*** P4 September 2015 Exam was.. Instant Poll and comments ***

@lizzyopen said:
Hi Kitty,

On question 2 I remember it saying futures are not required. But the it said we should review both hedging choices (collars and futures)which were futures now collars.

This threw me back abit.

yeahh…. i had this same problem. But then i think you would need to calculate futures first in order to calculate Option on futures. By the way how did you guys answer number 4? I totally freestyled it.

Hi John, please I have a peculiar problem with q2a (netting) where I mistakenly used Euro as the basis instead of dollars. I got the calculation and steps right but just that I didn’t use USD As the instruction says as I was so pressed for time I could not see that particular instruction. I saw it late and i noted that I saw it late

I will like to know if I still have a chance to get scored minimum of 1/2 on that question

The question was triky as usual it looked easy. i think i did better than my last sitting because this time the questions were straight foward. The worst thing was time factor.But you never know what the examiner had up his sleve .

Question 1
A) Difference between FCF and FCFE 5 marks
B) (I) Issue price of share 10 marks
(Ii) issues with above valuation 5 marks
(Iii) implications of bond issues 10 marks
C) agency issues that might arise 7 marks
D) (I) Macaulay duration of 6 % coupon bond 4 marks
(Iii) difference between bond price using Macaulay and actual bond price 5 marks
4 marks for presentation

can you tell me what he was looking for in q! b (ii) – implications of Bonds issues

@mfe100 said:
When will Sept 15 papers be uploaded on ACCA????

The ACCA will not be publishing the whole of the September exam – only part, and not until after the December exam anyway.

“With the introduction of the four exam sessions, we will continue to publish the same number of exams, two per year, and at the same times, after the December and June exam sessions.

These exams will be compiled from questions selected by the examining team from the two preceding sessions. That is, they will not reflect the entire September or December exam, for example, but will contain questions most appropriate for students to practice. “

michael06

I believe you communicated what they were asking for. What would be the investors preference between a 6% and a 5.25% bond, would they be willing to pay a premium for higher coupon receipts in future?. What is the tax strategy of the bond issue, as a higher coupon payment translates to higher tax benefits and probably lower WACC.

I am sure the examiner would be happy with anyone that communicates something intelligent.

I was confused on the rating to use, whether A – pre issue of AA – post issue.

michael06,

You’d earn a couple of marks for the points still. Attempted Q 4 but had 15 mins left so could’t articulate my points well (hope the marker sees my writing too).

In the last part I defined what Integrated reporting was – relationship between various units in coy and the capital it uses – and when it was issued by the IIRC. I also mentioned about 5 benefits.

for the (a) just scribbled some 2 points on the eurozone problem and remuneration of the newly appointed FD.

Hoping to scrape some 10 marks here to add to the Q1 which I attempted fairly well, so I can be home dry.

All the best.

You were given the wrong information.

If you go to the list of past exams on the ACCA website you will see above the list a statement from the ACCA headed: “Four exam sessions”

Again, they will not be publishing the whole of the September paper – only part of it – and only after the December exam.

I think the debt value should be deducted as the whole growth figures were based on geared capital structure, including the 10% WACC which is presumably less than the current all-equity cost of capital
Overall, ACCA is a joke. This is my second attempt -failed in June- and this exam is at least 10 times easier which makes me think they want to apologise for June paper which was hopelessly unworkable