Title: The appraiser?s choice of valuation method ? factors that influences the choice of company valuation methodsSeminar date: 04/06/07Course: Master thesis in Business Administration, 10 Swedish credits.Authors: Anne Benedicks and Veronica ÖbergAdvisor: Eron OxingProfession of category: Financial analysts, auditors and company lawyers.Key words: Company valuation, valuation methods, cash flow analysis, comparative valuation, the net asset value method.The Main Issue: What is of decisive importance when choosing a special company valuation method?Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify, analyse and evaluate the most common methods of valuation for financial analysts, auditors and company lawyers and those factors that influences the choice of method.Method: A multiple survey has been implemented for the actual profession categories. Primary data was collected through semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire survey.Theoretical: The theoretical frame of reference is based upon the paper?s dependent variable, i.e. the role of the appraiser.

The valuation of an asset is one of the most important thing with accounting, though one of the most difficult thing as well. However, in deciding useful service life for an intangible asset and property, plant and equipment, there are quite a margin for the companies, which creates a difference between companies and industries. When computing the value of the inventories there are a few possibilities available for the companies, which also can generate differencesbetween companies and industries. Although these differences can occur, there might be some similarities in the companies? estimates.

The valuation of an asset is one of the most important thing with accounting, though one of the most difficult thing as well. However, in deciding useful service life for an intangible asset and property, plant and equipment, there are quite a margin for the companies, which creates a difference between companies and industries. When computing the value of the inventories there are a few possibilities available for the companies, which also can generate differencesbetween companies and industries. Although these differences can occur, there might be some similarities in the companies? estimates.

Title: The appraiser?s choice of valuation method ? factors that influences the choice of company valuation methodsSeminar date: 04/06/07Course: Master thesis in Business Administration, 10 Swedish credits.Authors: Anne Benedicks and Veronica ÖbergAdvisor: Eron OxingProfession of category: Financial analysts, auditors and company lawyers.Key words: Company valuation, valuation methods, cash flow analysis, comparative valuation, the net asset value method.The Main Issue: What is of decisive importance when choosing a special company valuation method?Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify, analyse and evaluate the most common methods of valuation for financial analysts, auditors and company lawyers and those factors that influences the choice of method.Method: A multiple survey has been implemented for the actual profession categories. Primary data was collected through semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire survey.Theoretical: The theoretical frame of reference is based upon the paper?s dependent variable, i.e. the role of the appraiser.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate how a valuation of a company preceding an acquisition can be affected by the fact that a strong brand is attached to the target company. Techniques to value a company and theories of brands are well developed, but the link between them is partially missing even though the needs to value brands have increased. A case study of five Swedish acquisitions is conducted to identify possible complicating and simplifying factors and how these are handled in the context of a valuation of an acquired company with a strong brand. Important findings are that a decreased volatility of future earnings can lead to more accurate prognoses and valuations due to the existence of a strong brand. A strong brand can, on the other hand, also make the valuation of the target company more difficult due to the fact that it is a subjective asset which increases the overall risk of the company.

Background: The international accounting standard regarding goodwill gives opportunities to several accounting procedure choices, as goodwill is a complex, intangible asset. The valuation of goodwill affects equity/asset ratio and income statement, which gives that the stakeholders? impression of the group?s financial statement is affected by the valuation of this asset. It has been pointed out that difficult economic times bring impairment loss to the fore. During financial crisis, equity/asset ratio may be significant as the economy of the groups is expected to be strained.Purpose: The purpose of this essay is to explain the appearance of the possible relationship between a group?s impairment loss for goodwill and their equity/asset ratio, during financial straits.

Background: The basis for a price valuation of a company is dependent on both its assets net worth and earnings calculations. While the assets are an important part of the valuation of a company, it is important that the valuation is reliable and resource usage can be measured and allocated to each time period. Purpose: The purpose of this essay is to illustrate the difficulties when valuating and allocating own produced fixed assets. Accomplishment: We have chosen a case study where the aims are to understand and explain the difficulties with valuating and allocating own produced fixed assets. The research is based on nine personal interviews.

Background: The difference between the market value and the book value of the companies has dramatically increased. One explanation is that the inflow of capital on the market has increased. Another explanation is that companies have a larger share of intellectual capital. The question is how this has influenced the company-valuator's use of valuation-models? Purpose: The purpose of this study is to find out what relevance the substance valuation model has, the DCF-model has, and also discover new valuation-models, among company-valuators.

In latter years there has been a discussion about the increasing importance of intangible assets and how to incorporate this fact into strategies, accounting and valuation. The ?Internet-bubble? is a recent event that drew much attention to intangible assets, and was an indicator of how complex it can be to value assets in general and intangible information in particular. Legislators recently addressed this issue by introducing IFRS3, which led to an update of IAS38, which in turn revised the methods for handling intangible assets. A specific intangible asset that has caused much debate is research and development (R&D), since it is commonly not allowed to be realized as an asset, which could cause implications concerning analysis and valuation.

This study tests two financial valuation models empirically by valuing three stocks from three industries, with the purpose of studying how well valuation models work empirically and to make a forecast. The models which will be tested are residual income valuation and discounted cash flow. Nine stocks will be picked strategically from the Swedish stock market and additional analysis will follow in the analysis chapter.Based on analysis and valuation, the commodities industry has decent valuation as the healthcare industry is undervalued thanks to the high valuation of AZN. The energy industry has low value due to the capital intensive nature of the industry. When it comes to the models and their practical implementation, DCF has been the most problematic to apply empirically whereas RIV was better but it still shows extreme values, which teaches the student the clear difference between theory and empiri..

Swedish listed property companies report their investment properties under the standard IAS 40 that gives the opportunity to value investment properties to either historical cost or to fair value model. One problem with the fair value model is that there is no observable market price since the real estate market is far from complete which means that the price of the asset is hard to determine because of the limited information.IAS 40 gives companies the opportunity to choose between internal or external valuation and this study aims to show how the property companies? values appeared between the years 2007-2011. From the result we will study if there could be a difference in the outcome depending on if the company chose either internal or external valuation.To investigate this we observe all Swedish real estate companies listed on OMX Nordic Stockholm and their financial reports during this period of time and complement this information by interviewing people working with these matters in the property companies. The methodology for the study is therefore partly quantitative and partly qualitative since we collect data both from financial reports and from interviews.

The aim of our master thesis is to study the way valuation of real estate is conducted by real estate companies. Furthermore we want to identify the factors that affect the relevance and reliability of the valuation. The reason for this is the introduction of IFRS, in 2005, and the application of the IAS 40 rules stating that real estate are to be recognized at fair value on the balance sheet. To do this we have performed a case study on 10 Swedish real estate compa-nies listed on the Stockholm stock exchange, OMX, Large Cap and Mid Cap list to see how the share value has performed in relation to the reported net asset value since 2005 and how they value their collection of properties. We also studied the assumptions made by real estate company analysts.

Background: Associated with the change in the regulations in 2009 concerning how goodwill should be handled in the acquisitions, brand valuation is increasingly recognized. Goodwill will now be identified and the brand will therefore be separated to be individually evaluated. The valuation has a problem with a number of factors that will influence the choice of method, to obtain a reliable value Aim: The purpose of this study is to examine the method used for brand valuation associated with the acquisition situations. In addition, it aims to gain a better understanding of brand valuation and its problems.Method: The study has a qualitative basis, where three key people of brand valuation have been interviewed. These work as valuation specialists at various accounting firms, this to get answers that could be compared.

Computers and business systems are used more frequently in a world where IT gradually is taking over. This is also true when it comes to the real estate valuation process where actors on the Swedish real estate market are using automatic valuation systems for real estate appraisal. But the real estate agents have not yet seen the charm in using these automatic valuation systems for real estate appraisal. Can the real estate agents also use the automatic valuation systems? We developed our three main subjects: the valuation process, an automatic valuation system and the real estate market with assistance from scientific articles.

Brands are the instruments corporates use to create and communicate brands reputation. Within the different industries for consumer products intangible assets such as brands are known to have great importance for corporate prosperities. When consumers experiences a specific brand symbolizes best possible value for money, the corporate behind it has managed to create a unique competitive advantage that should be to its full potential. Strong brands can pose the difference between winning or loosing on the market. Due to this brands should be considered as cost-effective instruments since they help create financial advantages such as consumer loyalty.