For the past four Saturdays (April 7, 14, 21 and 28), the Development Center for Finance successfully conducted its Financial Statement Analysis public seminar at the Cesar E.A. Virata School of Business, UP Diliman, Quezon City.

Day 1 was handled by Dr. Arthur Cayanan. The participants were given a roadmap on Financial Statement Analysis. This session focused on understanding the balance sheet and its elements: accounts receivable, inventories, investments in marketable securities, intangible assets, investment properties, property, plant and equipment and liabilities. A case was used to emphasize the topics discussed.

The foundations of Financial Statement Analysis were solidified on Day 2, where Dr. Arthur Cayanan and Professor Mikhael Magana discussed the equity portion of the balance sheet. They also discussed the income statement and the cash flow statement, with emphasis on the quality of earnings. Several exercises were given to illustrate the topics discussed and how financial statements are done.

On Day 3, Professors Diogenes Dy and Ramon Carlo Pio Roda talked about the meat of the seminar, Financial Statement Analysis techniques. Common-size, trend and financial ratio analysis were covered with each technique being applied to a real company. Qualitative aspects and limitations of analyzing financial statements were also presented.

Finally on Day 4, Dr. Arthur Cayanan facilitated case workshops on five actual companies in the Philippines. The workshops helped the participants apply and appreciate what they learned throughout the seminar.

There were 12 participants and some of the feedback were as follows:

“It is good to have ended the seminar with a full day dedicated to cases and practical application. Very value-adding! Good job to the team for this wonderful seminar!”

“Reviewing last week’s topics on ratios was great, like a good brain warm-up before discussing the cases of the day. Excellent teaching style! Thank you learned a lot during the seminar!”

“I like the resource speakers. They gave concise explanation and good examples.”

“Relatable and very friendly. Excellent teachers, high potential talent.”

“Teaching style is inclusive and practical”