The Cost of Capital
1
Background
As investors desire to obtain the best/highest return on their investments in securities such as shares (Equity) and loans to companies such as debentures (Debt), these returns are costs to the companies paying these Dividends (on equity) and Interest (on
Debts)!
It all depends on the perspective from which we chose to view the calculation (are we Earning or Paying?)
Companies MUST consider the cost of financing they receive in the form of equity or debt if they are to manage their finances better; cheaper finance cost to the company means higher profitability and in most cases, superior cash flow. Generally, the cost of EQUITY has no tax effect but the cost of DEBT finance to companies are
technically
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An Example
G plc is about to pay a dividend of £50m in total. When G plc first obtained a stock market listing four (4) years ago, it paid a dividend of £30m in total. Over the last four years there have been no changes in the share capital of G plc. You are required to estimate the annual rate of dividend growth.
Solution
[£30m ×
3
(1 + g) 4
=
£50m] therefore, [g
=
13.62% p.a]
The Cost of Debt
Based on equivalent assumptions to those used in the DVM above, we conclude that:
PV interest stream = Market Value (MV of debenture ) Note:
(DEBT in this case!)
The tax system gives tax relief on interest payments by allowing tax deductions from company’s Profit & Loss account (thus REDUCING taxable profit). This has the effect of reducing the Cost of DEBT or what do you think?
Lower Tax means lower cost of finance as WITHOUT the tax relief, the company will pay HIGHER tax bills and the full cost of the loan BUT in this case, you pay the FULL interest BUT save on TAX, see it?
Therefore the true cost to the company of servicing the debentures will be after the tax relief subsidy is taken into account.
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An Example – irredeemable debentures
M plc has some 8 per cent coupon irredeemable debentures in issue trading at 90 ex int. Corporation tax is 30 per cent with no lag in payment. Interest is paid annually.
Solution
PV of after–tax interest = current debenture price
£8(1 − 0.30)
Kd
Kd
=
90
=
5.60
90
= 6.2% per
The company has an agreement with a bank that allows the company to borrow the exact amount needed at the beginning of each month. The interest rate on these loans is 1% per month and for simplicity we will assume that interest is not compounded. At the end of the quarter, the company will pay the bank all of the accrued interest on the loan and as much of the loan as possible while still retaining at least $50,000 in cash.
or equity financing. The cost of debt financing is interest which is the before tax cost of capital,
The purpose of this memo is to provide Target Corp. senior management with an evaluation of the company’s weighted average cost of capital (WACC). Since the 2010 financial information is not yet to be finalized, the analysis will use the most currently published financial data to evaluate each component of the WACC, including the company financial structure, cost of debt, and cost of equity.
Ameritrade is a pioneer in the deep-discount brokerage firm market that was formed in 1971. In March 1997, Ameritrade raised $22.5 million in a stock IPO allowing the company to continue its long tradition of adopting the latest advances in technology, and substantially increasing advertising to build its brand and improve market share.
Our estimated cost of capital, 20.81%, is lower than Ricketts’ expected return, 30%-50%, thus the investment is worthy. However, it’s higher than other pessimistic members’ expected return, 10%-15%, making the decision more complex and requiring further valuation。
1-a How can the CAPM be used to estimate the cost of capital for a real business investment decision?
AGL Energy is an Australian company providing energy products and services. It is involved in the generation and retailing of electricity and is the “largest ASX listed owner, operator and developer of renewable energy generation in the country” (AGL Energy Ltd., 2016).
Manage rather than own hotel assets In 1987, Marriott developed more than $1 billion worth of hotel properties, making it one of the 10 largest commercial real estate developers in the United States. With a fully integrated development process, Marriott identified markets, created development plans, designed projects, and evaluated potential profitability. After development, the company sold the hotel assets to limited partners while retaining operating control as the general partner under a long-term management contract. Management fees typically equaled 3% of revenues plus 20% of the profits before
This is something that any company need to pay off loans to keep from paying extra interest on debts.
EnCana Corporation (EnCana) is one of North America’s leading natural gas producers. It is among the largest holders of natural gas and oil resource lands onshore North America and is a technical and cost leader in the in-situ recovery of oil sands bitumen. EnCana’s other operations include the transportation and marketing of crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids; as well as the refining of crude oil and the marketing of refined petroleum products. Its operations are located in Canada, the US, Ecuador, and the UK.
Using the tax rate of 35% plus state taxes of 3%, cost of debt becomes 4.3%*(1-0.38) = 0.266 = 2.7%
Kimi Ford is a portfolio manager at NorthPoint Group, a mutual-fund management firm. She is evaluating Nike, Inc. (“Nike”) to potentially buy shares of their stock for the fund she manages, the NorthPoint Large-Cap Fund. This fund mostly invests in Fortune 500 companies, with an emphasis on value investing. This Fund has performed well over the last 18 months despite the decline in the stock market.
This case study focuses on where financial theory ends and practical application of the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) begins. It presents evidence on how some of the most financially complex companies and financial advisors estimated capital costs and focuses on the gaps found between theory and application. The approach taken in the paper differed from their predecessors in several various respects. Prior published information was solely based on written, closed-end surveys sent to a large number of firms, without a focused topic. The study set out to see if financial theory, specifically cost-of-capital, is truly ubiquitous in true business applications.
From this set of problems, we can see that leverage is good for the firm. Leverage has increased the value of the firm as a whole and increased the price per share. Although the cost of debt increases the firm's risk because it increases the probability of default and bankruptcy, therefore shareholders will require higher rates of return on the equity they provide, debt also provides tax savings. And we can see that in table 4, where we calculated the total value of the firm as the pure business cash flows plus the tax savings. Another reason why debt increases firm value is the fact that it reduces WACC, because the cost of debt is generally lower than the cost of equity. Another option that shareholders can do is using homemade leverage. Shareholders should pay a premium for the shares of a levered firm when the addition of debt increases value.
If the tax rate of shareholders is higher, it would be better to keep the cash internally and invest but if LT’s tax rate is higher the