Exam 13: Capital Structure

Your uncle is considering investing in a new company that will produce high quality stereo speakers. The sales price would be set at 1.5 times the variable cost per unit; the variable cost per unit is estimated to be $75.00; and fixed costs are estimated at $1,200,000. What sales volume would be required to break even, i.e., to have EBIT = zero?

Modigliani and Miller's first article led to the conclusion that capital structure is "irrelevant" because it has no effect on a firm's value. However, that article was criticized because it assumed that no taxes existed. MM then revised their original article to include corporate taxes, and this model led to the conclusion that a firm's value would be maximized if it used (almost) 100% debt.

Your company plans to produce a new product, a wireless computer mouse. Two machines can be used to make the mouse, Machines A and B. The price per mouse will be $25.00 regardless of which machine is used. The fixed and variable costs associated with the two machines are shown below. At the expected sales level of 75,000 units, how much higher or lower will the firm's expected EBIT be if it uses Machine B with high fixed costs rather than Machine A with low fixed costs, i.e., what is EBITB - EBITA?

Your firm is currently 100% equity financed. The CFO is considering a recapitalization plan under which the firm would issue long-term debt with an after-tax yield of 9% and use the proceeds to repurchase some of its common stock. The recapitalization would not change the company's total investor-supplied capital, the size of the firm (i.e., total assets), and it would not affect the firm's return on investors' capital (ROIC), which is 15%. The CFO believes that this recapitalization would reduce the firm's WACC and increase its stock price. Which of the following would be likely to occur if the company goes ahead with the recapitalization plan?

Longstreet Inc. has fixed operating costs of $470,000, variable costs of $2.80 per unit produced, and its product sells for $4.00 per unit. What is the company's break-even point, i.e., at what unit sales volume would income equal costs?

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

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.

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

Gator Fabrics Inc. currently has zero debt . It is a zero growth company, and additional firm data are shown below. Now the company is considering using some debt, moving to the new capital structure indicated below. The money raised would be used to repurchase stock at the current price. It is estimated that the increase in risk resulting from the additional leverage would cause the required rate of return on equity to rise somewhat, as indicated below. If this plan were carried out, by how much would the WACC change, i.e., what is WACCOld - WACCNew?

You plan to invest in one of two home delivery pizza companies, High and Low, that were recently founded and are about to commence operations. They are identical except for their use of debt (wd) and the interest rates on their debt--High uses more debt and thus must pay a higher interest rate. Based on the data given below, how much higher or lower will High's expected EPS be versus that of Low, i.e., what is EPSHigh - EPSLow?

Companies HD and LD have identical tax rates, total assets, total investor-supplied capital, and returns on investors' capital However, Company HD has a higher debt ratio and thus more interest expense than Company LD. 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.

According to Modigliani and Miller (MM), in a world without corporate income taxes the use of debt has no effect on the firm's value.

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

Other things held constant, firms that use assets that can be sold easily (like trucks) tend to use more debt than firms whose assets are harder to sell (like those engaged in research and development).

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.)

Your girlfriend plans to start a new company to make a new type of cat litter. Her father will finance the operation, but she will have to pay him back. You are helping her, and the issue now is how to finance the company, with equity only or with a mix of debt and equity. The price per unit will be $10.00 regardless of how the firm is financed. The expected fixed and variable operating costs, along with other information, are shown below. How much higher or lower will the firm's expected EPS be if it uses some debt rather than only equity, i.e., what is EPSL - EPSU?

Which of the following statements is CORRECT?

If a firm utilizes debt financing, a 10% decline in earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) will result in a decline in earnings per share that is larger than 10%, and the higher the debt ratio, the larger this difference will be.

Which of the following statements is CORRECT?