Exam 15: Capital Structure

A group of venture investors is considering putting money into Lemma Books, which wants to produce a new reader for electronic books. The variable cost per unit is estimated at $250, the sales price would be set at twice the VC/unit, or $500, and fixed costs are estimated at $750,000. The investors will put up the funds if the project is likely to have an operating income of $500,000 or more. What sales volume would be required in order to meet the minimum profit goal? (Hint: Use the break-even formula, but include the required profit in the numerator.)

The Modigliani and Miller (MM) articles implicitly assumed, among other things, that outside stockholders have the same information about a firm's future prospects as its managers. That was called "symmetric information," and it is questionable. The introduction of "asymmetric information" led to the development of the "signaling" theory of capital structure, which postulated that firms are reluctant to issue new stock because investors will interpret such an act as a signal that the firm's managers are worried about its future. Other actions give off different signals, and the end result is that capital structure is affected by managers' perceptions about how their financing decisions will affect investors' views of the firm and thus its value.

A firm's treasurer likes to be in a position to raise funds to support operations whenever such funds are needed, even in "bad times." This is called "financial flexibility," and the lower the firm's debt ratio, the greater its financial flexibility, other things held constant.

Which of the following statements is CORRECT?

According to Modigliani and Miller (MM), in a world without taxes the optimal capital structure for a firm is approximately 100% debt financing.

Companies HD and LD have identical amounts of assets, investor-supplied capital, operating income Which of the following statements is CORRECT?

The Miller model begins with the Modigliani and Miller (MM) model with corporate taxes and then adds personal taxes.

Your company, which is financed entirely with common equity, plans to manufacture a new product, a cell phone that can be worn like a wristwatch. Two robotic machines are available to make the phone, Machine A and Machine B. The price per phone will be $250.00 regardless of which machine is used to make it. The fixed and variable costs associated with the two machines are shown below, along with the capital (all equity) that must be invested to purchase each machine. The expected sales level is 25,000 units. Your company has tax loss carry-forwards that will cause its tax rate to be zero for the life of the project, so T = 0. How much higher or lower will the project's ROE be if you select the machine that produces the higher ROE, i.e., what is ROEB - ROEA? (Hint: Since the firm uses no debt and its tax rate is zero, ROE = EBIT/Required investment.)

A firm's capital structure does not affect its free cash flows as discussed in the text, because FCF reflects only operating cash flows, which are available to service debt, to pay dividends to stockholders, and for other purposes.

Which of the following statements is CORRECT, holding other things constant?

You have been hired by a new firm that is just being started. The CFO wants to finance with 60% debt, but the president thinks it would be better to hold the percentage of debt in the capital structure (wd) to only 10%. Other things held constant, and based on the data below, if the firm uses more debt, by how much would the ROE change, i.e., what is ROENew - ROEOld?

Which of the following statements is CORRECT?

An increase in the debt ratio will generally have no effect on which of these items?

As a consultant to First Responder Inc., you have obtained the following data (dollars in millions). The company plans to pay out all of its earnings as dividends, hence g = 0. Also, no net new investment in operating capital is needed because growth is zero. The CFO believes that a move from zero debt to 20.0% debt would cause the cost of equity to increase from 10.0% to 12.0%, and the interest rate on the new debt would be 8.0%. What would the firm's total market value be if it makes this change? Hints: Find the FCF, which is equal to NOPAT = EBIT(1 - T) because no new operating capital is needed, and then divide by (WACC - g).

A major contribution of the Miller model is that it demonstrates, other things held constant, that

Based on the information below, what is the firm's optimal capital structure?

Which of the following statements is CORRECT?

Your firm has $500 million of investor-supplied capital, its return on investors' capital (ROIC) is 15%, and it currently has no debt in its capital structure . The CFO is contemplating a recapitalization where it would issue debt at an after-tax cost of 10% and use the proceeds to buy back some of its common stock, such that the percentage of common equity in the capital structure (wc) is 1 - wd. If the company goes ahead with the recapitalization, its operating income, the size of the firm (i.e., total assets), total investor-supplied capital, and tax rate would remain unchanged. Which of the following is most likely to occur as a result of the recapitalization?

Other things held constant, firms with more stable and predictable sales tend to use more debt than firms with less stable sales.

You were hired as the CFO of a new company that was founded by three professors at your university. The company plans to manufacture and sell a new product, a cell phone that can be worn like a wrist watch. The issue now is how to finance the company, with equity only or with a mix of debt and equity. The price per phone will be $250.00 regardless of how the firm is financed. The expected fixed and variable operating costs, along with other data, are shown below. How much higher or lower will the firm's expected ROE be if it uses 60% debt rather than only equity, i.e., what is ROEL - ROEU?