FIN534 – Solutions To All Thirteen Questions
1. Explain whether each of the following projects is likely to have risk similar to the average risk of the firm.
a. The Clorox Company considers launching a new version of Armor All designed to clean and protect notebook computers.
b. Google, Inc., plans to purchase real estate to expand its headquarters.
c. Target Corporation decides to expand the number of stores it has in the southeastern United States.
2. Suppose Caterpillar, Inc., has 665 million shares outstanding with a share price of $74.77, and $25 billion in debt. If in three years, Caterpillar has 700 million shares outstanding trading for $83 per share, how much debt will Caterpillar have if it maintains a constant debt-equity ratio?
3. In 2006, Intel Corporation had a market capitalization of $112 billion, debt of $2.2 billion, cash of $9.1 billion, and EBIT of more than $11 billion. If Intel were to increase its debt by $1 billion and use the cash for a share repurchase, which market imperfections would be most relevant for understanding the consequence for Intel’s value? Why?
4. Suppose Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company is considering divesting one of its manufacturing plants. The plant is expected to generate free cash flows of $1.5 million per year, growing at a rate of 2.5% per year. Goodyear has an equity cost of capital of 8.5%, a debt cost of capital of 7%, a marginal corporate tax rate of 35%, and a debt-equity ratio of 2.6. If the plant has average risk and Goodyear plans to maintain a constant debt-equity ratio, what after-tax amount must it receive for the plant for the divestiture to be profitable?
5. Suppose Lucent Technologies has an equity cost of capital of 10%, market capitalization of $10.8 billion, and an enterprise value of $14.4 billion. Suppose Lucent’s debt cost of capital is 6.1% and its marginal tax rate is 35%.
a. What is Lucent’s WACC?
b. If Lucent maintains a constant debt-equity ratio, what is the value of a project with average risk and the following expected free cash flows?
c. If Lucent maintains its debt-equity ratio, what is the debt capacity of the project in part (b)?
6. Acort Industries has 10 million shares outstanding and a current share price of $40 per share. It also has long-term debt outstanding. This debt is risk free, is four years away from maturity, has annual coupons with a coupon rate of 10%, and has a $100 million face value. The first of the remaining coupon payments will be due in exactly one year. The riskless interest rates for all maturities are constant at 6%. Acort has EBIT of $106 million, which is expected to remain constant each year. New capital expenditures are expected to equal depreciation and equal $13 million per year, while no changes to net working capital are expected in the future. The corporate tax rate is 40%, and Acort is expected to keep its debt-equity ratio constant in the future (by either issuing additional new debt or buying back some debt as time goes on).
a. Based on this information, estimate Acort’s WACC. b. What is Acort’s equity cost of capital?
7. Suppose Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company has an equity cost of capital of 8.5%, a debt cost of capital of 7%, a marginal corporate tax rate of 35%, and a debt-equity ratio of 2.6. Suppose Goodyear maintains a constant debt-equity ratio.
a. What is Goodyear’s WACC?
b. What is Goodyear’s unlevered cost of capital?
c. Explain, intuitively, why Goodyear’s unlevered cost of capital is less than its equity cost of capital and higher than its WACC.
8. You are a consultant who was hired to evaluate a new product line for Markum Enterprises. The upfront investment required to launch the product line is $10 million. The product will generate free cash flow of $750,000 the first year, and this free cash flow is expected to grow at a rate of 4% per year. Markum has an equity cost of capital of 11.3%, a debt cost of capital of 5%, and a tax rate of 35%. Markum maintains a debt-equity ratio of 0.40.
a. What is the NPV of the new product line (including any tax shields from leverage)?
b. How much debt will Markum initially take on as a result of launching this product line?
c. How much of the product line’s value is attributable to the present value of interest tax shields?
d. GE decides to open a new Universal Studios theme park in China.
9. Consider Lucent’s project in Problem 5.
a. What is Lucent’s unlevered cost of capital?
b. What is the unlevered value of the project?
c. What are the interest tax shields from the project? What is their present value?
d. Show that the APV of Lucent’s project matches the value computed using the WACC method.
10. Consider Lucent’s project in Problem 5.
a. What is the free cash flow to equity for this project?
b. What is its NPV computed using the FTE method? How does it compare with the NPV based on the WACC method?
11. In year 1, AMC will earn $2000 before interest and taxes. The market expects these earnings to grow at a rate of 3% per year. The firm will make no net investments (i.e., capital expenditures will equal depreciation) or changes to net working capital. Assume that the corporate tax rate equals 40%. Right now, the firm has $5000 in risk-free debt. It plans to keep a constant ratio of debt to equity every year, so that on average the debt will also grow by 3% per year. Suppose the risk-free rate equals 5%, and the expected return on the market equals 11%. The asset beta for this industry is 1.11.
a. If AMC were an all-equity (unlevered) firm, what would its market value be?
b. Assuming the debt is fairly priced, what is the amount of interest AMC will pay next year? If AMC’s debt is expected to grow by 3% per year, at what rate are its interest payments expected to grow?
c. Even though AMC’s debt is riskless (the firm will not default), the future growth of AMC’s debt is uncertain, so the exact amount of the future interest payments is risky. Assuming the future interest payments have the same beta as AMC’s assets, what is the present value of AMC’s interest tax shield?
d. Using the APV method, what is AMC’s total market value, V L? What is the market value of AMC’s equity?
e. What is AMC’s WACC? (Hint: Work backward from the FCF and V L.)
f. Using the WACC method, what is the expected return for AMC equity?
g. Show that the following holds for AMC: .[SHERYL: there’s an equation that should be set here, but I can’t get it out of the PDF in correct for. It’s on page 631].
h. Assuming that the proceeds from any increases in debt are paid out to equity holders, what cash flows do the equity holders expect to receive in one year? At what rate are those cash flows expected to grow? Use that information plus your answer to part (f ) to derive the market value of equity using the FTE method. How does that compare to your answer in part (d)?
12. Prokter and Gramble (PG) has historically maintained a debt-equity ratio of approximately 0.20. Its current stock price is $50 per share, with 2.5 billion shares outstanding. The firm enjoys very stable demand for its products, and consequently it has a low equity beta of 0.50 and can borrow at 4.20%, just 20 basis points over the risk-free rate of 4%. The expected return of the market is 10%, and PG’s tax rate is 35%.
a. This year, PG is expected to have free cash flows of $6.0 billion. What constant expected growth rate of free cash flow is consistent with its current stock price?
b. PG believes it can increase debt without any serious risk of distress or other costs. With a higher debt-equity ratio of 0.50, it believes its borrowing costs will rise only slightly to 4.50%. If PG announces that it will raise its debt-equity ratio to 0.5 through a leveraged recap, determine the increase in the stock price that would result from the anticipated tax savings.
13. Amarindo, Inc. (AMR), is a newly public firm with 10 million shares outstanding. You are doing a valuation analysis of AMR. You estimate its free cash flow in the coming year to be $15 million, and you expect the firm’s free cash flows to grow by 4% per year in subsequent years. Because the firm has only been listed on the stock exchange for a short time, you do not have an accurate assessment of AMR’s equity beta. However, you do have beta data for UAL, another firm in the same industry:
AMR has a much lower debt-equity ratio of 0.30, which is expected to remain stable, and its debt is risk free. AMR’s corporate tax rate is 40%, the risk-free rate is 5%, and the expected return on the market portfolio is 11%.
a. Estimate AMR’s equity cost of capital.
b. Estimate AMR’s share price.
