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2nd attempt 51%. Can’t believe it. This time I decided to write quality answers but only managed to write 75% of exam and I didn’t even properly write the report but by the grace of my Lord Jesus Christ I made it. Only AAA to go for the September to be affiliate. I know and believe that I will make AAA on my first attempt in September. Thanks John and OT. Good night folks.
Hello Mr. Smith. Is it important to quote the relevant standards (ISA, IAS and IFRS) when answering questions in AAA?
Also, is it how it is done in practice? Thanks Sir.As always time pressure. And now the optional exams will be on CBE which means even more time pressure. We should all complain about it to ACCA. The should increase the time for the CBE to 4 hrs at the optional level. The US CPA exams are also computerized but the duration is 4 hrs. What about ACCA? It’s unfair to because there are no technical difficulties related to network, typing, freezing screen etc with paper exams. But these extra difficulties are part of the CBE. So we should all let them know our displeasure.
Hi Mr. John. Hope you are doing well. Please Sir I want to know something. I wrote the AFM exam in June and one small calculation in Q1 got me confused because I have never come across anything like that before.
It’s about how to calculate the cost of equity. The question gave the following information for company A and B:
-“A” had its cost of debt(8.7%), its market values of equity($50m) and debt($21m) given but it had no cost of equity (so it needed to be calculated).
-“B” was an all equity financed firm with its cost of capital(10%) and its market value of equity($27m) given. “B” operating in the same industry as “A”.
There was no other information like risk free rate, market premium etc that we could use in the CAPM or MM formulas.
So Mr. John how can we calculate A’s cost of equity in such a case??
In the exam I just assumed something and moved on. Thank you sir for any possible clarification.Hi.
I don’t know exactly if ACCA want us to become super accountants but to be honest they should seriously readjust the timing for the optional papers to 4hrs instead of 3hrs:15 mins given the amount of info to assimilate.
For my part that’s my second attempt. The paper was fairly doable but again I ran out of time to the extent that I couldn’t properly write the report. Overall I attempted 70% and couldn’t do moist of the written parts in Q1.
Now that paper based is over there will be even greater challenges with the unreliability of the CBE platform.One more question related to the same question above. Does it mean that this is the way to calculate the value whenever the cash flows grows only in the first year and then stays constant?
Sorry Mr. John. One rectification. I now understand that the perpetuity is used in Appendix 3.
However in calculating the estimated MBO value they divided by the rate of 10% which, I guess, is also in perpetuity. But the question doesn’t state that the Machinery business’s cash flows grow in perpetuity (but the Mining’s). So can you please explain why they used the perpetuity for the MBO value despite not mentioning that its cash flows is in perpetuity? Thanks and sorry for the confusion.Hello Mr. John. I am trying to figure out why the PV in perpetuity was used in the MBO(Appendix 1 “Option 2”) and not in Appendix 3( For mining and shipping unit).
Because the question states that after the $1200 m investment in the “Mining business unit” this will result in its profits and cash flows growing by 4% per year in perpetuity.
Here they didn’t say that the cash flows of the “Machinery business unit” is growing in perpetuity. But in the answer they calculated the MBO value in perpetuity. I am a bit confused. Any explanation Sir? Thank you.
Hello Sir I am trying to create a new topic so that I can ask you some questions but it doesn’t work. How can I create a new thread?
Hello Sir. My question relates to Conejo (Q1 Sept/Dec. 2017) and more precisely to Appendix 1 ( coupon rate required from new bond). I don’t understand why they added the extra “$100*1.0362^-5” when calculating the new coupon. I understand the rest but I want to know the reason why that extra mentioned above is also part of the equation. Thank you.
Ok Sir I got it. The other day when I asked that question I couldn’t find your answer that’s why I asked again. Thank you very much.
Hi Mr. John. I have a question concerning the specimen exam (question 3 b). It’s about the calculation of the “PV of annual premium in perpetuity”. I want to know why the post-tax premium of 159.3 has been divided by the WACC of 7% and not discounted as usual? My understanding is that we should rather discount at 7% and not divide. I am a bit confused. Thank you.
Good evening Sir and sorry for asking that question here. I couldn’t find any other suitable topic to ask. I just want a clarification concerning the Specimen exam (question 3(b) Hav Co :premium based on excess earning”).
I just want to know this: the “PV of annual premium in perpetuity” for Strand Co has been calculated as 159.3/0.07(wacc) giving $2275.7. So I want to know why it’s been divided (by the WACC) instead of simply discounting it at the WACC. What I know is that we usually discount at wacc to get the PV but here it has been divided.1 clarification Mr. John. My question above was not the right question. Sorry for the mistake. I rather wanted to ask about Swap and an illustration of both. Thanks.
Hello Sir. Please is there any difference between interest rate futures and currency futures? I don’t really know the difference and I take most of the questions as interest rate futures. Can you please give me a quick illustration of both? Thank you.
Oh ok. I may have misread the question. Thanks for spot cross answer. By the way I found the question I was talking about. It’s WASHI Sept 18. The way it’s done gets me a bit confused. Your illustration is quite simple compared to that question. How can I think through such a question logically for me to understand it easily? And also does the rate we use to calculate the spot cross rate of “0.70-0.74 ARD per JPY 1” matter in that question? Otherwise would I get no mark if I had done the opposite to calculate that spot cross rate? Thank you Sir.
1 last thing Mr. John. I also find it difficult to reply to some of the topics you’ve posted on the platform. After getting access to a topic of interest on the platform there’s no section in which I can reply. I don’t know if it is locked. Any help Sir? Thank you.
My second concern has to do with the AFM exam that I sat back in March and to be more precise it’s about hedging using futures. If I remember well the date of transaction (so the date of expected receipt) was in May. However the closest date after the transaction date was 1 year later ( instead of the usual next 1 or 2 months after the transaction date as it’s often the case in the kit). So I was completely confused and I didn’t know how to calculate the unexpired basis. Why would the ACCA give 1 thing in the kit and another completely different thing in the exam? What’s their motive by the way? I don’t understand. Thank you Sir.
