Finance & Investment for Leaders

How a business earns and spends · revenue, cost, profit · profit vs cash · the money loop

1. How a business makes money — the money loop
2. Revenue — the money coming in
3. Costs — direct costs and running costs
4. Profit — gross, operating and net
5. Profit is not cash
6. Reading a number like a leader

Income statement · balance sheet · cash flow statement · how they link · notes · auditor’s report

1. Why every company keeps three reports
2. The income statement, line by line
3. The balance sheet — Assets = Liabilities + Equity
4. Current and non-current — what turns into cash this year
5. The cash flow statement — operating, investing, financing
6. How the three reports link
7. The notes — where the real story hides
8. The auditor’s report

Margins · liquidity · leverage · efficiency · returns (ROE, ROA) · red flags

1. What a ratio is and why boards use them
2. Profit margins — gross, operating, net
3. Liquidity — current ratio and quick ratio
4. Leverage — debt-to-equity and interest cover
5. Efficiency — asset turnover, receivable and inventory days
6. Returns — ROE, ROA and ROI
7. Ten red flags in a set of accounts

Receivables · payables · inventory · the cash conversion cycle · cash burn and runway · cash forecast

1. Working capital — cash tied up in daily business
2. Receivables — when clients owe us
3. Payables and inventory
4. The cash conversion cycle
5. Cash burn and runway
6. Reading a 13-week cash forecast

Fixed and variable costs · contribution · break-even · pricing · budgets · budget vs actual · KPIs

1. Fixed and variable costs
2. Contribution margin
3. Break-even point
4. Pricing — cost-plus and value pricing
5. Budgets and budget versus actual
6. KPIs — the few numbers that matter

Interest · compounding · inflation · present and future value · discount rate · loans and instalments · currency

1. Interest — the price of money
2. Compounding
3. Inflation and real returns
4. Present value and future value
5. Loans and instalments
6. Currency and exchange rates

Feasibility studies · project cash flows · payback · NPV · IRR · sensitivity · scenarios

1. Inside a feasibility study
2. A project’s cash flows
3. Payback period
4. Net present value (NPV)
5. Internal rate of return (IRR)
6. Sensitivity — what if?
7. Scenarios — best, base, worst
8. Ten questions for any feasibility study

Price vs value · DCF · multiples (P/E, EV/EBITDA) · asset value · enterprise vs equity value

1. Price and value
2. Discounted cash flow (DCF)
3. Multiples — P/E and EV/EBITDA
4. Asset-based value
5. From enterprise value to equity value
6. Challenging a valuation report

Deposits · T-bills · bonds · sukuk · shares · funds · real estate · gold · who supervises what in Egypt

1. Bank deposits and savings certificates
2. Treasury bills and bonds
3. Sukuk
4. Shares and the stock exchange
5. Investment funds
6. Real estate and gold
7. Who supervises what in Egypt

Types of risk · risk vs return · diversification · portfolios · hedging · risk appetite · risk registers

1. What risk really means
2. Risk and return go together
3. Diversification
4. Building a portfolio
5. Hedging currency and interest-rate risk
6. Risk appetite, risk registers and heat maps

Bank loans · covenants · leasing · bonds and sukuk · venture capital · private equity · IPO · cost of capital

1. Debt or equity — the basic choice
2. Bank loans and covenants
3. Leasing
4. Corporate bonds and sukuk
5. Venture capital and private equity
6. Going public — the IPO
7. Cost of capital (WACC)

Holding structure · subsidiaries · consolidated reports · governance and boards · M&A · due diligence · board packs · investment memos

1. How a holding company works
2. Subsidiaries, associates and stakes
3. Consolidated reports
4. Governance — boards, committees, who decides what
5. Buying and selling companies — M&A
6. Due diligence
7. Board packs and investment memos
8. Final case — the board meeting