INSTRUCTOR: Mr. Konstantinos Kanellopoulos, MSc (L.S.E.), M.B.A.

COURSE: MBA-680-50-F12 Corporate Financial Theory

SEMESTER: I, 2012

Revision for the Final Exam

(with results)

Konstantinos Kanellopoulos
12th December 2012
PART I EXERCISES FROM CHAPTERS 18-19-26-27-33

Exercise 1 Chapter 18

I was amazed to find that the announcement of a stock issue drives down the value of the
issuing firm by 30%, on average, of the proceeds of the issue. That issue cost dwarfs the
underwriters speed and the administrative costs of the issue. It makes common stock issues
prohibitively expensive.
a) You are contemplating a $100 million stock issue. On past evidence, you anticipate that
announcement of this issue will drive down stock price by 3% and that the market value of
your firm will fall by 30% of the amount to be raised. On the other hand, additional equity
funds are necessary to fund an investment project that you believe has a positive NPV of
$40 million. Should you proceed with the issue?
b) Is the fall in market value on announcement of a stock issue an issue cost in the same sense
as an underwriters spread? Respond to the quote that begins this question.
Use your answer to (a) as a numerical example to explain your response to (b).

Solution Other things equal, the announcement of a new stock issue to fund an
investment project with an NPV of $40 million should increase equity value by $40
million (less issue costs). But, based on past evidence, management expects equity
value to fall by $30 million. There may be several reasons for the discrepancy:
(i) Investors may have already discounted the proposed investment. (However, this
alone would not explain a fall in equity value.)
(ii) Investors may not be aware of the project at all, but they may believe instead that
cash is required because of, say, low levels of operating cash flow.
(iii) Investors may believe that the firms decision to issue equity rather than debt
signals managements belief that the stock is overvalued.
If the stock is indeed overvalued, the stock issue merely brings forward a stock price
decline that will occur eventually anyway. Therefore, the fall in value is not an issue cost
in the same sense as the underwriters spread. If the stock is not overvalued, management
needs to consider whether it could release some information to convince investors that its
stock is correctly valued, or whether it could finance the project by an issue of debt.

Exercise 2 Chapter 18

Compute the present value of interest tax shields generated by these three debt issues. Consider
corporate taxes only. The marginal tax rate is Tc = .35.
c) A $1,000, one year loan at 8%.
d) A five-year loan of $1,000 at 8%. Assume no principal is repaid until maturity.
e) A $1,000 perpetuity at 7%.

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 TC (rDD) 0.35(0.08 $1,000)
Solutuion a. PV(tax shield) $25.93
1 rD 1.08

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0.35(0.08 $1,000)
b. PV(tax shield) $111.80
t 1 (1.08) t

c. PV(tax shield) = TC D = $350

Exercise 3 Chapter 18

Ronald Masulis has analyzed the stock price impact of exchange offers of debt for equity or vice
versa. In an exchange offer, the firm offers to trade freshly issued securities for seasoned
securities in the hands of investors. Thus, a firm that wanted to move to a higher debt ratio could
offer to trade new debt for outstanding shares. A firm that wanted to move to a more conservative
capital structure could offer to trade new shares for outstanding debt securities.
Masulis found that debt for equity exchanges were good news (stock price increased on
announcement) and equity for debt exchanges were bad news.
f) Are these results consistent with the trade-off theory of capital structure?
g) Are the results consistent with the evidence that investors regard announcements of (i)
stock issues as bad news, (ii) stock repurchases as good news, and (iii) debt issues as no
news, or at most trifling disappointments?
h) How could Masuliss results be explained?

Solution
a. Masulis results are consistent with the view that debt is always preferable because of its tax
advantage, but are not consistent with the tradeoff theory, which holds that management
strikes a balance between the tax advantage of debt and the costs of possible financial distress.
In the tradeoff theory, exchange offers would be undertaken to move the firms debt level
toward the optimum. That ought to be good news, if anything, regardless of whether leverage
is increased or decreased.

b. The results are consistent with the evidence regarding the announcement effects on
security issues and repurchases.

c. One explanation is that the exchange offers signal managements assessment of the firms
prospects. Management would only be willing to take on more debt if they were quite
confident about future cash flow, for example, and would want to decrease debt if they were
concerned about the firms ability to meet debt payments in the future.

Exercise 4 Chapter 18

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The Salad Oil Storage (SOS) Company has financed a large part of its facilities with long-term
debt. There is a significant risk of default, but the company is not on the ropes yet. Explain:
a) Why SOS stockholders could lose by investing in a positive-NPV project financed by an
equity issue.
b) Why SOS stockholders could gain by investing in a negative-NPV project financed by
cash.
c) Why SOS stockholders could gain from paying out a large cash dividend.

Solution
a. SOS stockholders could lose if they invest in the positive NPV project and then SOS
becomes bankrupt. Under these conditions, the benefits of the project accrue to the bondholders.

b. If the new project is sufficiently risky, then, even though it has a negative NPV, it might
increase stockholder wealth by more than the money invested. This is a result of the fact that,
for a very risky investment, undertaken by a firm with a significant risk of default,
stockholders benefit if a more favorable outcome is actually realized, while the cost of
unfavorable outcomes is borne by bondholders.
c. Again, think of the extreme case: Suppose SOS pays out all of its assets as one lump-sum
dividend. Stockholders get all of the assets, and the bondholders are left with nothing.

Exercise 5 Chapter 19

Calculate the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) for Federated Junkyards of America,
using the following information:
i) Debt: $75,000,000 book value outstanding. The debt is trading at 90% of book value. The
yield to maturity is 9%.
j) Equity: 2,500,000 shares selling at $42 per share. Assume the expected rate of return on
Federateds stock is 18%.
k) Taxes: Federateds marginal tax rate is Tc = .35.

Solution
Market values of debt and equity are D =0 .9*75 = $67.5 million and E= 42* 2.5 =$105 million.
D/V= .39.

WACC=.09*(1-0.35)*.39+0.18*0.61=0.1325, or 13.25%. The key assumptions: stable capital

structure (D/V constant); Federated will pay taxes at 35% marginal rate in all relevant future
years; use WACC as discount rate for projects with same risk as average of firms assets.

Exercise 6 Chapter 19

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The WACC formula seems to imply that debt is cheaper than equity that is, that a firm with
more debt could use a lower discount rate. Does this make sense? Explain briefly.

Solution
Debt is tax deductible Initially it is good to use some debt in the capital structure. But there is a
point where the advantages of using debt are counterbalanced by their disadvantages, especially
when there is a case of a high debt ratio.

Exercise 7 Chapter 19

The Bunsen Chemical Company is currently at its target debt ratio of 40%. It is contemplating a
$1 million expansion of its existing business. This expansion is expected to produce a cash
inflow of $130,000 a year in perpetuity.
The company is uncertain whether to undertake this expansion and how to finance it. The two
options are a $1 million issue of common stock or a $1 million issue of 20-year debt. The
flotation costs of a stock issue would be around 5% of the amount raised, and the flotation costs
of a debt issue would be around 1 %.
Bunsens financial manager, Miss Polly Ethylene, estimates that the required on the companys
equity is 14%, but she argues that flotation costs increase the cost of new equity to 19%. On this
basis, the project does not appear viable.
On the other hand, she points out that the company can raise new debt on a 7% yield, which
would make the cost of new debt 8 %. She therefore recommends that Bunsen should go ahead
with the project and finance it with an issue of long-term debt. Is Miss Ethylene right? How
would you evaluate the project?

Solution
Note the following:
The costs of debt and equity are not 8.5% and 19%, respectively. These figures
assume the issue costs are paid every year, not just at issue.
The fact that Bunsen can finance the entire cost of the project with debt is
irrelevant. The cost of capital does not depend on the immediate source of funds;
what matters is the projects contribution to the firms overall borrowing power.
The project is expected to support debt in perpetuity. The fact that the first debt issue
is for only 20 years is irrelevant.
Assume the project has the same business risk as the firms other assets. Because it is a
perpetuity, we can use the firms weighted-average cost of capital. If we ignore issue
costs:
WACC = [rD (1 TC) (D/V)] + [rE (E/V)]
WACC = [0.07 (1 0.35) 0.4] + [0.14 0.6] = 0.1022 = 10.22%

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 Using this discount rate:
$130,000
NPV $1,000,000 $272,016
0.1022
The issue costs are:
Stock issue: 0.050 $1,000,000 = $50,000
Bond issue: 0.015 $1,000,000 = $15,000
Debt is clearly less expensive. Project NPV net of issue costs is reduced to:
($272,016 $15,000) = $257,016. However, if debt is used, the firms debt ratio will be
above the target ratio, and more equity will have to be raised later. If debt financing can
be obtained using retaining earnings, then there are no other issue costs to consider. If
stock will be issued to regain the target debt ratio, an additional issue cost is incurred.
A careful estimate of the issue costs attributable to this project would require a
comparison of Bunsens financial plan with as compared to without this project.

Exercise 8 Chapter 27
Blades plc would like to speculate on the anticipated movement of the bahlt currency
against the British pound. Blades plc expects that the bahlt currency would move from a
current level of 0.0147 British pounds to the level of 0.0133 British pounds within the
next 30 days. The following interbank lending and borrowing rates exist:

Currency Lending rate Borrowing rate

British pounds 8.1% 8.2%
Thai bahlt 14.8% 15.4%
Assume that Blades plc has a borrowing capacity of either 7 million British Sterling or
the bahlt equivalent of this amount, depending on which currency it wants to borrow.
How could Blades plc capitalize on its expectations without using deposited funds?
Estimate the speculative profits (in pounds) that could be generated from this strategy.

Solution
Depreciation of the Baht from 0.0147 to 0.0133

1. Borrow Thai baht (7,000,000/0.0147) 476,190,476

2. Convert the Thai baht to pounds 476,190,476 baht 0.0147). 7,000,000

3. Lend the pounds at 8.10% annualized, which represents a 0.68% return

over
the 30-day period [computed as 8.10% (30/360)]. After 30 days, Blades
would receive (7,000,000 (1 + .0068)) 7,047,600.00

4. Use the proceeds of the dollar loan repayment (on Day 30) to repay the

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 baht borrowed. The annual interest on the baht borrowed is 15.40%, or
1.28%
over the 30-day period [computed as 15.40% (30/360)]. The total baht
amount necessary to repay the loan is therefore (476,190,476 (1 + . 482,285,714
0128))

5. Number of pounds necessary to repay baht loan (482,285,714 baht 6,414,400

0.0133)

6. Speculative profit (7,047,600 6,414,400) 633,200

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Chapter 26 Multiple choice questions
1. Suppose you borrow $95.24 for one year at 5% and invest $95.24 for two years at 7%. For the
time period beginning one year from today, you have: (approximately)
a. Borrowed at 7%
b. Invested at 7%
c. Borrowed at 9%
d. Invested at 9%

+95.24(1.05) -100; 95.24(1.07)(1.07) +109.04; i.e. (Invest at 9%)

2. Firm A is paying a fixed $700,000 in interest payments, while Firm B is paying LIBOR plus
50 basis points on $10,000,000 loans. The current LIBOR rate is 6.25%. Firm A and B have
agreed to swap interest payments, how much will be paid to which Firm this year?
a. A pays $750,000 to Firm B
b. B pays 25,000 to Firm A
c. B pays $50,000 to Firm A
d. A pays $25,000 to Firm B

Floating rate = 6.75%; Interest cost = $675,000; Fixed rate = 7.0%; Interest cost = $700,000; A
pays $25,000 to B

3. First National Bank has made a 5-year, $100 million fixed-rate loan at 10%. Annual interest
payments are $10 million, and all principal will be repaid in year 5. The bank wants to swap the
fixed interest payment into floating-rate payments. If the bank could borrow at a fixed rate of 8%
for 5 years, what is the notional principal of the swap?
a. $80 million
b. $100 million
c. $125 million
d. $180 million

10/0.08 = 125

4. Third National Bank has made 10-year, $25 million fixed-rate loan at 12%. Annual interest
payments are $3 million, and all principal will be repaid in year 10. The bank wants to swap the
fixed interest payments into floating-rate payments. If the bank could borrow at a fixed rate of
10% for 10 years, what is the notional principal of the swap?
a. $40 million
b. $20 million
c. $25 million
d. $30 million

3/0.1 = 30

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Chapter 27 Multiple choice questions

1. If a Big Mac costs C$3.00in Canada and $2.31 in the USA, according to purchasing power
parity, what is the implied exchange rate in C$/US$?
a. 1.2987
b. 0.725
c. 1.3276
d. None of the above

C$/US$ = 3/2.31 = 1.2987

2. The Mexican economy is predicted to average double digit inflation over the next two years of
10% per annum. The inflation forecast for the US is 4% per annum. If the current exchange rate
is $0.091/peso, what will be the exchange rate two years from now?
a. $0.0831
b. $0.08134
c. $0.1018
d. None of the above

E(Spot) = (0.091)[(1.04/1.10)^2] = $0.08134/peso

3. Currency risk exposure can be categorized as:

a. Transactions exposure
b. Economic exposure
c. Translation exposure
d. All of the above

The correct answer is D.

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4. XJ Company from the USA is evaluating a proposal to build a new plant in the United
Kingdom. The expected cash flows in pounds are as follows: Year 0, -50; Year 1, 25; Year 2, 35;
Year 3, 40. The discount rate in BP is 14% and the discount rate in the US$ is 12%. The spot rate
is US$1.99/BP. Calculate the NPV of the project in BP:
a. +28.69
b. +25.86
c. +42.67
d. None of the above

NPV = -50 + (25/1.14) + (35/1.14^2) + (40/1.14^3) = 25.86

5. XJ Company from the USA is evaluating a proposal to build a new plant in the United
Kingdom. The expected cash flows in pounds are as follows: Year 0, -50; Year 1, 25; Year 2, 35;
Year 3, 40. The discount rate in BP is 14% and the discount rate in the US$ is 12%. The spot rate
is US$1.99/BP. Calculate the NPV in US$:
a. +25.86
b. +28.69
c. +51.46
d. None of the above

(25.86)(1.99) = 51.46

6. Assume that international capital markets are competitive and that the real interest rates are the
same. The one-year interest rate is approximately 9% in the USA and 5% in Switzerland. If the
expected inflation rate is 6% in the USA, what is the expected inflation rate in Switzerland?
(Approximately)
a. 16%
b. 10%
c. 2.1%
d. None of the above

Real interest rate = [1.09/1.06] - 1 = 2.83%; Inflation rate = [1.05/1.0283] - 1 = 2.1%

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Chapter 33 Multiple choice questions

1. Which of the following statement(s) is(are) true about company financing in the U.S.A.? I)
The U.S.A. has a large amount of bank loans outstanding II) The U.S.A. has a large stock market
III) The U.S.A. has a large bond market
a. I only
b. II only
c. I,II and III
d. II and III only

C is correct.

2. Individual investors in the U.S.A. can play an important part in corporate governance because:
I) A large fraction of households' portfolio is held directly in equity securities II) A large fraction
of households' portfolio is held in pension funds III) A large fraction of households' portfolio is
held directly in bank deposits
a. I only
b. II only
c. III only
d. II and III only

A is correct.

3. Large firms in Germany have: I) The board of directors II) The supervisory board III) The
management board
a. I only
b. II only
c. III only
d. II and III only

D is correct.

4. The banking system in Germany is:

a. Nationally chartered banking system
b. Dual banking system
c. Universal banking system
d. State chartered system

C is correct.

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5. A firm whose only asset is controlling blocks of shares in other firms is called:
a. A conglomerate
b. A holding company
c. A pyramid
d. Dual-class company

B is correct

6. Large business combinations in Japan are normally carried out through reciprocal ownership
of common stock. These networks, or keiretsu, involve a large number of diversified companies
centered around a large bank, industrial firm, or trading firm. One of the main benefits of this
structure is argued to be:
a. The monopolistic control of economic segments
b. The reduction of financial distress costs
c. Large scale diversification that cannot be done by individual shareholders
d. Greater efficiency in management because the management skills are homogeneous even for

B is correct

7. The idea that a corporation's financial goal is to "maximize stockholder value" is more
prevalent in: I) the U.S.A II) the U.K. III) France IV) Japan
a. I and II only
b. II and III only
c. III and IV only
d. II and IV only

A is correct

8. The following are sources of financing for corporations: I) Households II) Financial
institutions III) Other corporations
a. I only
b. II only
c. III only
d. I, II, and III

D is correct

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