The Development Center for Finance (DCF) successfully conducted the first run of the Financial Statement Analysis Seminar for 2024 on March 2, 9, 16, and 23, and was attended by 33 participants from various companies and industries.

In Day 1, Sir Lester Aratea opened the seminar and did an expectation setting session with the participants. A roadmap of the four-day FS Analysis seminar was presented and the seminar proper was started with the discussion of the different asset and liability components of the balance sheet. Different examples from actual financial statements (FS) were discussed to illustrate the effects of common asset and liability transactions.

Ma’am Pam Lloren-Alcantara then continued with the equity components of the balance sheet in the second day of the seminar, and thoroughly discussed the income statement and the cash flow statement. Illustrative exercises and examples from local corporations were presented to provide real-world context to the discussion. The FS preparation and how they are related to one another was also demonstrated.

Sir Lester Aratea returns on Day 3 to discuss the different techniques used in FS analysis, including ratios related to profitability, efficiency, liquidity, solvency, and cash flows. Qualitative considerations were also discussed, particularly various company, macroeconomic and industry information that should be carefully considered. A subject company was then presented to apply these different FS analysis techniques.

Sir Art Cayanan took over on the last day of the seminar, starting the session with a review of the discussions in the past three (3) Saturdays, then introducing other FS analysis techniques, including common-size, trend, and break-even analyses. Cases of several Philippine-listed companies were then presented and discussed to apply all the learnings during the seminar, taking different perspectives, as lenders, financial analysts, and even as investors.

Some of the feedback from the participants about the 4-day seminar were as follows:

“Out of all online seminars I attended, this one is the best so far. I learned a lot on the first day.”

“Sir Lester was able to explain each item under Assets and Liabilities, with real life examples/scenarios which helps in understanding the lesson. Very patient in answering all questions as well. The break times were also sufficient for the day.”

“Thank you, Ma’am Pam! I’ve learned a lot from this session. I love how you communicate with the participants. I like how you explain the topic as well as the examples.”

“Thank you, Sir Lester! The topic is very informative and engaging. I am amazed by how you explain each financial technique. Good job!”

“Thank you so much for the learning, Sir Art. Hope to attend another seminar with DCF soon. It was a fruitful day. The course helped me understand further the information/items/relationship of figures in the financial statements.”