An asset acquisition strategy is the purchase of a company by buying its assets instead
of its stock. An asset acquisition strategy may be used for a takeover or buyout if the
target is bankrupt.

 Explain leverage ratio and solvency ratio

A leverage ratio is any one of several financial measurements that look at how much
capital comes in the form of debt (loans), or assesses the ability of a company to meet
financial obligations.

The solvency ratio indicates whether a company’s cash flow is sufficient to meet its short-
term and long-term liabilities. The lower a company's solvency ratio, the greater the
probability that it will default on its debt obligations.

 Difference between current ratio and a quick ratio

The current ratio is a financial ratio that investors and analysts use to examine the
liquidity of a company and its ability to pay short-term liabilities (debt and payables) with
its short-term assets (cash, inventory, receivables). The current ratio is calculated by
dividing current assets by current liabilities.

The quick ratio, on the other hand, is a liquidity indicator that filters the current ratio by
measuring the amount of the most liquid current assets there are to cover current
liabilities (you can think of the “quick” part as meaning assets that can be liquidated fast).
The quick ratio also called the “acid-test ratio,” is calculated by adding cash &
equivalents, marketable investments, and accounts receivables, and dividing that sum
by current liabilities.

The main difference between the current ratio and the quick ratio is that the latter offers
a more conservative view of the company’s ability to meets its short-term liabilities with
its short-term assets because it does not include inventory and other current assets that
are more difficult to liquidate (i.e., turn into cash). By excluding inventory (and other less
liquid assets) the quick ratio focuses on the company’s more liquid assets.

 What is working capital and what is networking capital?

Working capital is the amount of a company's current assets minus the amount of its
current liabilities. The adequacy of a company's working capital depends on the industry
in which it competes, its relationship with its customers and suppliers, and more.

 Components of cash flow Statement

The components are:

1. Cash flow resulting from operating activities.

2. Cash flow resulting from investing activities.

3. Cash flow resulting from financing activities.

4. It also may include disclosure of non-cash financing activities

 What is goodwill?

Goodwill is an intangible asset that arises as a result of the acquisition of one company
by another for a premium value. The value of a company’s brand name, solid customer
base, good customer relations, good employee relations, and any patents or proprietary
technology represent goodwill.
Goodwill is considered an intangible asset because it is not a physical asset like buildings
or equipment. The goodwill account can be found in the assets portion of a company's
balance sheet.

 How to calculate goodwill?

Calculating Goodwill Using Average Profits – Avg profits * no of years.

Goodwill using super profits (Actual profit – normal profit)

Goodwill by the capitalization of profits

 What is contingent liability?

A contingent liability is a potential liability that may occur, depending on the outcome of
an uncertain future event. A contingent liability is recorded in the accounting records if
the contingency is probable and the amount of the liability can be reasonably estimated.

 What is NPA?

A nonperforming asset (NPA) refers to a classification for loans on the books of financial
institutions that are in default or are in arrears on scheduled payments of principal or
interest. In most cases, debt is classified as nonperforming when loan payments have
not been made for a period of 90 days.

Around 7.7 Lakh cr. of NPA in India in the year 2017.

 What are REITs?

REIT, or Real Estate Investment Trust, is a company that owns or finances income-
producing real estate. Modeled after mutual funds, REITs provide investors of all type’s
regular income streams, diversification, and long-term capital appreciation. In turn,
shareholders pay the income taxes on those dividends.
  What is the book value of a business?
The difference between the company's total assets (what all the company owns - land,
building, cash, equipment, etc) and liabilities (all the debts) is the book value of a
company.

 What is financial modeling?

It is the goal of the analyst to accurately forecast the price or future earnings performance
of a company. Numerous valuations and forecast theories exist, and financial analysts
are able to test these theories by recreating business events in an interactive calculator
referred to as a financial model. A financial model tries to capture all the variables in a
particular event.

 What is the difference between private equity and venture capital?

Private equity firms mostly buy mature companies that are already established. The
companies may be deteriorating or not making the profits they should be due to
inefficiency. Private equity firms buy these companies and streamline operations to
increase revenues. Venture capital firms, on the other hand, mostly invest in start-ups
with high growth potential.

 Which is cheaper debt or equity?

A company should always optimize its capital structure. If it has taxable income it can
benefit from the tax shield of issuing debt. If the firm has immediately steady cash flows
and is able to make its interest payments it may make sense to issue debt if it lowers the
WACC.

 What are accretion and dilution?

Accretion is asset growth through addition or expansion. Accretion can occur through a
company’s internal development or by way of mergers and acquisitions. Dilution is a
reduction in earnings per share of common stock that occurs through the issuance of
additional shares or the conversion of convertible securities. Adding to the number of
shares outstanding reduces the value of holdings of existing shareholders.

 How RTGS is different from NEFT?

NEFT is an electronic fund transfer system that operates on a Deferred Net Settlement
(DNS) basis which settles transactions in batches. In DNS, the settlement takes place
taking into account all transactions received till the particular cut-off time.

These transactions are netted (payable and receivables) in NEFT whereas in RTGS the
transactions are settled individually on real-time basis. In NEFT any transaction initiated
after a designated settlement time would have to wait till the next designated settlement
time.

Contrary to this, in the RTGS transactions are processed continuously throughout the
RTGS business hours.

 What is the difference between commercial and investment banking?

The commercial bank accepts deposits from customers and makes consumer and
commercial loans using these deposits.

Investment bank: acts as an intermediary between companies and investors. Does not
accept deposits, but rather sells investments, advises on M&A, etc…loans and
debt/equity issues originated by the bank are not typically held by the bank but rather
sold to third parties on the buy-side through their sales and trading arms.

 Meaning and formula of WACC

WACC: We company is typically financed using a combination of debt (bonds) and equity
(stocks). Because a company may receive more funding from one source than another,
we calculate a weighted average to find out how expensive it is for a company to raise
the funds needed to buy buildings, equipment, and inventory.
It's important for a company to know its weighted average cost of capital as a way to
gauge the expense of funding future projects. The lower a company's WACC, the
cheaper it is for a company to fund new projects.

 Implications of (1 – T) in the WACC formula

There are tax deductions available on interest paid, which is often to companies’ benefit.
Because of this, the net cost of companies’ debt is the amount of interest they are paying,
minus the amount they have saved in taxes as a result of their tax-deductible interest
payments. This is why the after-tax cost of debt is considered

weighted average cost of capital

Where,

ME: Market Value of Equity E – Equity

D: Debt

Re – Cost of equity Rd – Cost of Debt T – Tax rate

 What are the cost of debt and the cost of equity?

The cost of Debt is the Total Cost(interest) that a company is required to pay on the
borrowed money. Cost of debt refers to the effective rate a company pays on its current
debt.

Cost of equity refers to a shareholder's required rate of return on an equity investment.

It is the rate of return that could have been earned by putting the same money into a
different investment with equal risk.

 What is the dividend growth model?

The dividend growth model is used to calculate the cost of equity, but it requires that a
company pays dividends. The calculation is based on future dividends. The theory
behind the equation is the company's obligation to pay dividends is the cost of paying
shareholders and therefore the cost of equity.

 Explain CAPM

Where,

Rf = Risk Free rate B = Beta

Rm = Market risk

The capital asset pricing model (CAPM) is a model that describes the relationship
between systematic risk and expected return for assets, particularly stocks. CAPM is
widely used throughout finance for the pricing of risky securities, generating expected
returns for assets given the risk of those assets, and calculating costs of capital.

The CAPM model says that the expected return of a security or a portfolio equals the
rate on a risk-free security plus a risk premium. If this expected return does not meet or
beat the required return, then the investment should not be undertaken. The security
market line plots the results of the CAPM for all different risks (betas).

 meaning of BETA and can it be negative?

Beta is a measure of the volatility, or systematic risk, of a security or a portfolio in

comparison to the market as a whole.

A security's beta is calculated by dividing the covariance of the security's returns and the
benchmark's returns by the variance of the benchmark's returns over a specified period.

A beta of 1 indicates that the security's price moves with the market. A beta of less than
1 means that the security is theoretically less volatile than the market. A beta of greater
than 1 indicates that the security's price is theoretically more volatile than the market.
For example, if a stock's beta is 1.2, it's theoretically 20% more volatile than the market.
Conversely, if an ETF's beta is 0.65, it is theoretically 35% less volatile than the market.

A beta less than 0, which would indicate an inverse relation to the market - is possible
but highly unlikely. However, some investors believe that gold and gold stocks should
have negative betas because they tended to do better when the stock market declines.

 What is the required rate of return?

The required rate of return (RRR) is the minimum annual percentage earned by an
investment that will induce individuals or companies to put money into particular security
or project. The RRR is used in both equity valuation and in corporate finance. Investors
use the RRR to decide where to put their money, and corporations use the RRR to decide
if they should pursue a new project or business expansion.

 What is the risk-free return?

Risk-free return is the theoretical rate of return attributed to an investment with zero risks.
The risk-free rate represents the interest on an investor's money that he or she would
expect from an absolutely risk-free investment over a specified period of time.

 What are correlation, covariance, and variance and relate them?

Covariance measures how two variables move together. It measures whether the two
move in the same direction (a positive covariance) or in opposite directions (a negative
covariance).

Correlation, in the finance and investment industries, is a statistic that measures the
degree to which two securities move in relation to each other. Correlations are used in
advanced portfolio management. Correlation is computed into what is known as the
correlation coefficient, which has a value that must fall between -1 and 1.
Variance measures the variability (volatility) from an average or mean and volatility is a
measure of risk, the variance statistic can help determine the risk an investor might take
on when purchasing a specific security. A variance value of zero indicates that all values
within a set of numbers are identical; all variances that are non-zero will be positive
numbers.

A large variance indicates that numbers in the set are far from the mean and each other,
while a small variance indicates the opposite.

 What is a hedge fund?

Hedge funds are alternative investments using pooled funds that employ numerous
different strategies to earn active return, or alpha, for their investors. Hedge funds may
be aggressively managed or make use of derivatives and leverage in both domestic and
international markets with the goal of generating high returns (either in an absolute sense
or over a specified market benchmark). One aspect that has set the hedge fund industry
apart is the fact that hedge funds face less regulation than mutual funds and other
investment vehicles.

 What is hedging?
Most people have, whether they know it or not, engaged in hedging. For example, when
you take out insurance to minimize the risk that an injury will erase your income or you
buy life insurance to support your family in the case of your death, this is a hedge.

 how will you calculate enterprise value?

Enterprise Value, or EV for short, is a measure of a company's total value, often used as
a more comprehensive alternative to equity market capitalization. The market
capitalization of a company is simply its share price multiplied by the number of shares
a company has outstanding. Enterprise value is calculated as the market capitalization
plus debt, minority interest, and preferred shares, minus total cash and cash equivalents.
EV = market value of common stock + market value of preferred equity + market value
of debt + minority interest - cash and investments.

 Can a company have negative enterprise value?

Yes, it surely can. If the company is on the brink of bankruptcy, it will have negative
enterprise value. Added to this, if the company has large cash reserves, enterprise value
will swing to the negative side.

 What is minority interest?

Minority Interest also referred to as non-controlling interest (NCI), is the share of

ownership in a subsidiary’s equity that is not owned or controlled by the parent
corporation. The parent company has a controlling interest of 50 to less than 100 percent
in the subsidiary and reports financial results of the subsidiary consolidated with its own
financial statements

For example, suppose that Company A acquires a controlling interest of 75 percent in

Company B. In this case the minority interest in Company B will be 25%. On its
financial statements, Company A cannot claim the entire value of Company B without
accounting for the 25 percent that belongs to the minority shareholders of Company B.
Thus, company A must incorporates the impact of company B’s minority interest on its
balance sheet and income statements.

 IPO and Book-building process.

An initial public offering (IPO) is the first time that the stock of a private company is
offered to the public. (HDFC Standard Life Insurance) (Biggest IPO – COAL INDIA –
15200cr)

Book building is the process by which an underwriter attempts to determine at what price
to offer an initial public offering (IPO) based on demand from institutional investors. An
underwriter builds a book by accepting orders from fund managers, indicating the
number of shares they desire and the price they are willing to pay.

 Requirement for bringing IPO

The company has net tangible assets of at least Rs. 3 crores in each of the preceding 3
full years (of 12 months each), of which not more than 50% is held in monetary assets:

1. The company has a track record of distributable profits in terms of Section 205 of
the Companies Act, 1956, for at least three (3) out of immediately preceding five
(5) years;

2. The company has a net worth of at least Rs. 1 crore in each of the preceding 3
full years (of 12 months each);

3. In case the company has changed its name within the last one year, at least 50%
of the revenue for the preceding 1 full year is earned by the company from the
activity suggested by the new name;

1. The aggregate of the proposed issue and all previous issues made in the same
financial year in terms of size (i.e., offer through offer document + firm allotment
+ promoters’ contribution through the offer document), does not exceed five (5)
times its pre-issue net worth as per the audited balance sheet of the last financial
year.)
 Sources of raising funds issue of shares.

Sources of raising funds are:

1. Issue of Debentures.

2. Loans from Financial Institutions. Loans from Commercial Banks.

3. Public Deposits. Reinvestment of Profits

 How to evaluate a stock?

The Price-to-Book Ratio (P/B)

Price-to-Earnings Ratio (P/E)

Dividend Yield

 How do you arrive at cash flows?

Here is the process:

1. Start with net income.

2. Add back non-cash expenses (Such as depreciation and amortization)

3. Adjust for gains and losses on sales on assets.

4. Add back losses Subtract out gains

5. Account for changes in all non-cash current assets.

6. Account for changes in all current assets and liabilities except notes payable and
dividends payable.
Explain NPV and IRR. How do you calculate the same?

Net Present Value (NPV) is the difference between the present value of cash inflows and
the present value of cash outflows. NPV is used in capital budgeting to analyze the
profitability of a projected investment or project.

NPV = Cash inflows / (1+r)^n – Cash outflows

Internal rate of return (IRR) is a metric used in capital budgeting to measure the
profitability of potential investments. Internal rate of return is a discount rate that makes
the net present value (NPV) of all cash flows from a particular project equal to zero. the
higher a project's internal rate of return, the more desirable it is to undertake the project.
IRR is uniform for investments of varying types and, as such, IRR can be used to rank
multiple prospective projects a firm is considering on a relatively even basis.

 Can the IRR be negative?

Negative IRR indicates that the sum total of the post-investment cash flows is less than
the initial investment; i.e., the non-discounted cash flows add up to a value that is less
than the investment. Yes, both in theory and practice negative IRR exists, and it means
that an investment loses money at the rate of the negative IRR. In such cases, the net
present value (NPV) will always be negative unless the cost of capital is also negative,
which may not be practically possible.

However, a negative NPV doesn’t always mean a negative IRR. Negative NPV simply
means that the cost of capital or discount rate is more than the project IRR.

IRR is often defined as the theoretical discount rate at which the NPV of a cash flow
stream becomes zero.

 Is it possible for a company to show positive cash flows but be in grave trouble?

Absolutely. Two examples involve unsustainable improvements in working capital (a

company is selling off inventory and delaying payables), and another example involves
lack of revenues going forward in the pipeline

 What is typically higher – the cost of debt or the cost of equity?

The cost of equity is higher than the cost of debt because the cost associated with
borrowing debt (interest expense) is tax-deductible, creating a tax shield. Additionally,
the cost of equity is typically higher because, unlike lenders, equity investors are not
guaranteed fixed payments, and are last in line at liquidation.

 What is loan syndication?

Loan syndication is the process of involving several different lenders in providing various
portions of a loan. Loan syndication most often occurs in situations where a borrower
requires a large sum of capital that may be too much for a single lender to provide or
outside the scope of a lender's risk exposure levels. Thus, multiple lenders work together
to provide the borrower with the capital needed.
Loan syndication is used in corporate borrowing. Companies seek corporate loans for a
wide variety of reasons. Loan syndication is commonly needed when companies are
borrowing for mergers, acquisitions, buyouts, and other capital projects. These types of
capital projects often require large loans, thus loan syndication is mainly used in
extremely large loan situations.

 What is securitization?

Securitization is the process of taking an illiquid asset or group of assets, and through
financial engineering, transforming it (or them) into security.

Securitization is the financial practice of pooling various types of contractual debt such
as residential mortgages, commercial mortgages, auto loans, or credit card debt
obligations (or other non-debt assets which generate receivables) and selling their
related cash flows to third party investors as securities, which may be described as
bonds, pass-through securities, or collateralized debt obligations (CDOs).

 q

The economic factors that influence corporate bond yields are interest rates, inflation,
and economic growth. All of these factors affect corporate bond yields and exert
influence on each other. The pricing of corporate bond yields is a multivariable, dynamic
process in which there are always competing pressures.

questions on Financial Modeling/Capital Budgeting

 What is financial modeling?

Financial modeling is a quantitative analysis that is used to make a decision or a forecast

about a project generally in asset pricing model or corporate finance. Different
hypothetical variables are used in a formula to ascertain what the future holds for a
particular industry or for a particular project.
In simple terms, financial modeling means forecasting companies’ financial statements
like Balance Sheets, Cash Flows, and Income statements. These forecasts are in turn
used for company valuations and financial analysis. Financial modeling is useful
because it helps companies and individuals make better decisions.

Financial modeling is not confined to only a company’s financial affairs. It can be used
in any area of any department and even in individual cases.

 Explain valuation.

Valuation is the process of determining the current worth of an asset or a company; there
are many techniques used to determine value. An analyst placing a value on a company
looks at the company's management, the composition of its capital structure, the
prospect of future earnings, and the market value of assets.

 Techniques of capital budgeting?

Following are the techniques of capital budgeting:

1. Payback Period.

2. Discounted Payback Period.

3. Net Present Value.

4. Accounting Rate of Return.

5. Internal Rate of Return.

What is the payback period and discounted payback period?

The payback period is the length of time required to recover the cost of an investment.
The payback period of a given investment or project is an important determinant of
whether to undertake the position or project, as longer payback periods are typically not
desirable for investment positions.

The discounted payback period is a capital budgeting procedure used to determine the
profitability of a project. A discounted payback period gives the number of years it takes
to break even from undertaking the initial expenditure, by discounting future cash flows
and recognizing the time value of money.

The net present value aspect of the discounted payback period does not exist in a
payback period in which the gross inflow of future cash flows is not discounted.

For whom free cash flows are prepared. Free cash flows for equity (FCFE) Free cash
flows for Firm (FCFF)

 How to calculate FCFE (Free Cash Flow to Equity)?

1. Net Income

2. Subtract Net Capital Expenditure

3. Subtract Net Change in working capital

4. Subtract Debt repayment

 How to calculate FCFF (Free Cash Flow to Firm)?

1. Net Income

2. Subtract Net Capital Expenditure

3. Subtract New Change in working capital

 How to calculate Free cash flows?

BIT (1-tax rate) + (depreciation) + (amortization) - (Net change in working capital) -

(capital expenditure).

 What are the principles for cash flow estimation?

The principles are:

1. Consistency Principle

2. Incremental Principle
 3. Separation Principle

4. Post Tax Principle

 What is DCF and why do we calculate DCF?

A discounted cash flow (DCF) is a valuation method used to estimate the attractiveness
of an investment opportunity. DCF analysis uses future free cash flow projections and
discounts them to arrive at a present value estimate, which is used to evaluate the
potential for investment. If the value arrived at through DCF analysis is higher than the
current cost of the investment, the opportunity may be a good one.

 When would you not use a DCF in a Valuation?

We do not use a DCF if the company has unstable or unpredictable cash flows (tech or
bio-tech startup) or when debt and working capital serve a fundamentally different role.
For example, banks and financial institutions do not re-invest debt and working capital is
a huge part of their Balance Sheets - so you wouldn't use a DCF for such companies.

 How to calculate DCF?

We take cash flows for each year and discount them with either cost of equity or WACC.

 How do you calculate the discount rate?

There are a number of methods that can be used to determine discount rates. A good
approach – and the one we’ll use in this tutorial – is to use the weighted average cost of
capital (WACC) – a blend of the cost of equity and after-tax cost of debt

 What is the terminal value and how do you calculate the same?

Terminal value (TV) represents all future cash flows in an asset valuation model. This
allows models to reflect returns that will occur so far in the future that they are nearly
impossible to forecast. The Gordon growth model, discounted cash flow and residual
earnings all use terminal values that can be calculated with perpetuity growth, while an
alternative exit valuation approach employs relative valuation methods.

 What is a risk-free rate? The current rate in India.

In theory, the risk-free rate is the minimum return an investor expects for any investment
because he or she will not accept additional risk unless the potential rate of return is
greater than the risk-free rate. W

Current risk-free rate – 6.25%

 How to calculate beta?

The formula for calculating beta is the covariance of the return of an asset with the return
of the Market, divided by the variance of the return of the benchmark over a certain
period.

 What are levered and unlevered beta?

Unlevered beta compares the risk of an unlevered company to the risk of the market.
The unlevered beta is the beta of a company without any debt. Unlevering a beta
removes the financial effects from leverage. This number provides a measure of how
much systematic risk a firm's equity has when compared to the market.

 What are systematic risk and unsystematic risk?

Unsystematic risk, also known as "specific risk," "diversifiable risk" or "residual risk," is
the type of uncertainty that comes with the company or industry you invest in.
Unsystematic risk can be reduced through diversification. For example, news that is
specific to a small number of stocks, such as a sudden strike by the employees of a
company you have shares in, is considered to be an unsystematic risk

Systematic risk, also known as 'market risk' or 'un-diversifiable risk', is the uncertainty
inherent to the entire market or entire market segment.
  How would you value an apple tree?

The same way you would value a company: by looking at what comparable apple trees
are worth (relative valuation) and the value of the apple tree’s cash flows (intrinsic
valuation).

 What is the difference between NPV AND XNPV?

NPV assumes that the cash flows come in equal time intervals.

XNPV assumes that the cash flows don’t come in equal time intervals.

 What is LBO?

Leveraged buyout (LBO) is the acquisition of another company using a significant

amount of borrowed money to meet the cost of acquisition. The assets of the company
being acquired are often used as collateral for the loans, along with the acquiring
company's assets. The purpose of leveraged buyouts is to allow companies to make
large acquisitions without having to commit a lot of capital.

 What is management buyout?

A transaction where a company’s management team purchases the assets and

operations of the business they manage. A management buyout (MBO) is appealing to
professional managers because of the greater potential rewards from being owners of
the business rather than employees.

An MBO is different from a management buy-in (MBI), in which an external management

team acquires a company and replaces the existing management team. It also differs
from a leveraged management buyout (LMBO), where the buyers use the company
assets as collateral to obtain debt financing.

Questions on corporate restructuring mergers and acquisitions

  What do you actually do in Restructuring?

Restructuring bankers advised distressed companies – businesses going bankrupt, in

the midst of bankruptcy, or getting out of bankruptcy – and help them change their capital
structure to get out of bankruptcy, avoid it in the first place, or assist with a sale of the
company depending on the scenario.

 Why would a company go bankrupt in the first place?

Some reasons are:

1. A company cannot meet its debt obligations/interest payments.

2. Creditors can accelerate debt payments and force the company into bankruptcy.

3. An acquisition has gone poorly or a company has just written down the value of its assets
steeply and needs extra capital to stay afloat (see: investment banking industry).

4. There is a liquidity crunch and the company cannot afford to pay its vendors or suppliers.

 What options are available to a distressed company that can't meet debt
obligations?

The options are available to a distressed company that can't meet debt obligations are:

1. Refinance and obtain fresh debt/equity.

2. Sell the company (either as a whole or in pieces in an asset sale).

3. Restructure its financial obligations to lower interest payments/debt repayments,

or issue debt with PIK interest to reduce the cash interest expense.

4. File for bankruptcy and use that opportunity to obtain additional financing,
restructure its obligations, and be freed of onerous contracts.
 What is the end goal of a given financial restructuring?
Restructuring does not change the amount of debt outstanding in and of itself – instead,
it changes the terms of the debt, such as interest payments, monthly/quarterly principal
repayment requirements, and the covenants.

 Distinguish between merger and acquisition?

A merger occurs when two separate entities combine forces to create a new, joint
organization. An acquisition refers to the takeover of one entity by another. A new
company does not emerge from an acquisition; rather, the smaller company is often
consumed and ceases to exist, and its assets become part of the larger company.
Acquisitions – sometimes called takeovers – generally carry a more negative connotation
than mergers.

 What are the reasons for mergers and acquisitions?

1. The reasons for mergers and acquisitions are:

2. Synergy

3. Diversification

4. Growth

1. Eliminating competition
 What is horizontal merger and vertical merger?

A horizontal merger is when two companies that belong to the same industry merge –
for example if Airtel and Reliance merge! They belong to the same industry =
telecommunications.

A vertical merger is a merger between two companies that operate at separate stages
of the production process for a specific finished product. A vertical merger occurs when
two or more firms, operating at different levels within an industry's supply chain, merge-
operations. Most often, the logic behind the merger is to increase synergies created by
merging firms that would be more efficient in operating as one.
  What is a reverse merger?

A reverse merger (also known as a reverse takeover or reverse IPO) is a way for private
companies to go public, typically through a simpler, shorter, and less expensive process.
A conventional initial public offering (IPO) is more complicated and expensive, as private
companies hire an investment bank to underwrite and issue the soon-to-be public
company shares.

When acquiring a company that is weaker or smaller than the one being gobbled up, this
is termed a reverse merger. Typically, reverse mergers take place through a parent
company merging into a subsidiary, or a profit-making firm merging into a loss-making
one

 What is a congeneric merger?

A congeneric merger is a type of merger where two companies are in the same or related
industries but do not offer the same products. In a congeneric merger, the companies
may share similar distribution channels, providing synergies for the merger.

 What is a conglomerate merger?

A conglomerate merger is a merger between firms that are involved in totally unrelated
business activities. There are two types of conglomerate mergers: pure and mixed. Pure
conglomerate mergers involve firms with nothing in common, while mixed conglomerate
mergers involve firms that are looking for product extensions or market extensions.

 Regulators involved in the process of mergers and amalgamation?

The regulators involved are:

1. Competition Commission of India

2. Reserve Bank of India

3. Depositories
 4. Stock exchanges

5. Registrar of Companies

1. Regional Director

2. Official liquidator

3. NCLT – replaced High Courts

 Benefits and drawbacks of a merger

Advantages of mergers

1. Economies of scale – bigger firms more efficient

2. More profit enables more research and development.

3. Struggling firms can benefit from new management.

Disadvantages of mergers

1. Increased market share can lead to monopoly power and higher prices for
consumers

2. A larger firm may experience diseconomies of scale – e.g. harder to communicate

and coordinate.
 What are the methods for amalgamation under AS-14?

An amalgamation in the nature of merger, or

An amalgamation in the nature of the purchase.

 What is an amalgamation in the nature of a merger?

All assets and liabilities of the transferor company become, after amalgamation, the
assets, and liabilities of the transferee company.

Shareholders holding not less than 90% of the face value of the equity shares of the
transferor company (other than the equity shares already held therein, immediately
before amalgamation by the transferee company or its subsidiaries or their nominees)
become equity shareholders of the transferee company by virtue of amalgamation.

The consideration is discharged by the transferee company wholly by the issue of equity
shares only, except that cash may be paid in respect of any fractional shares.

The business of the transferor company is intended to be carried on, after the
amalgamation, by the transferee company.

No adjustment is intended to be made to the book value of the assets and liabilities of
the transferor company when they are incorporated in the financial statements of the
transferee company except to ensure uniformity of accounting policies.

 What is the swap ratio?

The ratio in which an acquiring company will offer its own shares in exchange for the
target company's shares during a merger or acquisition. To calculate the swap ratio,
companies analyze financial ratios such as book value, earnings per share, profits after
tax, and dividends paid, as well as other factors, such as the reasons for the merger or
acquisition.

 What is divestiture?

A divestiture is the partial or full disposal of a business unit through sale, exchange,
closure, or bankruptcy. A divestiture most commonly results from a management
decision to cease operating a business unit because it is not part of a core competency

Basic accounting interview questions with answers

 What is the difference between accounts payable and accounts receivable?

Accounts payable are amounts a company owes because it purchased goods or services
on credit from a supplier or vendor. Accounts receivable are amounts a company has a
right to collect because it sold goods or services on credit to a customer. Accounts
payable are liabilities. Accounts receivable are assets.

 What are accruals?

Accruals are adjustments for 1) revenues that have been earned but are not yet recorded
in the accounts, and 2) expenses that have been incurred but are not yet recorded in the
accounts. The accruals need to be added via adjusting entries so that the financial
statements report these amounts.

 What are prepaid expenses?

Prepaid expenses are future expenses that have been paid in advance. You can think of
prepaid expenses as costs that have been paid but have not yet been used up or have
not yet expired.

The amount of prepaid expenses that have not yet expired are reported on a company's
balance sheet as an asset. As the amount expires, the asset is reduced and an expense
is recorded for the amount of the reduction. Hence, the balance sheet reports the
unexpired costs and the income statement reports the expired costs.

 What are the principles of accounting?

Cost Principles - The cost principle is one of the basic underlying guidelines in
accounting. It is also known as the historical cost principle. The cost principle requires
that assets be recorded at the cash amount (or its equivalent) at the time that an asset
is acquired.

Matching Principle - The matching principle directs a company to report an expense on

its income statement in the same period as the related revenues.

Full disclosure principle - For a business, the full disclosure principle requires a company
to provide the necessary information so that people who are accustomed to reading
financial information can make informed decisions concerning the company. The
required disclosures can be found in a number of places including the following:

1. The company's financial statements including any supplementary schedules and

notes (or footnotes).

2. Management's Discussion and Analysis that is included in a publicly traded

corporation's annual report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

3. Quarterly earnings reports, press releases, and other communications.

 What are the accounting concepts?

o Business Entity Concept

o Dual Aspect Concept

o Going Concern Concept

o Accounting Period Concept

o Cost Concept

o Money Measurement Concept

o Matching Concept

 What is deferred revenue?

Deferred revenue is not yet revenue. It is an amount that was received by a company in
advance of earning it. The amount unearned (and therefore deferred) as of the date of
the financial statements should be reported as a liability. The title of the liability account
might be Unearned Revenues or Deferred Revenues.

 Conventions of accounting
 1. Conservatism

2. Full disclosure

3. Consistency

4. Materiality

 What is the impairment of an asset? How is it treated in accounting?

Impairment of an asset is the fall in the market value of an asset below its book value.
The book value is arrived at after charging annual depreciation which is based on the
normal wear and tear of the asset while impairment may arise due to factors beyond
normal wear and tear such as damage or obsolescence due to technological updating of
the product in the market where the asset loses market value. Impairment is written off
in the Profit and Loss Account in the year of impairment.